Ole Olsen, Composer/Violinist

[SheriJ]

I have just found in my collection a 1905 edition of Serenade for Violin and Piano by Ole Olsen. I do not see it in his list of works. The paper is deteriorating. Should I scan and submit it? Is anyone interested in these old "outsize" editions, which I have a number of pieces by other composers. When scanning should I reduce to modern paper size

[Eric]

Even if I am not personally interested (and I am intrigued so yes please), I think as a general rule the answer is, if the person died before 1962 etc- if it's out of copyright and you're willing to do so - my opinion anyhow ? - please do. (And my reasoning is- preservation is one of the purposes, an important purpose, of a library, as is distribution, and this is, in a fashion, a library. And preservation and distribution are exactly ... etc. So thank you.)

The Ole Olsen I've heard of is better known as an organist (1850-1927) - indeed I think I've heard a (orchestral) symphony in G minor of his that was rather good, on a Sterling CD- though he did play the violin, according to Wikipedia. I wonder if this is the same one.

[SheriJ]

When I was a student back in the dark ages, I only heard of him as a celebrated Norwegian violinist. And yes, it is apparently an arrangement of the Op. 19 #2 Norsk Serenade, published by Carl Fischer/New York. Titled "Serenade." by Ole Olsen. arr. by Gustav Saenger for First Position Violin Solo and Piano Accompaniment with double stops and an open string harmonic final note.

[Eric]

Actually, according to Hofmeisters Monatsberichte, originally just published as "Serenade", 2nd of his 3 Morceaux for piano op.19 by publisher August Cranz in 1883 (maybe earlier in some country HMB doesn't notice so much, as sometimes happens- so I should say 1883 so far as I know) . Hopefully one can get a copy of the other two, sometime, too... but that said, Saenger arrangements are welcome (since he, too, died before 1962) (go to one of the pages at the Gustav Saenger category to see how it's done if you haven't uploaded an arrangement before, there's some extra stuff to be done )

[SheriJ]

Well, I probably have him mixed up in my mind with Ole Bull. I uploaded successfully, but categorizing it properly as a piece arranged by Olsen went totally over my head. Rather, it came up as a piece composed by Olsen. Perhaps you can detail which step I missed.

[Eric]

It was composed by Olsen, arranged by Saenger- you uploaded it the other way about. Unless I was the one who misunderstood?

[Pladask]

It was certainly composed by Ole Olsen. Heads up, though; I think this should be categorized as arrangements under the Petite Suite which is also on IMSLP. The Serenade is certainly the same one, although Olsen could have re-used the piece in different opi (edit: Hm, that seems to be the case here). In any case, thanks for the addition.

Digression: I actually know this piece quite well. It was used in a Norwegian Broadcasting Company series called "Rundt neste sving", which did a documentary on the small island I grew up on, Sekken in Norway, with 150 inhabitants. Here is a link to the programme -- don't know if it can be viewed outside of .no, though -- excerpts of the Serenade can be heard in various places.

I actually thought about tracking down the solo piano score for this simple but lovely piece yesterday. Weird that I should stumble upon a thread about this rather obscure piece today (this being the second time ever I've browsed the forums). IMSLP never ceases to amaze me in strange ways.

Greetings, Øyvind Jo Heimdal Eik, Norwegian piano student

[Eric]

Hrm. As Petite Suite is a later compilation of works I'm not sure I agree...

[Pladask]

I agree with you -- my edit was a bit ambiguous.