15 Hardanger Fiddle Performance, 1940

This recording is of fiddler Dagny Andrea Veum Quisling (1869-1952) of Madison playing a Halling, an athletic rural Norwegian dance that involves leaps and kicks performed by young men.

Quisling was born in Fyredal, Telemark, Norway, a stronghold for Hardanger fiddlers. Her husband was Sverre Quisling, a physician in Madison.  Sometimes called Andrea, Quisling was the only woman active in the Kappleik (Competitions) of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America. She competed in a 1921 Kappleik in Mount Horeb. Please visit the HFAA for more information: http://www.hfaa.org/Home/articles-on-the-hardanger-fiddle/kappleiks-in-the-united-states

1921, Mt. Horeb, WI
Over 8,000 attend this Kappleik!

Winners: Eilef Smedal , Harald Smedal
Participants: Tolleif Strand (Chippewa Falls, WI), Eilef Smedal (La Crosse, WI), Harald Smedal (McFarland, WI), Andrea Quisling (Madison, WI), Hans Fykerud (Stoughton, WI), Bjørgulv Bjørnaraa (Wanke, MN), Sjur Bjotveit (Chicago, IL), Helge Thyresen (Dentybow, MN), John Gudvangen (Chicago, IL), I.G. Nordgaard (Setesdal), Olav Smedal (Albert Lea, MN), S. Indeleggen (Chicago, IL), Gunnar Helland (Chippewa Falls, WI)

This recording was produced by Helene Stratman-Thomas for the Library of Congress on May 16, 1940.

Many thanks to Professor James Leary for this information and recording.