Gunnar Gunnarsson Helland
Encyclopedia
Background
Gunnar Gunnarsson Helland was a member of the Helland fiddle maker familyThe Helland fiddle maker family
The Helland family from Bø in Telemark is a Norwegian dynasty of Hardanger fiddle makers who made the most significant and important contribution to the development of the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle tradition. The celebrated Norwegian fiddler Ole Bull played on Helland fiddles.During nearly 200...
of Telemark
Telemark
is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Helland worked in the traditional region of Bø
Bø, Telemark
Bø is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Midt-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bø i Telemark. The municipality of Bø was established on 1 January 1838...
, Norway in his father Olav Gunnarsson Helland
Olav Gunnarsson Helland
Olav Gunnarsson Helland , Norwegian Hardanger fiddle maker from Bø in Telemark.He was the eldest of Gunnar Olavsson Helland's five sons, four of whom became violin makers...
's workshop until he emigrated to USA in 1901 and settled in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Career
Together with his brother Knut Gunnarsson HellandKnut Gunnarsson Helland
Knut Gunnarsson Helland, Norwegian-American Hardanger fiddle maker.Knut Gunnarson Helland was from Bø in Telemark, Norway. He worked for a number of years with his brother, the hardanger fiddle maker Olav Gunnarsson Helland in Notodden in Telemark...
, he started the Helland Brothers
Helland Brothers
Helland Brothers was a fiddle makers' shop in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA, 1905 - 1927.The workshop was founded in 1905 by the brothers Knut Gunnarson Helland and Gunnar Gunnarsson Helland from Bø in Telemark. They emigrated to America in 1901 and made both Hardanger fiddles and violins. Knut...
fiddle maker workshop in 1905. His brother died in 1920 and Gunnar ran "Helland Brothers" alone until he closed down in 1927, since the demand for Hardanger fiddles was declining.
In 1927 Gunnar moved to Minneapolis and spent two years working for Jacob Lundh, a well-known violin maker there. In 1929 he moved to Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
where he operated a shop in a few neighbouring buildings until he established the Helland Music Company on the third floor of a building on Broadway. The business remained there until 1962, when it was bought by Lloyd Hammond. Gunnar continued to work for Lloyd Hammond until he was over 80.
Gunnar built his last Hardanger fiddle in 1937.
Later years
On his later fiddles he made some interesting changes: Laminanions inside the sound holes for increased strength, shorter sound holes, a lower profile and a pattern that was much closer to the style of Guarneri del GesuGiuseppe Guarneri
Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri, del Gesù was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri house of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and he has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line...
. In all his life, although he built around 300 fiddles, he never got more than $150 for one. Today they sell for $7,000 to $15,000.