Norwegian Fiddler and Composer Benedicte Maurseth

(headline image: Benedicte Maurseth – Photo by Simen Skari)

Benedicte Maurseth, a renowned traditional folk musician and singer from Norway, was born on February 7th, 1983 in Eidfjord, Hardanger. Since her early childhood, music has been an integral part of her life, as she began playing the fiddle at the tender age of seven. Knut Hamre was her mentor in the early years of her career.

Maurseth has earned a minor in art history from the University of Bergen and studied at the Ole Bull Academy in Voss from 2004 to 2006. She has a passion for the baroque instrument viola d’amore and is an accomplished Hardanger fiddler. She has also mastered the art of kveding, a traditional Norwegian vocal style.

Maurseth is currently based in Bergen and works as a freelance musician. She has performed extensively in concerts and events, both nationally and internationally. Her performances have taken her to various countries, including the USA, Canada, India, Germany, Belgium, and Iceland. She has enthralled audiences worldwide with her solo performances and collaborations with other artists.

In 2006, Maurseth, along with Knut Hamre, Nils Økland, and Sigbjørn Apeland, released the album Rosa I Botnen. It is a remarkable album featuring traditional music from Hardanger, performed on fiddles that date back to the 1600s and 1700s, making it the oldest Hardanger fiddles preserved to date. This album was a landmark achievement in the genre of traditional Norwegian music.

In 2008, Maurseth teamed up with Berit Opheim, Åsne Valland Norli, and Kristin Skaare to release Fodnes, which is based on folk music from Hardanger collected by Geirr Tveitt. The album features a collection of traditional Norwegian songs, showcasing the rich musical heritage of the region.

In 2009, Maurseth composed new music for a theatrical adaptation of Jon Fosse’s lyrics in Andvake. She performed on stage alongside the celebrated actor Svein Tindberg, and the music from this performance became the foundation of her first solo album, Alde, which was released in 2010.

Maurseth has also collaborated with Jon Fosse himself, and together with Gabriel Fliflet, Stein Urheim, Kristoffer Voght, and Per Jørgensen, she released the album Åresong in 2011. The album was a commissioned work at the Bergen International Festival in 2010, and it features Jon Fosse’s lyrics set to music.

Benedicte Maurseth is a gifted musician who has made a significant contribution to the traditional Norwegian music scene. Her passion for the Hardanger fiddle and her mastery of the art of kveding have earned her worldwide acclaim. Her music is a testament to the rich cultural heritage of Norway, and her performances are an inspiration to music lovers around the world.

In 2019, she released her self-titled album, showcasing her virtuosity on the Hardanger fiddle and her captivating voice. This album marked a new chapter in her already remarkable career, as she performed traditional music and incorporated her own compositions.

“Benedicte Maurseth” comprises ten tracks, with track one composed by Lars Skjervheim, and tracks four and six composed by Maurseth herself, with all other tracks being traditional music performed and arranged by her.

In 2022, Benedicte Maurseth released Hárr (2022), an homage to the wildlife and mountain people of Benedicte Maurseth’s home area in Hardanger. The sound of her mesmerizing Hardanger fiddle is woven seamlessly together with that of birds and the other musicians’ musical impressions. Always moving forward with a steely calm disposition, the record draws you into a world where one feels to be one with nature, wandering over a mountain plateau. Benedicte was raised in Maurset in Eidfjord – near Hardangervidda National Park – and has hiked through the mountains her whole life, clearly laying the foundation for this musical expedition.

As traditional folk musicians have always been, Maurseth is open to contemporary influences from interactive art and music styles. The work Hárr oscillates between Norwegian folk tunes, free improvised music, American minimalism, and extensive use of musique concrète. In the tracks you will also hear natural soundscapes via the movements of reindeer, reindeer herders, birds, and insects all recorded in Hardangervidda.

Benedicte is among other things inspired by ecosophy, the school of environmental philosophy developed by Arne Næss which states that humankind is not the center of the natural world but rather an equal participant in it. The tune “Heilo” displays what it is to be one with nature in the best way; the musicians play with and variate upon the rhythm of the characteristic bird sound. The track “kollasj I” summarizes in many ways the vision behind the whole work. It consists of interviews with Benedicte’s great-great-grandfather Franz Gustav Andersson Törna from Northern Sweden and her great-grandfather Leif Maurseth, both of whom were hunters and reindeer herders.

Hárr was commissioned by Hardanger Musikkfest in 2019, composed by Maurseth, and arranged and performed in collaboration with master musicians Mats Eilertsen and Håkon Stene among others. “Hárr” is the Norse name for Hårteigen, the most characteristic mountain in Hardangervidda.

The lineup on Hárr includes Benedicte Maurseth on Hardanger fiddle; Mats Eilertsen on contrabass, electronics; and Håkon Stene on vibraphone, percussion, electronics. Guests: Jørgen Træen on electronics; Rolf-Erik Nystrøm on saxophone; and Stein Urheim on langeleik, harmonica, electronics, samples, percussion.

“Working creatively and hiking in the mountains are very much the same to me. Both evoke and require the same presence, as well as a deep listening that makes the senses open and clear. They are both something that can be done alone or in company, in conversation or in silence. Both require time, patience and thoughtful repetition and give a necessary reminder of something else, something bigger than ourselves.” -Benedicte Maurseth 

In 2022, she released the book Systerspel (Fiddlesisters) about the history of female fiddle players in Norway from 1700 until today.

In 2025, Maurseth released Nordic Lights in Persian Sky, an exquisite collaboration with Kiya Tabassian‘s Constantinople ensemble.

Also in 2025, Maurseth roled out Mirra, a concept album where sound plays a crucial role in the compositions. This time, the focus is on the wild reindeer, native to Maurseth’s home area of Eidfjord in Hardanger. The creation follows elements of the reindeer’s distinctive sounds and annual cycle, as in “The Calf Rises,” “Summer Grazing,” and “Hunting March,” as well as their behavior and adaptation to the nature they live in harmony with.

Mirra is an old, forgotten dialect word from Hardanger, describing when reindeer run together in a circling pattern—both to keep warm and to ward off predators. The word was also used to describe a time when reindeer “teemed” in large numbers.

The music is repetitive and characterized by the entrancing repetitions of folk music, also inspired by American minimalism, krautrock, and free improvised music.

The concept and music was presented and composed by Benedicte Maurseth and further developed and arranged in collaboration with her exceptional fellow musicians: Håkon Stene on melodic percussion, Mats Eilertsen on bass and electronics, and Morten Qvenild on keyboards.

The album was recorded by Morten Qvenild at Ugla Lyd Studio in Nesodden in 2024 and produced by Benedicte Maurseth and Jørgen Træen.

Benedicte Maurseth shared: “Only twice in my life have I seen wild reindeer. The first time was a large herd—probably several hundred animals. They ran tightly together with intense focus, blending almost completely into the gray-brown landscape around Dyranut on the Hardangervidda plateau. I was seven years old. Many years later, I witnessed them once again, by chance, heading east one spring day.

“This despite growing up in the mountains, at Maurset in Eidfjord, right at the base of the vast mountain plateau where I’ve wandered for years in every direction. There too, the reindeer have wandered for thousands of years. So they’ve never been far away, even though they remain elusive.

“They dig through the snow with their hooves all winter to find food. They’re in constant motion—migrating. When the winter wind settles over the landscape for days at a time, the reindeer lie still and wait, without a sound. They endure fierce wind and blowing snow in their thick, well-adapted fur—up to minus forty degrees. They give birth to calves in the damp snow of spring. An hour or two later, the calf rises and runs after its mother. In summer, they flee from swarms of mosquitoes while enjoying lush birch shoots, reindeer lichen, and mushrooms. In autumn, they flee from hunters but gather again for the rutting season, before the females and males part ways once more, digging again through another white winter for nourishment.

“They communicate with grunts and clicking sounds from their hooves, whether they step on wet marshland or hard ice. They live in herds—all to survive in this seemingly desolate landscape filled with rocks, glaciers, snow, rivers, heather, and moraines. This is where they belong.

“Mirra continues the thread from my previous work Hárr (2022), with ecosophy as its guiding stone, this time with the reindeer in the lead role. They are remarkable, beautiful creatures—but also threatened. Mainly by humans, who slowly but surely reduce their space, year by year. Unless we’re careful, the wild reindeer of Hardangervidda may disappear forever.”

Additional guest appearances on the album include other endangered species that currently or historically coexisted with the reindeer on Hardangervidda (Track 7): snowy owl, arctic fox, wolverine, Lapland bunting, whimbrel, curlew, golden plover, scaup, gyrfalcon, green-winged teal, common scoter, long-tailed duck, marsh harrier.

Discography:

Alde (Heilo Records, 2010)
Benedicte Maurseth (Heilo Records, 2019)
Hárr (Hubro, 2022)
Mirra (Hubro, 2025)

Collaborations

With Knut Hamre:

Rosa I Botnen (Heilo Records, 2006)
Anima (Heilo Records, 2012)

With Åsne Valland Nordli, Berit Opheim & Kristin Skaare:

Fodne Ho Svara Stilt (Heilo Records, 2008)
Duo with Åsne Valland Nordli)
Over Tones (ECM Records, 2014)

with Constantinople:

Constantinople & Benedicte Maurseth – Nordic Lights in Persian Sky (Glossa, 2025)

Author: Angel Romero

Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.