Music master of the Middle West : the story of F. Melius Christiansen and the St. Olaf choir / by Leola Nelson Bergnamm.

Author/creator Bergmann, Leola Nelson
Other author Christiansen, F. Melius (Fredrik Melius), 1871-1955.
Format Book
Publication InfoMinneapolis : The University of Minnesota press, ©1944.
Descriptionv, 230 pages : frontispiece, plates, group portrait, diagram ; 22 cm
Subjects
St. Olaf Choir (St. Olaf College)

Contents Boyhood in Norway -- Immigrant with a fiddle -- Wisconsin bandmaster -- The ole bull of Augsburg -- Widening horizons -- College on the hill -- The nation listens -- How does he do it? -- The nation sings -- The choral composer -- Passing of the pioneers -- Appendix B. Tours of the St. Olaf Lutheran choir, 1920-44 -- Appendix C. Programs of the St. Olaf Lutheran choir, 1912-44.
Abstract Probably only in the fields of sports and music could fifty college undergraduates draw 5000 spectators. The far-famed St. Olaf choir can and does; yearly it amazes concert-goers from New York to San Francisco by its seemingly impossible perfection. For the thousands who already know the choir and its director, for those interested in music and its development, this book has been written. Here are the stories of F. Melius Christiansen, his choir, and the setting of Norwegian-American Lutheranism out of which he grew. Christiansen brought to this country a rich treasure of Norwegian folk music. Years of study in Minneapolis and Europe, of directing band and choir groups in midwestern towns, prepared him for the work that was to bring him fame. The story of Christiansen's contribution to American music, his recognized influence on choral singing form coast to coast, is the story of an Old World heritage shaped and enlarged by the free, wide ways and the deep soul-hunger of the New. "Norway gave me much," says Christiansen, "but America has taught me how to use it." Mrs. Bergmann's account of the choir, its personnel, training, and experience, is full of lively anecdotes as well as technical details. Her own four years as a member of the group, her behind-the-scenes knowledge enable her to convey the spirit of the singers, to discuss frankly both strength and weakness. But always she insists that success "lies not in the superior quality of the voices that make up the choirs, since Christiansen chooses largely the average, untrained voice, but in the nature of the director." Thus it is primarily F. Melius Christiansen's story, concerned with his techniques and methods and, above all, with the vigorous personality which makes him remembered by all who know him.
General noteThesis (PH.D)-University of Iowa, 1942.
General noteWithout thesis note.
General note"Sources": pages 202-209. "List of published compositions": pages 210-216.
LCCNa 44005713

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk ML410.C543 B4 1944 ✔ Available Place Hold