41 MUSICAL COURIER January 12, 1922 fi s “THEY CAME!״ “THEY SANG!” I” “THEY CONQUERED! Lutheran Choir From St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. F. MELIUS CHRISTIANSEN, Director The January 1922 Tour of Eastern and Mid-Western Cities PRESS COMMENTS Opening Concert, Milwaukee, January 3, 1922 Results Praise Director. Taking into consideration the changes in material which of necessity must occur in a college organization, his work is nothing short of miraculous. He must be a rare combination of the deeply learned musician and iron disciplinarian. Else how is one to account for the results? If the Bach motif was a trifle over the heads of the average concert goer, there were numbers on the program which must have filled him with delight, such as George Schumann’s settings of the psalms, the lovely “Lord Hosanna” by Schruk, Gretchaninoff’s noble “Praise the Lord” and the charming “Christmas Song” by Christiansen. There were some incidental solo quartet part, charmingly sung and there was an encore, it might have been an old German Christmas lullaby, the introduction of which was sung with closed lips, which wa9 altogether irrisistible in its simple beauty. Those of us who are inclined to be a little pessimistic in regard to the musical tendencies of > young America may well take heart. If such serious, artistic work is done at colleges the musical America will yet come into its own.— The Wisconsin News, Milwaukee, January 4, 1922. MUSIC LOVERS PRAISE CHOIR St. Olaf’s Singers Display Result of Careful Training at Concerts. St. Olaf’s Lutheran choir, under direction of F. Melius Christiansen, scored decided triumphs at their matinee and evening concerts at the Pabst theater on Tuesday. Both houses were well filled and demonstrated that warmth of feeling which comes only from real music lovers. All numbers were well presented* Perhaps the best way to describe the performance is to say that^ it was well balanced and brought out the excellent training to which the sixty-five voices have been subjected in order to present a program which could hold an audience for two hours. Perfect sympathy with the director led the chorus to interpret eleven difficult selections. _ It was a strictly capella rendition, not an artificial note being sounded from the time the director’s baton was lifted in the opening, “The Spirit Also Helpeth Us,” by Bach, until the resounding vibrations of “Praise the Lord,” by Sohren, settled over a stilled audience. Each number was so thoroughly memorized that the audience could feel the symmetrical _ endeavor to create lights and shadows of tone which held it still and appreciative.— The Evening Sentinel, Milwaukee, January 4, 1922. entirely a part of the choir, and is of the most difficult variety. The entire program was of rare beauty, and each number was gorgeously sung.—Milwaukee Sentinel, January 4, 1922. COLLEGE CHOIR SURPRISES WITH FINISHED WORK By William L. Jaffe. The enviable reputation which St. Olaf Lutheran choir has made for itself since, three years ago, it decided to follow the custom of similar organizations of touring the country, was tremendously strengthened at its appearance here in two concerts yesterday. Both matinee and evening performances at the Pabst theater were practically sold out to audiences which listened with reverence and rapt attention to programs devoted entirely to church music. I had heard the praises sung of this choir from a little college town in the far Northwest and a lively curiosity had been aroused. But I had not been prepared to hear what I did hear. Imagine this choral organization, composed of perhaps 60 young men and women of the age which, in a college *town, is generally and exclusively addicted to the sports of the campus, begin the evening’s program with Johann Sebastian Bach, a motif for double chorus, and lay bare before you its polyphonic structure with the quiet assurance of the veteran musician. Really, it was astounding! With no cue for the pitch given the chorus’ attack came with the precision of a piano; a full, clear chord, perfect in intonation, and they were off, reveling in the intricacies of the old German master. Tone Shading Fine. And what a treat to hear them do it. Their ensemble was as nearly perfect as human endeavor and understanding can make it. Never was there the slightest hesitation, hardly ever the faintest deviation from the pitch. Their shading was no seeking for startling effects, but based on a keen appreciation of balance and the gradual building-up of climaxes, and it ranged from a very respectable forte to an exquisite pianissimo which seemed to float into space. Their tone quality was superb; it had the freshness and charm of young voices plus the most careful training. ־ And here I find it high time to pay my respects to Mr. Christiansen, whose guiding hand and mind are responsible for the artistic accomplishments of the choir. The Choir will appear ST. OLAF SINGERS SCORE IN CONCERT Minnesota Choir Gives Remarkable Concert at Pabst Theater. By Catherine Pannill Mead. Three seasons ago, it is doubtful if the average citizen who runs as he reads his daily paper, had ever heard of such a place as Northfield, Minn., much less of the St. Olaf Lutheran choir, from St. Olaf college; yet today this organization, just commencing its third tour of the mid-western and eastern cities, has so put its impress on the musical world as to occupy a niche that is unique, that of what is universally conceded to be the most superb body of singers in the United States, if not in the world. To attempt to express something of the feeling conjured up by the music which was sent forth in a living stream, is to again wish for adjectives which were as fresh and fraught with meaning as the exquisite voices of these young singers. It is a difficult thing to convey to those who have not heard them, the remarkable likeness and perfect control of the body of tone, for the fifty-two singers sing exactly like one singer multiplied by fifty-two. Prof. Christiansen has taught them the secret of breath control, which makes nothing of the most difficult and involved contrapuntal phrases, but he has also taught them how to produce their tones. There is never a sharp, shrill note from one of the choirs. A melodic line is sung with as much purity as though played by a Heifetz upon the most exceptional of violins. The mezzo voice is as soft as a wood thrush’s smig, the crescendos move up with swelling beauty, and the pianissimi are mere attenuated threads of song. To hear 64 singers pursue the difficult intervals of a Bach fugue, as in “The Spirit Helpeth Us,” without^ once straying a hair’s breadth from the pitch, nor the complicated rhythms, is something to marvel over, even as one enjoys it, and to applaud with all the enthusiasm of one’s nature. Inspired by Baton. Such attention as is concentrated upon that little magnetic baton of the director, such devotional, inspired outbursts of melody, belong to nothing but the St. Olaf choir. There is something so ravishingly beautiful about it that the unbidden tears come, even as one wonders how it is done. The music is all sung from memory, without accompaniment, and is entirely liturgical, something again which is NEW YORK Brooklyn Academy of Music SUNDAY AFT., JAN. 15 NEW YORK Metropolitan Opera House TUESDAY EVE., JAN. 17 PHILADELPHIA Academy of Music WEDNESDAY EVE., JAN. 18 ALLENTOWN High School Auditorium THURSDAY EVE., JAN. 19 BALTIMORE Lyric Theatre FRIDAY EVE., JAN. 20 BALTIMORE Lyric Theatre SATURDAY AFT., JAN. 21 LANCASTER Fulton Opera House MONDAY EVE., JAN. 23 HARRISBURG Orpheum Theatre TUESDAY EVE., JAN. 24 PITTSBURGH Syria Mosque WEDNESDAY EVE., JAN. 25 YOUNGSTOWN Park Theatre THURSDAY EVE., JAN. 26 BUTLER High School Auditorium FRIDAY EVE., JAN. 27 COLUMBUS Memorial Hall SUNDAY AFT., , JAN. 29 CINCINNATI Emory Auditorium MONDAY EVE., JAN. 30 DAYTON Memorial Hall TUESDAY EVE., JAN. 31 FORT WAYNE Palace Theatre WEDNESDAY EVE., FEB. 1 FORT WAYNE Palace Theatre THURSDAY EVE., FEB. 2 ROCK ISLAND Augustana Gymnasium FRIDAY EVE., FEB. 3 MINNEAPOLIS Auditorium MONDAY EVE., FEB. 6 Manager of the Choir : PAUL G. SCHMIDT, (Professor at St. Olaf College) General Manager of the Tours: MARTIN H. HANSON, 437 Fifth Avenue, New York : * :