The Concordia Choir
Encyclopedia
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
choirs in the world. The ensemble is a highly selective mixed-voice choral ensemble composed entirely of students at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota
Moorhead, Minnesota
Moorhead is a city in Clay County, Minnesota, United States, and the largest city in northwest Minnesota. The population was 38,065 at the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Clay County....
.
The choir has had only four conductors since its founding in 1920. The choir rose in prominence during the long tenure of Paul J. Christiansen
Paul J. Christiansen
Paul Joseph Christiansen was a noted American choral conductor and composer. As the youngest son of F. Melius Christiansen, he was brought up into the Lutheran Choral Tradition and quickly developed his own style of conducting and composing that furthered the tradition started by his father...
, who conducted the choir for almost 50 years, from 1937-1986. Since 1986, the choir has been conducted by René Clausen
René Clausen
René Clausen is an American composer, conductor of The Concordia Choir, and associate professor of music at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota...
.
In addition to frequent appearances on campus throughout the academic year, the choir tours annually throughout the United States every spring. It has performed in many of the country's finest musical venues, including Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and the Kennedy Center. The choir also regularly tours internationally. During the 2010-2011 season, the Choir will tour South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
.
Orchestra Hall (Minneapolis)
Orchestra Hall, located at Nicollet Mall and 12th Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, is home to the Minnesota Orchestra. The Hall was built in 1974 and opened for the 1974 concert season...
in Minneapolis. This concert is heard and seen on many public radio and television stations throughout the United States each year.
The choir has released numerous recordings, available through Concordia Recordings. Many different genres are represented in the choir's discography. Critic David Vernier of Classics Today gave a perfect rating to the choir's album of 20th century masterpieces, In the New Moon, saying, "Choral music fans are in for a real treat--and those who choose to pass on this exemplary program and its rarely heard masterpieces will just have to be satisfied with their aesthetically diminished lives..."
History of the Concordia Choir "50 Years With Paul J. Christiansen"
The Concordia Choir
for 50 years The Concordia Choir was conducted by Paul J. Christiansen
Paul J. Christiansen
Paul Joseph Christiansen was a noted American choral conductor and composer. As the youngest son of F. Melius Christiansen, he was brought up into the Lutheran Choral Tradition and quickly developed his own style of conducting and composing that furthered the tradition started by his father...
, son of renowned choral musician F. Melius Christiansen
F. Melius Christiansen
F. Melius Christiansen was a Norwegian-born violinist and choral conductor in the Lutheran choral tradition.-Background:...
. During his career that spanned the years 1937 to 1987, Christiansen demanded and achieved the highest level of technical brilliance from his 60-voice choirs, earning praise from critics in this country and abroad for the precision of their concerts. Christiansen influenced generations of choral conductors and arrangers through his teaching, nationwide choral schools, concert tours, and his numerous and familiar compositions and arrangements.
The Legacy Begins
The tradition of The Concordia Choir is deeply rooted in the history of Concordia College, Moorhead
Concordia College, Moorhead
Concordia College is a private liberal arts school located in Moorhead, Minnesota, United States. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and offers bachelors' degrees in the arts and music, as well as a master's degree in education. The college was founded by Norwegian...
, which was founded in 1891 by Norwegian immigrants who desired a Christian education for their children. As a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, music - as praise to the glory of God - has traditionally played an important role in student life at Concordia. Early in its history, for instance, a song festival was the eagerly awaited highlight of each winter term. The first presentation of a complete oratorio was 1893 in nearby 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...
, by the Concordia choral class led by Professor John Dahle. The forerunner to the choir was organized in 1920 by Professor Agnes Skartvedt, who selected a 16-voice a cappella ensemble and began giving concerts in a few nearby western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota towns. The group quickly became artistic ambassadors for the college.
By 1921 the choir had been enlarged to 50 voices and toured seven small western Minnesota towns. Proceeds from his and several other early concerts allowed the college to purchase a concert grand piano that was used for recitals, chapel services, rehearsals and concerts for more than 30 years. In 1923 Professor Herman Monson, who had directed military bands for the Army during World War I, became chair of the music department. he soon developed a strong appreciation for choral music and built the choir into the premiere performing and touring group in the region. Young people from nearby small towns and farms enrolled at Concordia in order to sing and tour in Monson's choirs. Traveling by bus over muddy roads and braving inclement weather, the choir performed to enthusiastic and overflow audiences in North Dakota and Minnesota, earning the title of "The Pride of the Northwest." In 1926 the choir toured the West Coast and presented the featured performance at the International Luther League Convention in Seattle. In 1933 its performance with the Minneapolis Symphony was broadcast over WCCO radio. On his last tour with the choir in 1937, Professor Monson counseled: "The purpose of this choir is to spread the Word of God through song. We make this trip not merely to have a good time but to publish the Gospel."
The 1937 tour also yielded a prophecy that was soon to be fulfilled with the arrival of the choir's new 22 year-old conductor, Paul J. Christiansen. A glowing newspaper account of the tour said: "and may it not be safely predicted that from these brilliant beginnings, The Concordia Choir - which has found the material for its ranks from the farms and little towns - may yet reap its laurels from far and wide and at some future time be heard with the same degree of respectful attention within the concerts of Europe's musical centers as they are now being heard in the prairie towns of North Dakota."
The Paul J. Christiansen Era Begins
It was against this background of local acclaim that Paul J. Christiansen began his career. Coming from one of America's most prominent musical families, Christiansen knew what it would take to transform the choir into an internationally known group. He developed a special sound, a distinctive sound, that would mark his choirs for a half century.
With the support of the college for the adequate amounts of time and resources that were necessary to create the atmosphere he desired, Christiansen took control of an already good choir and began making it a great one. Christiansen made his students, who were used to hard work, work even harder. Said one choir member, "He seems to have every chord fixed in his mind beforehand and when we match this, he feels it can be improved upon and we go striving again for new perfection."
Christiansen's daily two-hour rehearsals were legendary for their rigor. His well of energy and intense drive extracted precision from his students and instilled in them the will to succeed however high the price. His lean and athletic frame, quiet and brisk demeanor and demanding style terrified most students. Still, upwards of 400 students would annually audition for the 60 to 65 places in his choir, knowing full well they would give their hearts and souls to this man in exchange for the opportunity to experience the exhilaration of singing a perfectly executed phrase. Christiansen's choirs were composed of individuals who were often talented, always competitive, and willing to work. "Art needs conditions." Christiansen affirmed. "and one of these is the time you have with the students. All negotiations as to their involvement in other campus activities stop when it comes to the hours which must be devoted to rehearsal."
Christiansen finished high school early and graduated from St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College is a coeducational, residential, four-year, private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after Olaf II of Norway,...
at 19. Believing a career as a concert pianist awaited him, he studied at Oberlin (Ohio) and the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, New York. But he quickly gave up the piano and turned to his greater love of conducting and composition as his life's work. "I didn't have all the attributes necessary, the physical, mental and musical talents, as a pianist for the concert stage," he said in later years.
Despite his youthful lack of experience, Christiansen was ready to test his own ideas in choral conducting and arranging when a letter from the president of Concordia College arrived, offering him the chance to chair the four-member music department, direct the orchestra, conduct the choir, teach courses in harmony and conducting, give lessons and keep the pianos tuned.
While Christiansen never set out to emulate his famous father, he was always compared to F. melius Christiansen throughout his own lengthy and equally brilliant career. "Dad's St. Olaf choirs were so great because of his training and his background studying all of the great composers in piano and orchestra literature," Paul J. once explained. "he had put symphony standards to his choir and as a result performances were as dignified as a symphony's."
Continuing the Family Tradition
F. Melius Christiansen
F. Melius Christiansen
F. Melius Christiansen was a Norwegian-born violinist and choral conductor in the Lutheran choral tradition.-Background:...
, founder of the St. Olaf Choir
St. Olaf Choir
The St. Olaf Choir, a 75 voice mixed ensemble, is the touring a cappella choir of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. Officially founded in 1912 by music faculty member F. Melius Christiansen as the St. Olaf Lutheran Choir, it began as an outgrowth of the local St. John's Lutheran Church,...
at Northfield, Minn., was a classically educated musician who came to the United States when it became clear he would be passed over as organist at his home church in Larvik, Norway. Recognized for his indelible influence on modern choral music, F. Melius was influential in creating the a cappella choral style in the first half of the 20th Century that is widely practiced throughout the world today. It is his arrangement of "Beautiful Savior" which stands as the signature piece for bothe the St. Olaf and Concordia choirs. Paul J. closed each of his concerts with "Beautiful Savior" because "Dad did it so many times I just figured it was the thing to do."
F. Melius trained his son musically starting at age five after Paul J. showed promise by pounding out some chords on the family piano. Christiansen said his father's influence was more in the ideals of sound than style. Radio broadcasts of symphony concerts were common entertainment in his boyhood home and furthered Paul J.'s interest in intonation and tone color. "That is what I measure by. I'm so anxious for a beautiful tone. That has been my ideal for the choir - to maintain that level of just sound that a major symphony gets," said Christiansen. The ideal has been admiringly called the "Concordia Sound."
Christiansen would regularly spend what appeared to be excessive lengths of time working on a phrase or a pronunciation. It wasn't a sense of the perfectionist that made him dwell on small sections of a piece. "It is so far from that. You try to get it reasonably in tune, a reasonably satisfying tone color and phrasing, and all those things that go into music. I tell students always to ask 'Can this be better?' I've never found a time when it couldn't."
No, it wasn't perfection that Paul J. Christiansen was striving for all those years. Music, he felt, made the world a happier place.
Touring Brought An International Reputation
After Christiansen took control of the choir in 1937, he lengthened the annual tour to 24 days, visiting all regions of the choir in 1937, he lengthened the annual tour to 24 days, visiting all regions of the country. World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
halted touring for a time and filling out the choir often became a challenge with so many young men in the service. He frequently shared students with his brother, Jake, the Concordia football and basketball coach at the time. "We had 15 men in the choir out of 60 on campus. Jake and I had to divvy up the men. He had his regular basketball five and then his choir five. We had to juggle things to do what was best for the college."
By 1948 The Concordia Choir was in the upper echelon of American choirs. Students anxiously auditioned for the choir and talented vocalists eagerly enrolled at Concordia, often as a result of hearing the choir on tour. This brought students from many states to the campus and expanded Christiansen's talent base. As touring resumed following the war, the length increased to nearly four weeks. The first time the choir sang in New York, a critic wrote, "Seldom do choral groups attain the ideal of perfect execution. One did in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
last night." During the 1957 tour it became the first choir to sing in the rotunda of the nation's Capitol. In 1959 the choir sang at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
headquarters and received a standing ovation in New York City's Town Hall. In 1965 the choir sang in Philharmonic Hall
Philharmonic Hall
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall is a concert hall in Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building...
at Lincoln Center and in Los Angeles it recorded at 20th Century Fox studios.
Winter, spring, or summer The Concordia Choir proclaimed God's praises to thousands of people every year. On their risers in their deep purple robes, or on the streets of the big cities, they thrilled themselves and others with the joy of singing, giving serious performances in great concert halls or swinging into impromptu concerts on street corners, in state capitols, or to fellow travelers stranded on the road. Perhaps the choir's greatest acclaim came in Europe, just as the prairie newspaper editor predicted it would several years earlier. The 1949 European tour laid the groundwork for firmly establishing the choir and its intense conductor with an international reputation. Newspaper critics in Norway were "enthralled" with the choir and the royal family invited the group to the palace for a private audience.
The 1959 tour was an even greater success and the choir received high praise wherever it performed. Full houses greeted the choir at 32 concerts in Norway. The choir had received so much attention that when it arrived for a performance in Holland the fire brigade and police had to handle the crowd trying to gain admittance to the concert hall. The acclaim continued on to Amsterdam and to the World's Fair in Belgium and into Germany, home to some of the world's greatest choral composers. Finally the choir reached the world-famous Vienna Music Festival in Austria where 116 choirs from eight countries were participating. Here, where the world's music elite had gathered, The Concordia Choir sang on opening day of the festival and was surprised to receive a foot-stomping ovation. The normally polite, rhythmic applause had been replaced with wild enthusiasm for the music. Indeed, this was the year in which the promise predicted for the choir in 1937 was finally fulfilled. The students from small towns and the farms of the Midwest had been recognized in the classical music capital of Europe and had received the highest praise. The Concordia Choir and Paul J. Christiansen now had achieved international acclaim and appreciation.
The Concordia Christmas Concerts
While the international tours were certainly glamorous, perhaps the most consistent source of acclaim for the choir is its participation in the annual Concordia Christmas Concert, the college's Christmas gift to the Midwest.
Beginning a creative collaboration with art professor Cyrus Running in 1940, Christiansen used a new theme each year to present a seamless, worshipful story to audiences on the campus in Moorhead and in Orchestra Hall
Orchestra Hall
Orchestra Hall may refer to:*Symphony Center, home of Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Illinois*Orchestra Hall *Orchestra Hall...
in Minneapolis. Visuals in the form of huge murals - often spectacular - were used from the very beginning and were both practical and artistic. "It started because we needed a sounding board in a big building. Why not make it decorative? Why not make it contribute to the text? So we used whatever could impress the idea best, to make it convey the message," said Christiansen. "Each one is different. Each one is special and related to the text. You have to be willing to take chances." The magnificent murals - newly designed and painted each year by a crew of dedicated volunteers - are now begin created by Concordia alumnus David Hetland, one of Running's last students who has gained a wide reputation for liturgical design. Each Christmas, more than 15,000 people attend the Moorhead performances and 5,000 more attend in Minneapolis.
A Fierce Determination to Succeed
Throughout his career Christiansen also operated the Paul J. Christiansen Choral Schools, a summer session held on various college campuses that attracted choral directors from coast to coast. Before he retired in 1987, Christiansen received honorary degrees from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.; Capital University at Columbus, Ohio; Adams State College, Alamosa, Colo.; and St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. He received awards from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, minn.; the Red River Valley Historical Society, Moorhead, Minn,; and the St. Olaf Medal from the government of Norway.
Christiansen arranged hundreds of pieces and wrote uncounted compositions throughout his career. A largely private person, he carries a sense of Nordic modesty and a shyness about him which friends and colleagues attest to, but also a fierce determination to succeed. With his shock of crisp, white hair, his square jaw and rough-hewn face, his robust and solid appearance, Christiansen in retirement still exudes the austerity of a determined taskmaster who demanded absolute obedience and attention when work was to be done and to whom incompetence was not tolerated.
Strong self-discipline is a Christiansen family trait. "Paul J. will spend any amount of time on even the smallest detail until he has it the way he wants it," a colleague commented in describing Christiansen's dedication to work. Another said, "Paul J. directs with his whole being. Body movements, facial expressions, his eyes, his mouth and his delicate hands are all used, separately or in combination, to convey his desires to the choir." One moment he is seated at the piano, directing with one hand while playing accompaniment with the other. Then he is in front of the choir, crouching low to the floor to emphasize a quality. "Don't fight it so much," he commands. "Your're singing about God, and he doesn't have to fight anything."
In his remarkable career that spanned 50 years, Paul J. Christiansen insisted music come first and art be served for art's sake. He preached musical integrity to the nth degree. His a cappella choirs won acclaim both here and abroad. He is recognized as a foremost authority on the application of artistic discipline to choral work. Indeed, Christiansen's choirs always strived for perfect phrasing and execution, thus elimination distractions from the music and text and making the religious message the central purpose of the concert. His choirs arguably didn't always have great solo voices. Instead, Christiansen's greatest concern was in the character of the singer, the secret worth of every individual. The voices he selected fit together into a magnificent whole that has made The Concordia Choir sound so great and its performances become so memorable.
This is the legacy of Paul J. Christiansen.