Music for Youth in an Emerging Church
    by Gerhard M. Cartford (Volume 22: Page 162)

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century the composition of the Norwegian-American Lutheran Church presented a confusing picture. Indeed, it is incorrect to speak of a Lutheran church. Varying theological emphases among the immigrants had brought about the formation of several synods. The year 1890 provides a convenient milestone in this movement. At that time the United Norwegian Lutheran Church in America was formed, drawing together the groups that stood between the strongly orthodox and high-church Norwegian Synod and the more evangelistic and low-church Hauge’s Synod. In 1897 an aggressive faction split off from the United Church, forming the Lutheran Free Church, a group that shunned centralized authority, emphasizing rather the freedom of the individual congregation. {1}

The Norwegian Americans, like Lutherans everywhere, set a high value on the function of music in the life of the church. Sunday morning worship in the nineteenth century consisted, apart from the sermon, mainly of congregational singing. [163] Musical emphasis, consequently, was almost exclusively on hymns, and pastors deplored the quality of the singing and exhorted the people to do better. From time to time, articles appeared in the church press on the subject of kirkesangen (singing in the church) and how it might be improved. The number of church hymnals in regular use was about as great as the number of Lutheran synods.

Worship services were conducted in Norwegian, and the standard hymnals were Landstad’s Salmebog, which had been authorized for general use in the United Church and in Hauge’s Synod, and the hymnal published expressly for the Norwegian Synod, which was commonly known as Synodens salmebog. In addition, a few congregations still used Guldberg’s Salmebog. {2} These books, although generally satisfying to the older people, failed to meet the needs of the young, who thought the Lutheran hymns stodgy and uninteresting and who, furthermore, were becoming bilingual and wanted to sing hymns in English as well as in Norwegian.

In 1898, in response to this demand, two of the synods issued English hymnals. The United Church published The Church and Sunday School Hymnal, and the Norwegian Synod, Christian Hymns for Church, School, and Home. A third one in English appeared in the same year: Lutheran Hymnal for the Sunday School, edited by D. G. Ristad. In 1904 the United Church issued a Norwegian hymnbook for youth entitled Den lille pilegrim (The Little Pilgrim). These books represented somewhat belated efforts in a field which by this time had been well traversed by a score of clergymen [164] who had become part-time editors and publishers. It is their work which this article proposes to survey. {3}

From 1878 until 1914 a proliferation of books appeared containing songs designed to express Christian beliefs and aspirations in a less formal way than did the congregational hymnal. Many were issued specifically for young people. Most of the older Lutheran hymns dealt with doctrines fundamental to the faith. These the people were accustomed to singing in church, and many were dear to them. But toward the end of the nineteenth century there was an insistent demand for a new type of expression. It sprang from religious revivals, which emphasized individual experience as essential to Christian faith. With the revivals came songs that were more superficial and emotional than the traditional church hymn. These were known as aandelige sange (spiritual songs), and they presented a vivid contrast to those used in church. They moved in quicker tempo and employed sentimental harmonies and bouncing rhythms to attract young minds and hearts and "prepare" them to receive the spoken message.

Revival sermons dealt mainly with sin, conversion, and eternal life. Preoccupation with such aspects of Christianity, especially the last, undoubtedly accounts for the titles of many of these song collections: Hjemlandssange (Songs of the Homeland — i.e., heaven), Den syn gende pilegrim (The Singing Pilgrim), Vægterrøsten (The Cry of the Watchman), Israels sange (Songs of Israel, or heaven), Zions harpe (Harp of Zion). More than a touch of romanticism is involved in the persistent emphasis on the unattainable — for what is distant and therefore desirable. [165]

A number of books in this category, with music, were published through 1914. A partial list would include: Lars Lund and Gjermund Hoyme, Harpen I - Harpen IV (Chicago, 1878—88); M. Falk Gjertsen and Jonas Engberg, Firstemmige melodier til hjemlandssange (Chicago, 1879); A. Haagensen, Melodier til pilegrims sangeren (Chicago, 1881); B. B. Haugan and Chr. O. Brøhaugh, Vægterrøsten (Chicago, 1887); Carsten Woll, Kors og krone (Christiania, 1889); A. Haagensen and Chr. Treider, Israels sange (Chicago, 1890); T. S. Reimestad, Wilh. Pettersen, and H. Askeland, Sangbog for afholdsforeninger (Minneapolis, 1890); B. B. Haugan and T. S. Reimestad, Kamp melodier (Minneapolis, 1892); Chr. O. Brøhaugh, Harpelegeren (St. Paul, 1893); O. H. Quie, Fredsrøsten (Nerstrand, Minnesota, 1896); H. Langeland, Guitartoner (Minneapolis, 1896); T. S. Reimestad and M. Falk Gjertsen, Sangbogen (Minneapolis, 1897); Chr. O. Brøhaugh, Børnenes harpe (n.p., 1899); B. K. Birkeland, Fredsbasunen (Minneapolis, 1899); J. J. Skordalsvold and Waldemar Ager, Sangbog for afholdsforeninger (Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 1901); Free Church, Ungdomskvad og barnesange (Minneapolis, 1902); M. M. Gimse, Guitarlegeren (Minneapolis, 1903);

T. Nelson and D. O. Teasley, Zions seiers sange (St. Paul Park, 1906); H. F. Josephson, L. J. Pedersen, and C. B. Bjuge, Evangeli harpe (Chicago, 1906); L. Oscar Anderson and Johan Hilland, Nye og udvalgte sange (Minneapolis, 1908); Ulrikka Feldtmann Bruun, Den syn gende evangelist (Chicago, 1909); L. O. and O. M. Anderson, Nye og udvalgte sange (Minneapolis, 1912); 250 udvalgte norske og en gelske sange, published simultaneously in English under the title Selected Songs, edited by 0. H. Sletten, Thorvald Olsen, O. M. Anderson, and L. O. Anderson (Minneapolis, 1914). Den syngende pilegrim was published in Minneapolis in 1916. {4} [166]

These books were alike, varying principally in the extent to which they included chorales. The characteristics common to all will be studied in an examination of the four volumes of Harpen, which set the pattern for other books that followed. It was compiled by Pastors Gjermund Hoyme and Lars Lund. It might be well to discuss the editors of this volume and of some of the others. Similarities in background and education are worth observing.

Hoyme and Lund were born in Norway. Hoyme emigrated to the United States when very young and received his total education on the frontier. Lund grew up in Norway and attended a teachers’ seminary before emigrating. The two men became acquainted as students at Augsburg Seminary when it was moved from Marshall, Wisconsin, to Minneapolis in 1872. Lund also studied at Augustana College and Seminary in Paxton, Illinois. These academies and seminaries were training schools for leaders of the middle-of-the-road Norwegian Lutheran bodies. Hoyme and Lund later served neighboring parishes in Eau Claire and Menomonie, Wisconsin. It was then that they jointly compiled and published Harpen. Hoyme subsequently became the first president of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church.

Bernt B. Haugan, who, with Christian O. Brøhaugh, published Vægterrøsten, immigrated as a child and was educated in this country. He attended Red Wing Seminary in Minnesota, the preparatory school of Hauge’s Synod, and served out his pastorate in that synod. Haugan was a temperance lecturer as well as a minister, and he published a volume of temperance songs called Kamp melodier (Battle Melodies). Brøhaugh received his training in Norway. In America he became a pastor first in the Eielsen Synod, later in Hauge’s Synod. He published other music books, one a collection of religious songs arranged with guitar accompaniment.

M. Falk Gjertsen was born in Norway and came to America when he was seventeen. He, too, attended Augustana [167] Seminary in Paxton. He served in the United Church, then joined the Free Church, and spent his final years independent of all denominations. {5}

It will be observed that none of these men was a member of the Norwegian Synod, whose pastors, almost without exception, were trained in the classically and traditionally oriented seminaries in Norway and in St. Louis, and, later, at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. Three were members of Hauge’s Synod or of the Free Church. Of the two who belonged to the United Church, one received all his education in the New World. Lund was the only seminarist from Norway — the only one, with the possible exception of Brøhaugh, who might have acquired some knowledge of musical fundamentals and musicianship in the Norwegian tradition. This helps to explain the absence of a consistent standard in the books that they put out. The later publications, which appeared at the close of the century, showed improvement in harmonic treatment and writing. For them the editors had the professional assistance of such well-known Norwegian-American musicians as John Dahle, F. Melius Christiansen, and T. S. Reimestad. Before that time, the editors were the captives of their sources. If the original tune had been edited by a musician, they were fortunate. Often this was not the case, as the inconsistent harmonic treatment demonstrates. The editors must have taken the songs exactly as they found them.

All of the volumes of Harpen were published in Norwegian. The first, which appeared in 1878, contained 56 songs. Not all had tunes with the texts. The editors stated, in their foreword, that music was included because none of the books previously used in the Sunday schools had it. They promised to issue more volumes if the first met with favor. Harpen contained no familiar Lutheran hymns, but did include three well-known Christmas tunes — "Glade jul" (Silent Night), [168] "Deilig er den himmel blaa" (Bright and Glorious Is the Sky), and "Det kimer nu til julefest" (The Happy Christmas Comes Once More) — plus the English tune, "Martyrdom." There was almost no documentation of musical sources. {6}

The first volume was received so enthusiastically that two more printings were issued the same year. Volume 2 was included in the second of these printings, and contained two standard chorale tunes: "Kirken den er et gammelt hus" (Built on the Rock the Church Doth Stand), with a new text, and "O tænk naar engang samles skal" (O Happy Day When We Shall Stand, or Lobt Gott ihr Christen). A chorale, in the usual sense of the word, is a German or Scandinavian hymn tune dating from Reformation or early post-Reformation times. Most chorales are characterized by a rather simple, straightforward, unadorned type of melodic movement, which distinguishes them from the lighter, more lyrical hymn tunes of the nineteenth century. As the Norwegian language has no equivalent to the English word "hymn," all Norwegian hymn tunes come under the term koral. Lighter melodies would be called simply sange (songs).

The American tune, "Home, Sweet home," was also used, set to a sacred Norwegian text. Most of the songs were of the general caliber of the first volume. Oliver Larson was credited with several of the tunes; no other credits were given. {7} The second volume, like the first, contained 56 songs.

These two volumes, combined in one, by 1888 had sold twenty thousand copies. Because the editors were besieged by requests to publish more songs, they issued two additional volumes that year. All four were then bound into a single book. In answer to requests for instructional songs, the compilers included in volume 3 a great number of standard hymns, arranged for one, two, or three voices. Approximately half [169] of them were chorales. A contrast was provided by the tune, "Long, Long Ago." Also, perhaps for the first time in America, the Norwegian Christmas song, "Jeg er saa glad hver julekveld" (I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve) appeared with the tune now commonly associated with it. {8} Also included was "Sicilian Mariners," set to three texts, one each for Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.

Volume 4 was directed more specifically toward the choir than were any of the others. The songs were longer. There were 38 in all and among them was Dimitri Bortniansky’s "Cherubic Hymn." His music stood in sharp contrast to that in the rest of the volume.

What characterizes the music in these songbooks? It has a monotonous quality, resulting from the fact that it is shot through with melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic clichés. Harmonies remain static, while melodies repeat rhythmic patterns. Rhythm depends for variety on stereotyped passages of quick, short-value notes and dotted-note figures. Harmonies seldom venture far beyond the most elementary chord relationships, and often rely on the sentimental seventh chord. Chromatic progressions (movement by semitones) are used for their own sake, adding ingratiating harmonies that contribute nothing significant to the musical structure. The result is a sweetness that soon cloys. Parallel thirds and sixths appear frequently, as does the hackneyed melodic skip of the sixth. Choruslike effects, typical of standard American gospel songs, are achieved by holding a harmony in one set of voices while another sings a rhythmic pattern in the same harmony. All these techniques, when used excessively and without imagination, combine to dull musical sensitivity and stunt musical growth.

These songbooks, though widely used, met with serious opposition. In a typically forthright statement, the Norwegian Synod passed a resolution in 1896 which read, "Books [170] such as Harpen, by Hoyme and Lund, and Frydetoner, by B. B. Haugan, ought not to be distributed by the Lutheran Publishing House in Decorah." In 1901 the United Church also passed a resolution, but mentioned no names. It read, "The assembled delegates deplore the fact that there are congregations in our synod that prefer ‘gospel hymns’ to our Lutheran church music, because most of the so-called ‘gospel hymns’ are not suited either musically or textually for use in Lutheran services or Sunday schools. The delegates see it as the duty of the Sunday schools to teach the children to sing the congregational hymns and to take part in the service. Therefore, they hold that the contents of congregational and Sunday school hymnals should be of a similar nature." {9}

"Gospel hymns" were not defined by the delegates. Under the circumstances, the subject would have been a delicate one to debate — with Hoyme, who was then president of the United Church, sitting in the moderator’s chair. Even supposing that by 1901 Hoyme did have second thoughts about the value of Harpen, there was little he could do about it. The demand for the book was enormous; in 1906 it had its twenty-fifth printing. The situation was not devoid of irony either, for better books than Harpen were available. But they had been published by Erik Jensen, a United Church pastor whom Hoyme, as president, had been forced to discipline in 1893.

Harpen was, on the whole, better than some of its successors; but it inaugurated a style of congregational music that persisted for decades and reached into every part of the church — even to foreign mission fields where Norwegian Americans worked. It is significant that when Hoyme and Lund decided to include songs specially chosen for the instruction of the young, they drew on the chorales of the [171] church. In all these publications, in some more than others, the chorale served as the anchor which prevented the people from slipping their liturgical and musical moorings completely.

Erik Jensen was born and grew up in Norway. He attended a teachers’ seminary and taught school for six years before emigrating to America. This experience stood him in good stead later when he began publishing songbooks for children. In this country he attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and was ordained in 1870. He published several volumes of music for use in the churches; because they warrant examination in some detail, they will be treated individually.

With the foregoing discussion in mind, one need only to turn to the foreword of Jensen’s first book, Sangbog for børn og ungdom, to realize that as an editor and compiler he had an original point of view. {10} He began, " Wishing to say something in praise of the noble art of song, I find that I can do no better than to quote Dr. Martin Luther." Several long excerpts from Luther’s writings and table conversation about music followed. Jensen then plunged into his own section of the foreword, and outlined, at some length, his aims and hopes for the book. His ultimate goal was "to broaden the understanding of our church hymn tunes and improve the singing in church and congregation."

Sangbog, aside from its musical superiority to the books discussed earlier, was unique in that it contained songs for secular as well as sacred occasions. Jensen thought, quite rightly, that singing good secular music not only was enjoyable but would contribute to an appreciation of and demand for better music in church as well. He said as much in his foreword, where he maintained the tradition of Luther and other great figures in church music. He himself was not an [172] accomplished musician, but he understood something of what music should be in the life of a Christian. By differentiating between sacred and secular, Jensen achieved what the other compilers had striven for. He provided attractive tunes and catchy rhythms, but set this music to secular texts where it was appropriate. Furthermore, the tunes he chose have a ring of authenticity lacking in other collections.

The full title of the book indicates the use for which it was projected. In English it reads, "Songbook for Children and Youth: A Collection of Two-, Three-, and Four-Part Songs for Male Chorus and Mixed Chorus, for Use in the Home, School, Church, and Singing Societies, and for Festive Occasions, Together with a Practical Singing Method." The book has three sections that were published separately as well as together. Sections 1 and 2 have three-voice settings which can be reduced to two by leaving the lowest line unsung. The three-voice settings may be sung in either the treble or the bass octave, and thus are suitable for children, women, or men. Section 3 has four-part songs.

With only a few exceptions, Jensen documents his sources throughout. He uses many folk tunes. There is also music by such German song writers as J. A. P. Schulz and H. G. Nageli, and from Scandinavians like Ludvig M. Lindeman, C. E. F. Weyse, and A. P. Berggreen. Included are "Solen gaar bak aasen ne," from Waldemar Thrane’s early nineteenth-century Norwegian opera, Fjeldeventyret (The Mountain Adventure) and the song, "Brudefærden i Hardanger" (Bridal Journey in Hardanger), by Halfdan Kjerulf. Sangbog contains 41 traditional chorales, many in the old rhythmic form, besides some later hymn tunes from Norway and Denmark. Jensen provides enough tunes in various meters to make the volume serve as a temporary chorale book. {11} He points out in the foreword that with these tunes one could sing 370 [173] hymns in Guldberg, 366 in the Norwegian Synod hymnal, and 447 in Landstad. On the last page he includes the standard congregational responses used in the Sunday service. Jensen’s singing method, which is modeled on a publication by J. D. Behrens, is a technical introduction to the use of the voice and the reading of music; he uses both solfeggio and letter systems. {12} He includes instruction on conducting patterns as well as a number of scale studies and exercises.

In Sangbog, Jensen had issued a book well conceived to meet the requirements of a church that was beginning to emerge from a purely immigrant status. It had many uses, lent itself to enjoyment as well as to instruction, and served church, school, and home. By 1882 it had sold four thousand copies and was being reissued for the third time. It achieved recognition from Ole Bull — a high accolade — and, according to a reviewer in Kirketidende, the organ of the Norwegian Synod, Sangbog was responsible for awakening interest in good church music among the people. {13} In the 1880’s and 1890’s, the 203 songs, hymns, and chorales must have presented a fair challenge to Norwegian-American youth.

In 1879 Jensen published his Koralbog (Chorale Book) in Chicago, basing it on Ludvig M. Lindeman’s Koralbog of 1877. It was designed to furnish tunes for the various text editions of hymnals in use among the Norwegian-American Lutherans. In 1886 he published Scandinavian Songs, a collection of national and folk airs with English and Norwegian texts, arranged for mixed choirs. {14} His next publication for youth was Børneharpen. It was issued in parts, beginning in 1889. One of Jensen’s reasons for putting out books one part at a time was to make it less painful for the purchaser to buy the entire volume. {15} The first three parts had appeared by [174] 1890; the fourth was issued in 1894. At various stages of coming off the press, they were published in four different places: Chicago; Story City, Iowa; Decorah, Iowa; and Minneapolis.

In general, Børneharpen is similar to Sangbog. It begins with a brief quotation from Luther, then gives a fairly detailed foreword on singing technique. This is followed by a section on theory, partly repeating, partly expanding what had appeared in Sangbog. Jensen uses one- and two-part songs as illustrations and exercises for the theoretical discussion. Many of the songs contained in Børneharpen are classic chorales. L. M. Lindeman is well represented and the book has many folk tunes. When part i was published, Jensen gave it the subtitle Musik-ABC. Part 2 duplicates the first part of Sangbog, carrying that subtitle; but Jensen changed the form of some of the chorales and added a supplement of 37 numbers, 21 of them hymns, of which 3 are in English. For part 3 of Børneharpen Jensen had John Dahle as a collaborator. {16} This section, aimed primarily at the Sunday school, contains only sacred texts. Many are chorales, some are hymns in English. They are arranged for unison or four-part singing.

Part 4 is an expansion of the same plan. It opens with a liturgy for the Sunday school. Jensen here reveals his feeling for tradition by using the "Agnus Dei" hymn, "O Guds lamm" (O Lamb of God) as a confessional hymn, following it with a brief declaration of grace and the "Gloria in Excelsis" hymn, "Alene Gud i det høieste" (All Glory Be to God on High). He also includes the opening portion of the Communion liturgy ("Lift up your hearts. It is meet and right," and so on) in his service outline. Part 4 closes with the musical portions of the Sunday morning ritual, minus the Kyrie [175] ("Lord, have mercy on us"). At the end of the book is a topical index with a list of seasonal hymns.

In 1890 Jensen and Dahle collaborated in editing a collection of texts to be sung to the tunes in the first three volumes of Børneharpen. They called this Sange til børneharpen (Songs for the Children’s Harp). They took over a collection that had been started by the school committee of the Norwegian Synod and expanded it to include 202 hymns, of which 36 were in English. In the foreword Jensen suggests using the hymns in conjunction with teaching confirmation classes and Sunday school. He states that the precepts of the catechism and the Bible would make a stronger impression if they could be sung. He urges pastors to teach young people the kjærnevers, the core verse, of a hymn, rather than the whole hymn, as it would be easier thus to master the song. Many of the texts of Sange are also found in the melody books, but the text edition nevertheless substantially increased the usefulness of Børneharpen.

Since the various volume and title designations in the Børneharpen series present a confusing picture, they are summarized here: (1) Børneharpen: Musik-ABC (Chicago, 1889); (2) Børneharpen: Sangbog for børn (Story City, Iowa, 1890), identical, with the exceptions mentioned, to Sangbog for børn, part 1 (1878); (3) with John Dahle, Børneharpen: En sangbog for uge- og søndagsskolen og hjemmet (A Song-book for Weekday, Sunday School and Home — Story City and Decorah, Iowa, 1890); (4) Børneharpen: Sange og musik for søndagsskolen, ugeskolen, hjemmet, kirkekor, høiskoler, afholdskor, o.s.v. (Songs with Music for the Sunday School, Weekday School, Home, Church Choir, High Schools, Temperance Society Choir, and so forth — Decorah, Iowa, and Minneapolis, 1894); (5) Sange til børneharpen (Songs for the Children’s Harp — Story City, Iowa, 1890). The last had texts only. {17} [176]

Jensen published three additional books after Børneharpen. In 1894 he issued Religiøse korsange for mandsstemmer (Religious Choral Songs for Male Voices — Minneapolis). This was followed two years later by Klokketoner (Bell Tones — Minneapolis). In 1899 he turned once again — for the last time — to what had become his publishing specialty: collections of music for youth. His De unges sangbog contains 400 texts, including all of those in Sange til børneharpen. {18} It has 173 tunes, of which 70 are chorales and hymns. For some reason Jensen did not document his sources in this volume. He printed it in Dutch-door fashion, with the pages divided horizontally in the middle so that the tunes in the upper half of the pages could be matched with texts in the lower half. He reissued the book in 1903.

In general excellence of content and presentation, Jensen never improved on his Sangbog of 1878, although he came close to it in Børneharpen. His record as an independent editor of music for the church and school is remarkable. In it all we can recognize the churchman because of his emphasis on the chorale and on training the young, the inclusion of congregational liturgical elements, and an awareness of church seasons and festivals.

The publishing of unofficial, privately edited songbooks of the type discussed here decreased sharply after the turn of the century, when the various synods, already in early stages of merger talks, finally set up committees whose joint task it was to produce a hymnal in English for all synods. Three of the four Norwegian Lutheran church bodies co-operated: The United Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, the Norwegian Synod, and Hauge’s Synod. The committees, which were made up of outstanding pastors and of laymen who were considered competent and had demonstrated an interest in church music and hymnody, met intermittently in individual joint sessions from 1901 to 1912. [177]

Their efforts resulted in The Lutheran Hymnary, published in Minneapolis in 1913, the first common hymnal for the Norwegian Lutherans in America. This was followed in 1916 by The Lutheran Hymnary, Junior, a smaller edition, with text in both English and Norwegian, of the parent book. Its purpose was essentially the same as that of the books discussed in the present analysis — to provide for the musical needs and wants of the young — but it represented the riper effort of a church body which had benefited from the pioneering efforts of its dedicated earlier members.

Notes

<1> The complete story of the formations, splits, and reunions that marked the progress of Lutheranism among Norwegian Americans is recorded in E. Clifford Nelson and Eugene L. Fevold, The Lutheran Church among Norwegian-Americans: A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, 1960).

<2> All these hymnals contained texts only. M. B. Landstad’s Kirkesalmebog (Christiania, 1870) was reissued in America as a joint publication of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church and Hauge’s Synod under the title Salmebog for lutherske kristne i Amerika (Minneapolis, 1894, 1895). The hymnbook of the Norwegian Synod, Psalmebog for kirke og hus, udgiven paa foranstaltning af Synoden for den Norsk-evangelisk-lutherske Kirke i Amerika, was published in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1870. L. Harbøe and O. H. Guldberg’s Psalmebog (Copenhagen, 1778) was reissued by rival synods in separate editions in America in 1854, one coming out in Norway, Illinois, the other in Inmansvile, Wisconsin.

<3> The Church and Sunday School Hymnal (Minneapolis, 1898); Christian Hymns for Church, School, and Home (Decorah, Iowa, 1898); D. G. Ristad, Lutheran Hymnal for the Sunday School (Chicago, 1898); Den lille pilegrim: Sangbog for søndags- og religionsskolen (The Little Pilgrim: Songbook for Sunday and Religious School— Minneapolis, 1904). On the music of the immigrant church, up to the publishing of The Lutheran Hymnary in 1913, see the author’s "Music in the Norwegian Lutheran Church: A Study of Its Development in Norway and Its Transfer to America, 1825—1917," an unpublished doctoral dissertation filed at the University of Minnesota, 1961; the material presented here is taken from it.

<4> With the exception of Zions seiers sange, which is in the University of Minnesota Library, all these books are available in the libraries of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul. English songs in this category are not listed here; they are found in the standard American collections of the time.

<5> Biographical information is from O. M. Norlie, Who’s Who among Pastors in All the Norwegian Lutheran Synods of America, 1843—1 927, 86, 179, 225, 268, 357 (Minneapolis, 1928).

<6> For identification, hymn tunes have names; these are found in the alphabetical index that is included in most hymnals.

<7> Oliver Larson taught music and directed the student chorus at Augsburg Seminary about 1880; O. M. Norlie, School Calendar, 1824—1924: A Who’s Who among Teachers in the Norwegian Lutheran Synods of America, 412 (Minneapolis, 1924).

<8> Present-day Norwegian Americans would probably smile to think of singing that text to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne," as Gjertsen set it in his Sangbogen of 1897.

<9> Beretning om det 24de ord entlige synodemøde af Synoden for den Norskevangelisk-lutherske Kirke i Amerika, 96 (Decorah, 1896); Beretning om det tolvte aarsm øde for Den Forenede Norske Lutherske Kirke i Amerika, 207 (Minneapolis, 1901). Frydetoner (Joyful Tunes) was a popular collection of choral music edited by K. C. Holter (Minneapolis, 1891).

<10> Sangbog for børn og ungdom: Samling af to-, tre-, og firstemmige sange, for mandskor og blandet kor, til brug for hjemmet, skolen, kirken, og sang-foreninger, samt ved festlige anledninger, tilligemed en praktisk sanglære (Chicago, 1878).

<11> The organist, using this collection, could match tune to text by choosing a tune with the same number of metrical feet as the text. Traditionally, European congregations have sung hymns from text editions, the organist having a book containing the harmonized tunes. This is the chorale book.

<12> Johan D. Behrens, Sanglære for skoler (Christiania, 1868). Behrens was a Norwegian musician and educator.

<13> Evangelisk Luthersk Kirketidende (Decorah), January 5, 1883.

<14> Koralbog was published in Chicago, Scandinavian Songs in Decorah.

<15> This practice has caused confusion in the listing of Jensen’s books, some of which appear twice in any summary of his publications. Jensen further complicated matters by giving each volume a subtitle. See lists in P. M. Clasoe, "A Singing Church," in Norwegian-American Studies and Records, 13:101 (1943); Norlie, School Calendar, 345; and Norlie, Who’s Who among Pastors, 281. All are misleading.

<16> John Dahle, a Norwegian-American musician, educator, and journalist, lived for many years in the Upper Midwest.

<17> The fourth item is undoubtedly the Sangbog for søndagsskolen, often referred to as a separate publication of 1894.

<18> De unges sangbog for sø ndags- og hverdagsskolen, ungdommen, hjemmet, osv. (Songbook for Youth for Sunday and Weekday School, for Young People, the Home, and so forth — Minneapolis, 1899).