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"The Notables, Messiah Week, et cetera"
~ An account by Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg
~ An account by Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg
There were 350 articles that Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg wrote for the Lindsborg News-Record that found them creating five little books, her "anthology." Her 1976 "Why Lindsborg?" is one of them. It was created for the Lindsborg, Kansas, American Revolution Bicentennial Committee in 1976. The following account is found on page 41 of this book. It is this most interesting Lindsborg and Bethany College tale answering the questions of why so many notables came to Lindsborg!
THE NOTABLES ~ Messiah Week, et cetera
by
Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg
As the 1882 “Messiah Week" tradition evolved into greater and greater proportions, more and more notables from (among other places) New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco appeared as attractions for the event. This should not be regarded as accidental. It happened because there were those who could write publicity and because there were those who took care of the correspondents personally after they arrived in Lindsborg to cover the events.
Dr. Swensson’s travels and early writings were always pointed in the direction of giving Bethany College and its welfare plenty of good publicity. (He was gone so much of the time that his congregation in Lindsborg began to complain and grumble about it, but the minute he arrived back in town, all was forgiven. Discontent disappeared and was forgotten; he was that beloved.) He believed with his whole being in the College and its Messiah Festival.
In 1893, his wanderings and arguments convinced a young and versatile artist and non-professional writer in Omaha, Nebraska, a literary sparring partner of his in Chicago’s Svensk-Amerikanaren, that he should come to Lindsborg to live and work. G. N. Malm, a native of Jönköping, Sweden, arrived in Lindsborg, bag and baggage and bride in that year. He set up a successful interior decorating business and entered enthusiastically into community and college projects.
[Note the beginning of a promotion campaign through correspondence.]
Carl Swensson, with his untiring efforts, and Malm, with his fantastic imagination, suggestions and energies, their hospitable wives and their many cooperative friends in the Male Chorus and elsewhere were responsible for establishing the custom of bringing outstanding people to Lindsborg. They laid the foundations of much of Lindsborg's musical tradition. Fortunately, there were those -- and there have continued to be those -- in Bethany‘s conservatory and music departments who could back up their confidence and presumption; notably Samuel Thorstenberg, Hagbard Brase, Oscar Thorsen, Oscar Lofgren, Thure Jaderborg, Lloyd Spear, Lambert Dahlsten, Elmer Copley, Walter Peltz and others.
Both Swensson and Malm wrote for long hours day and night. Sometimes it was personal correspondence; sometimes it was material to be published. They wrote for Korsbaneret, Prarieblomman, Forgat-Mig-Ej and Svensk-Amerikaneran-Tribune (Chicago). They lured such people [the correspondents] as Carl Sundbeck, Charles Peterson, Mr. Linder, Mr. Norman, Eric Westman and Mr. John Selby (Kansas City Star) to Lindsborg for Easter Week performances.
They invited them into their homes during the festival week. Here the correspondents stayed, wrote their columns and dined on home-cooked Swedish Fare. Year in and year out this went on. It was a “Hush, hush; quiet now!" time for the Malm and Swensson children, but they never forgot the contacts and friendships made in those remarkable days.
When Dr. Swensson died in 1904, Dr. Ernst Pihlblad (Dr. Swennson's successor, also a writer) and Bethany alumni who were professional and talented writers gave generously of their time and talents. The established tradition was carried on and intensified. This publicity was contagious. It spread to other publications and other writers in Musical America, Etude Magazine (1953), McClure‘s Magazine, The Everyday Magazine (St. Louis Dispatch), The Christian Science Monitor, The American Swedish Monthly, Readers Digest (1944), Life Magazine, Ford Times, Recreation (1944), Ladies Home Journal, Time Magazine (1939), and many others.
Julius Lincoln, Dr. Swensson, Carl Sundeck, Ernst Pihlblad, Ernst Olson, G.N. Malm, Terrance Pihlblad, Emory Lindquist, Elvira Larson, Jessie Ash Arndt, F.A. Behymer, Oscar Lofgren, Elmer T. Peterson*, Howard Turtle, Irene Swenson, Ellen Strom, Anna ("News-Annie") Carlson**, and Prince Wilhelm of Sweden were among the contributors of articles about Lindsborg to the many publications. The Life magazine coverage in 1939 was brought about by Herbert Gehr, a photographer for the magazine at the time. It featured not only Lindsborg's 1939 "Messiah Week," but Lindsborg's artists as well. (Oscar Gunnarson's carving and the real-life model, local undertaker, Arvid Danielson, were featured on the Life cover in 1956 with a story on the artist and more pictures inside.)
[Note Opera Singers and Musicians]
Some of the noted musicians who have shared their talents with Lindsborg are: Amelita Galli-Curci--1918, Lillian Nordica--1902 and 1904, Johanna Gadski-Tauscher--1905, Marcella Sembrich, ca. --1906, Ernestine Schumann-Heink--1913, 1916, 1926, Frances Alda--1923, Marion Talley--1928, Richard Crooks--1929, Gina Pinnera--1929, Efram Zimbalist, Sr.--1937, Jussi Bjoerling--1939, Gregor Piatigorsky--1941, Joseph Szigeti--1942, Ellabella Davis--1947, Isaac Stern--1954, Jan Peerce--1969, Rolf Bjoerling--1975, Pablo Casals--April 4, 1920, Reinold Werrenwrath, Arthur Middleton (2), Albert Spaulding (3), Dusolina Giannini (2) Marjorie Lawrence, Jennie Tourell, Myron Floren (3).
[Note Musical Groups]
The Inness Band in 1905, '06, 07; New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Joseph Stransky, conducting, 1916; Flonzaley Quartette, 1925; Trapp Family Singers, 1950, Cordon String Quartette, March 2, 1939, and the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra, 1974.
There are, of course, hundreds more.
------
Many other notables have visited Lindsborg. Among them were (to mention a very few) Carl Sundbeck, 1903, William Jennings Bryant, 1912, Bishop von Scheele, 1893, 1901, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt, 1900, [1903?], Carl Sandburg, 1897, 1922, 1923, Victor Sjostrom, 1905, 1925, W.W. Thomas, Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, 1927, Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, Swedish Minister to U.S.- Herman Eriksson, 1946, Swedish Ambassador Erik Boheman, 1950, Consul Folke Persson, 1963, Dr. Franklin Clark Fry, 1965, Swedish Ambassador and Mme. Wachtmeister, 1975.
Many others do not come on official visits: they just slip in and out of town enjoying their anonymity.
Several of the authors listed above have included thorough descriptions of the Messiah experience in Lindsborg. In one of John Selby's novels, he has a noted guest artist, a soprano soloist from New York, come out to a facsimile of Lindsborg to sing the Easter Sunday afternoon concert. She thought she was coming out to sing for Indians in blankets and Swedes in homemade boots. After her concert, the soloist was invited to sit in the Honor Row (first row straight back in the balcony reserved for dignitaries) at the Messiah concert Easter Sunday evening. Reluctantly, she agreed to stay. It would be a bore--she had sung the soprano solos herself eighty-eight times. After a weak tenor beginning, the chorus stood up and gave itself to, "And the Glory of the Lord." At this, the soloist suddenly sat up and took notice. After the performance, she met the conductor in the anteroom. "I didn't know a chorus could sound so! I honestly didn't." The conductor's modest reply was: "Madam, we believe!" This is supposed to have been a true incident.
The most famous explanation of why famous people, especially musicians, have been thrilled with Lindsborg, returning again and again, is summed up in the famous comment by Mme. Ernestine Schumann-Heink, who was in Lindsborg on three occasions. She said:
"America has no other Lindsborg: I want a part of this one."
Dr. Swensson’s travels and early writings were always pointed in the direction of giving Bethany College and its welfare plenty of good publicity. (He was gone so much of the time that his congregation in Lindsborg began to complain and grumble about it, but the minute he arrived back in town, all was forgiven. Discontent disappeared and was forgotten; he was that beloved.) He believed with his whole being in the College and its Messiah Festival.
In 1893, his wanderings and arguments convinced a young and versatile artist and non-professional writer in Omaha, Nebraska, a literary sparring partner of his in Chicago’s Svensk-Amerikanaren, that he should come to Lindsborg to live and work. G. N. Malm, a native of Jönköping, Sweden, arrived in Lindsborg, bag and baggage and bride in that year. He set up a successful interior decorating business and entered enthusiastically into community and college projects.
[Note the beginning of a promotion campaign through correspondence.]
Carl Swensson, with his untiring efforts, and Malm, with his fantastic imagination, suggestions and energies, their hospitable wives and their many cooperative friends in the Male Chorus and elsewhere were responsible for establishing the custom of bringing outstanding people to Lindsborg. They laid the foundations of much of Lindsborg's musical tradition. Fortunately, there were those -- and there have continued to be those -- in Bethany‘s conservatory and music departments who could back up their confidence and presumption; notably Samuel Thorstenberg, Hagbard Brase, Oscar Thorsen, Oscar Lofgren, Thure Jaderborg, Lloyd Spear, Lambert Dahlsten, Elmer Copley, Walter Peltz and others.
Both Swensson and Malm wrote for long hours day and night. Sometimes it was personal correspondence; sometimes it was material to be published. They wrote for Korsbaneret, Prarieblomman, Forgat-Mig-Ej and Svensk-Amerikaneran-Tribune (Chicago). They lured such people [the correspondents] as Carl Sundbeck, Charles Peterson, Mr. Linder, Mr. Norman, Eric Westman and Mr. John Selby (Kansas City Star) to Lindsborg for Easter Week performances.
They invited them into their homes during the festival week. Here the correspondents stayed, wrote their columns and dined on home-cooked Swedish Fare. Year in and year out this went on. It was a “Hush, hush; quiet now!" time for the Malm and Swensson children, but they never forgot the contacts and friendships made in those remarkable days.
When Dr. Swensson died in 1904, Dr. Ernst Pihlblad (Dr. Swennson's successor, also a writer) and Bethany alumni who were professional and talented writers gave generously of their time and talents. The established tradition was carried on and intensified. This publicity was contagious. It spread to other publications and other writers in Musical America, Etude Magazine (1953), McClure‘s Magazine, The Everyday Magazine (St. Louis Dispatch), The Christian Science Monitor, The American Swedish Monthly, Readers Digest (1944), Life Magazine, Ford Times, Recreation (1944), Ladies Home Journal, Time Magazine (1939), and many others.
Julius Lincoln, Dr. Swensson, Carl Sundeck, Ernst Pihlblad, Ernst Olson, G.N. Malm, Terrance Pihlblad, Emory Lindquist, Elvira Larson, Jessie Ash Arndt, F.A. Behymer, Oscar Lofgren, Elmer T. Peterson*, Howard Turtle, Irene Swenson, Ellen Strom, Anna ("News-Annie") Carlson**, and Prince Wilhelm of Sweden were among the contributors of articles about Lindsborg to the many publications. The Life magazine coverage in 1939 was brought about by Herbert Gehr, a photographer for the magazine at the time. It featured not only Lindsborg's 1939 "Messiah Week," but Lindsborg's artists as well. (Oscar Gunnarson's carving and the real-life model, local undertaker, Arvid Danielson, were featured on the Life cover in 1956 with a story on the artist and more pictures inside.)
[Note Opera Singers and Musicians]
Some of the noted musicians who have shared their talents with Lindsborg are: Amelita Galli-Curci--1918, Lillian Nordica--1902 and 1904, Johanna Gadski-Tauscher--1905, Marcella Sembrich, ca. --1906, Ernestine Schumann-Heink--1913, 1916, 1926, Frances Alda--1923, Marion Talley--1928, Richard Crooks--1929, Gina Pinnera--1929, Efram Zimbalist, Sr.--1937, Jussi Bjoerling--1939, Gregor Piatigorsky--1941, Joseph Szigeti--1942, Ellabella Davis--1947, Isaac Stern--1954, Jan Peerce--1969, Rolf Bjoerling--1975, Pablo Casals--April 4, 1920, Reinold Werrenwrath, Arthur Middleton (2), Albert Spaulding (3), Dusolina Giannini (2) Marjorie Lawrence, Jennie Tourell, Myron Floren (3).
[Note Musical Groups]
The Inness Band in 1905, '06, 07; New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Joseph Stransky, conducting, 1916; Flonzaley Quartette, 1925; Trapp Family Singers, 1950, Cordon String Quartette, March 2, 1939, and the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra, 1974.
There are, of course, hundreds more.
------
Many other notables have visited Lindsborg. Among them were (to mention a very few) Carl Sundbeck, 1903, William Jennings Bryant, 1912, Bishop von Scheele, 1893, 1901, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt, 1900, [1903?], Carl Sandburg, 1897, 1922, 1923, Victor Sjostrom, 1905, 1925, W.W. Thomas, Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, 1927, Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, Swedish Minister to U.S.- Herman Eriksson, 1946, Swedish Ambassador Erik Boheman, 1950, Consul Folke Persson, 1963, Dr. Franklin Clark Fry, 1965, Swedish Ambassador and Mme. Wachtmeister, 1975.
Many others do not come on official visits: they just slip in and out of town enjoying their anonymity.
Several of the authors listed above have included thorough descriptions of the Messiah experience in Lindsborg. In one of John Selby's novels, he has a noted guest artist, a soprano soloist from New York, come out to a facsimile of Lindsborg to sing the Easter Sunday afternoon concert. She thought she was coming out to sing for Indians in blankets and Swedes in homemade boots. After her concert, the soloist was invited to sit in the Honor Row (first row straight back in the balcony reserved for dignitaries) at the Messiah concert Easter Sunday evening. Reluctantly, she agreed to stay. It would be a bore--she had sung the soprano solos herself eighty-eight times. After a weak tenor beginning, the chorus stood up and gave itself to, "And the Glory of the Lord." At this, the soloist suddenly sat up and took notice. After the performance, she met the conductor in the anteroom. "I didn't know a chorus could sound so! I honestly didn't." The conductor's modest reply was: "Madam, we believe!" This is supposed to have been a true incident.
The most famous explanation of why famous people, especially musicians, have been thrilled with Lindsborg, returning again and again, is summed up in the famous comment by Mme. Ernestine Schumann-Heink, who was in Lindsborg on three occasions. She said:
"America has no other Lindsborg: I want a part of this one."
Mme. Ernestine Schumann-Heink
1861-1936
1861-1936
Source: http://www.cantabile-subito.de/
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* These shared selections of the late Mrs. Jaderborg's writings noted by the mentioned book have been shown to her family for approval as of 11-25-22.
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* These shared selections of the late Mrs. Jaderborg's writings noted by the mentioned book have been shown to her family for approval as of 11-25-22.
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* * *
"Let Us Celebrate Them"
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
"Let Us Celebrate Them"
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
