St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-06-14
THE SCANDINAVIAN FESTIVAL
What the Grand Saengerfest
Means and What 1t Will Be,

L
In Minneapolis, at the University
Coliseum, will be heard the third bien-
NAL music festival of the United Scan
dtnavlan Singers of America, with two
| grand evening concerts, Friday and Sat
urday nights, July II and Is. and one
sacred matinee, Sunday afternoon,
| July 10.
The idea of organizing a great union
| OF scandinavian singing societies orig
mated In the East, in Philadelphia, New
York and Boston, where for twenty-five
or thirty years back Scandinavian quar-
tette singing has been cultivated. The
| first sangerfeSt was given in Philadel-
| phia in 1887 and was great success, al
though comparatively small affair. In
| Chicago in the summer of 1889 was held
| the second of the biennial festivals.
The grand chorus then was composed
| of 800 voices, the orchestra was
strong and capable one, and among
| the soloists was such genuine star as
Miss Anna Smith. The brave Scandi-
navian boys received much flattering
criticism from the press of Chicago, the
well-knoWn Illinois Staat Zeitung 60
Ing so far as to declare that the best
German singing society of Chicago had
to arise at 6 O'Clock in the morning aid
| for years before they could be consid-
cred capable as competitors to one of
the Swedish singing societies that sang
at the festival.
The Scandinavian sangerfest of Min
neapolis will Guido its two predecessors
in every way. The grand chorus now
consists Of between 1,400 and 1.500
singers, and the list of artists is greater
than in Chicago, embracing Mdc. Ka-
thinka Paulsen-W White and Miss Sigrid
Lunde, soprano; Miss Aagot Lunde,
alto; John r. Ortengren, baritone; A.C.
Yttrup, violinist. and August Hyllested,
pianist. General musical director, John
R. Ortengren, formerly solo singer of
the royal oyera at Stockholm, will lead
the grand choruses, which will
be nine different ones, three at each
concert. The orchestra of fifty capable
musicians will be conducted by Prof.
Oscar Ringwall.
The Minneapolis SangerfeSt will be to
some extent different in character to
the preceding ones. The Swedish mil
liOnaire of Chicago, Mr.. Robert Lind
blom, has to the United Scandinavian
Singers of America donated a banner,
worth $500. which, under the
name of the Lindblom trophy will be
awarded the singing society, which, IN
first prize. The trophy will be kept as
the property of the successful society
until the next biennial festival, when
the competition will be renewed, and so
forth. OF the more than fifty societies
only sixteen announced themselves as
contestants. which will give augmented
interest to the musical combat.
The Great Northern and the North
ern Pacific railroads have decided not
to grant any reduction over their lines
to the festival. This shuts out ma
jority of those who would otherwise at
tend throughout the Northwest, where
Scandinavian towns have calculated on
large excursion parties. A committee
of the leading men of Minneapolis and
st. Paul may call on the railroad officials
in the near future to lay the matter be-
fore them. The Western Passenger
association, however, has granted one
fare for the round trip from association
points, and the st. Paul & Duluth has
granted a rate of one fare and a third.