Olaf C. Christiansen faculty papers

The Olaf C. Christiansen faculty papers are composed of materials and records from Olaf C. Christiansen while he was the conductor of the St. Olaf Choir, along with some Christiansen family materials. The materials in this collection include: bulletins, correspondence, financial records, lecture notes, musical compositions, newspaper clippings, notebooks, pamphlets, photographs, poetry, programs, school workbooks, and a scrapbook.

Olaf C. Christiansen was born on January 17, 1901, and grew up in Northfield, Minnesota. Olaf C. Christiansen was a composer, professor, and conductor in the Lutheran choral tradition. His father, F. Melius Christiansen, founded the St. Olaf Choir in 1912. Olaf studied music at St. Olaf College and during his time as a student he sang with and would occasionally conduct the St. Olaf Choir. 

After his graduation from St. Olaf College he began teaching music at the Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio. During his time there, he founded the Oberlin A Cappella Choir. Olaf obtained his masters degree in sacred music from the Union Theological Seminary in 1940. Upon receiving his masters degree, he returned to St. Olaf College in 1941 to co-conduct the St. Olaf Choir with his father, F. Melius Christiansen.

In 1943, Olaf C. Christiansen succeeded his father as conductor of the St. Olaf Choir. Like his father, Olaf continued to strive to keep the tone of the choir that his father had created. He also explored new genres and interpretations of music with the choir. He added more contemporary pieces, more Renaissance music, and also American Folk hymns along with the traditional church chorales. Olaf took the St. Olaf Choir on domestic and international tours, composed and arranged new choir works, and helped co-found the Christiansen Choral School with his father. He held this position with the St. Olaf Choir until his retirement in 1968. He later died in 1984.

The Olaf C. Christiansen faculty papers are made up of bulletins, correspondence, financial records, lecture notes, musical compositions, newspaper clippings, notebooks, pamphlets, photographs, poetry, programs, school workbooks, and a scrapbook that all pertain to Olaf C. Christiansen’s time during his schooling and as conductor of the St. Olaf Choir. In total there are four archival boxes and three flat boxes.

Boxes one, two, three, and seven focus on the personal, family, school and professional materials of Olaf C. Christiansen’s. Some of these materials within these boxes include Olaf C. Christiansen’s lecture notes, papers, and notebooks from his schooling. There are newspaper clippings, financial records, correspondence, and other materials from while Olaf was the conductor of the St. Olaf Choir. Also included is a folder of Christiansen family photographs.

Box four contains Olaf C. Christiansen’s scrapbook of materials from the Oberlin A Cappella Choir tours from 1937 to 1939 in which Olaf took part in these tours.

Boxes five and six contain various drafts and finished compositions of musical pieces either written by Olaf C. Christiansen, his father F. Melius Christiansen, or other composers.