Olaf II of Norway

Olaf II Haraldsson (995 – 29 July 1030), later known as St. Olaf, was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae (English: Eternal/Perpetual King of Norway) and canonised in Nidaros (Trondheim) by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. His remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, built over his burial site.

Olaf's local canonisation was in 1164 confirmed by Pope Alexander III, making him a universally recognised saint of the Roman Catholic Church. He is also a canonised saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church (feast day celebrated July 29 (translation August 3)) and one of the last famous Western saints before the Great Schism. The exact position of Saint Olaf's grave in Nidaros has been unknown since 1568, due to the Lutheran iconoclasm in 1536–37. Saint Olaf is symbolised by the axe in Norway's coat of arms, and the Olsok (29 July) is still his day of celebration. The Order of St. Olav is named after him.

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 the King and the Patron Saint Olaf II of Norway and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

History

Seal and motto

The seal of the St. Olaf College displays the Coat of arms of Norway, which includes the axe of St. Olaf.

The motto Fram! Fram! Kristmenn, Krossmenn, written in New Norwegian, is adapted from the Old Norse battle cry of King Olaf. It means "Forward! Forward! Men of Christ, Men of the Cross".

Founding

Many Norwegian immigrants arrived in Rice County, Minnesota, and the surrounding area in the late 19th century. With nearly all the immigrants being Lutheran Christians, they desired a non-secular post-secondary institution in the Lutheran tradition that offered classes in all subjects in both Norwegian and English. The catalyst for founding St. Olaf was the Reverend Bernt Julius Muus, he sought out the help of the Rev. N. A. Quammen and H. Thorson. Together they petitioned their parishes and others to raise money in order to buy a plot of land on which to build this new institution. The three men succeeded in receiving around $10,000 in pledges, and thus went on to form a corporation and to buy a plot of land and four buildings (old Northfield schoolhouses) for accommodations for the school.

St. Olaf Choir

The St. Olaf Choir, with 75 mixed voices, is a premier a cappella college choir in the United States. Since its founding in 1912, the choir has set a standard of choral excellence that has been influential to many other church and college choirs. Conducted since 1990 by Anton Armstrong, just the fourth conductor in the choir's history, the St. Olaf Choir continues to develop the tradition that originated with its founder, F. Melius Christiansen. The second conductor was Christiansen's son, Olaf Christiansen, while the third conductor was the noted composer/conductor Kenneth Jennings.

St. Olaf Choir members are full-time undergraduate students of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Their commitment to the choir involves rehearsing five days a week in addition to completing a full schedule of academic and musical studies.

The St. Olaf Choir is internationally renowned for a unique combination of superior choral singing and the presentation of challenging choral programming with a vast repertoire that encompasses the entire history of Western music, from Renaissance polyphony to new music. The St. Olaf Choir transcended America’s limited early 20th century choral tradition with the introduction of a cappella singing of the highest level, creating a new model for the widespread choral growth that followed.

Olaf

Olaf or Olav (/ˈoʊləf/, /ˈoʊlɑːf/, or British /ˈoʊlæf/; Old Norse: Ólafr, Ōleifr, Anleifr) is a German, Dutch, and Scandinavian given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as *Anu-laibaz, from anu "ancestor, grand-father" and laibaz "heirloom, descendant". Old English forms are attested as Ǣlāf, Anlāf. The corresponding Old Novgorod dialect form is Uleb.

In Norwegian, Olav and Olaf are historically equally common, but Olav is traditionally used when referring to Norwegian royalty of that name. The Swedish form is Olov or Olof. The name was borrowed into Old Irish and Scots spelled Amlaíb and Amhlaoibh, giving rise to modern Aulay (see also Mac Amhlaoibh and Mac Amhalghaidh (Irish septs)). The name is Latinized as Olaus.

Medieval bearers

Norse (Scandinavia):

Southern Harmony

The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker, first published in 1835. The book is notable for having originated or popularized several hymn tunes found in modern hymnals and shape note collections like the The Sacred Harp.

The music and its notation

The roots of Southern Harmony singing, like the Sacred Harp, are found in the American colonial era, when singing schools convened to provide instruction in choral singing, especially for use in church services. This practice remained popular with Baptists in the South long after it fell from use in other regions.

In 1801, a book called The Easy Instructor by William Smith and William Little was published for the use of this movement; its distinguishing feature was the use of four separate shapes that indicated the notes according to the rules of solfege. A triangle indicated fa, a circle sol, a square la and a diamond, mi. To avoid proliferating shapes excessively, each shape (and its associated syllable) except for mi was assigned to two notes of the musical scale. A major scale in the system would be noted Fa - Sol - La - Fa - Sol - La - Mi - Fa, and a minor scale would be La - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Fa - Sol - La.