In the summer of 1906, 48 members of the St. Olaf College band sailed into history. Playing 26 concerts in Norway that July, the all-male musicians from Northfield became what's believed to be the first U.S. college music ensemble to tour Europe.
But as they descended below deck to their steerage quarters, the band members were initially unimpressed when the SS Oscar II left New York for an 11-day north Atlantic crossing.
"The furnishings were not stately in the least … feather pillows which had become petrified through the ages," saxophonist Herman Roe jotted in one of the journals that college officials handed out when the journey began. "One whiff of the air in that lower region before we were up on deck again gasping for air — all in less time than you can say, 'skidoo.' "
Seasickness swept through their ranks — especially at meal time.
"The guys sat like so many pigs about a trough," clarinetist Oscar Hertsgaard wrote. "The grub was served in big galvanized pails."
Rough start aside, the trip quickly turned triumphant — especially for their 35-year-old taskmaster conductor, Fredrik Melius Christiansen. The son of a mechanic, Christiansen emigrated from Norway at 17 in 1888 and his return "brought glory and honor to the land of his birth," one local newspaper reported.
Norwegians, just one year into their independence from Sweden when the band arrived, embraced the boys from America like celebrities.
When their ship arrived in Norway, "boats came out to meet us, cannon was fired in salute, handkerchiefs were waved on every side," Roe said. "Flags swayed over every house and hut, enthusiastic people shouted hurrah! Oh, it was great!"
