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Fall 1997, Vol. 60, No. 1

"Hour Melodious"

Dedication and the program created from it

Members of the "Hour Melodious" had no small task when they began rehearsing for the show on the nationwide radio station. Dedication is the only word that accurately describes how it came to be known as such a huge success; a success that came with a price, though. Specifically the color of director Henry Opseth's hair. The Augsburg Echo reported on the color (and the grueling schedule of the members) on March 15, 1935:

"Perhaps those of us who sit at home and 'listen in' don't realize the amount of work involved in such a sustaining program. Briefly it is this: One and one-half hours of practice each day for five days; another hour each day learning the music; at least two hours preparing the script; getting to the studio at 9:30 p.m. each Sunday evening and there working until one minute past eleven o'clock. Have you noticed Oppie's hair getting a mite greyer?"

The 50 members (70 showed up for the audition) who shared the limelight during that time sang works from great composers and sometimes read lines of poetry between numbers. Many hours were spent practicing songs by composers such as Grechanninoff, Mueller, Bach, just to name a few.

The "Hour Melodious" consisted of the Augsburg Instrumental Trio, the Augsburg Ambassadors, the Ladies Quartet including Gertrude (Lund) Hognander, who was also the organist. "The choir," wrote the Augsburg Echo, "presents a heavy choral-type music and the Trio and Ambassadors light classical and secular pieces."

Many of the members of the choir felt the program's goal was to spread the message of Christ through the medium of song and also to bring Augsburg to the people, which it did.