Joel Mossberg (January 30, 1870 – October 15, 1943) was a

Swedish-American Swedish Americans ( sv, svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedish ancestry. They include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1865–1915, who formed tight-knit communities, as well as their descendants and more recent immigrants. Today, ...

singer, educator and choir director, who was active between the years 1900 and 1940.

Biography

A noted singer and vocal teacher, Joel Mossberg was born in Kumla, Sweden. After completing his elementary education he worked as a stone carver in

Visby Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...

before emigrating in 1892. In

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Mossberg continued working at his trade, devoting his spare time to musical studies. His fine voice and masterful technique soon made him famous as a baritone of rare ability and secured for him the position of soloist at the North Shore Jewish Synagogue and the Sixth Presbyterian Church. Much in demand for his concert work, he sang in over twenty states throughout the country. He was a choral director and teacher at the Mendelssohn Conservatory of Music in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as well as head of the American Union of Swedish Singers. A member of several fraternities, he held honorary membership in the Orpheus Singing Club and Björgvin Singing Society. Between 1906 and 1919 Joel Mossberg released over seventy songs on the Columbia, Edison and Victor labels. Many were from the Swedish choral tradition: folk songs, student songs, hymns and patriotic anthems. Literary stalwarts

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...

, J. L. Runeberg and

Gunnar Wennerberg Gunnar Wennerberg (2 October 1817 – 24 August 1901) was a Swedish poet, composer and politician. Biography Wennerberg was the son of the vicar of the town of Lidköping in Västergötland, went to '' gymnasium'' in the cathedral town of Skara ...

contributed to his repertoire. He nonetheless also recorded several comic songs written by the entertainer Lars Bondeson In 1916 Mossberg recorded two

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

songs for Columbia Records.''Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942'' by Richard K. Spottswood, (University of Illinois Press, 1990) LCCN 89-020526. Volume 5, pp. 2709 - 2711. The first one, ''Arbetets söner'' (Sons of the workers), was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

song from 1885 with lyrics by Henrik Menander. Henrik Menander ''sv.wikipedia.org''. Retrieved: February 9, 2013. The second one, ''Marseljäsen'' (

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

), may well have been ''

The Internationale "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of t ...

'', which had originally been sung to the melody of the French national anthem.

''en.wikipedia.org''. Retrieved: February 9, 2013. Eugène Pottier's lyrics were first translated into

in 1902 by Henrik Menander.

References

External links

"Swedish American Song" essay at the Library of CongressJoel Mossberg in Historic American NewspapersJoel Mossberg obituary: ''Vestkusten'' 10-28-43Joel Mossberg discography - VictorJoel Mossberg at the Cylinder Audio ArchiveJoel Mossberg audio at the Library of Congress

Joel Mossberg audio at Gustavus Adolphus CollegeJoel Mossberg songbook

Lars Bondeson songbook
with 8 Mossberg songs
"Bellman in America" at the Internet ArchiveJoel Mossberg audio at the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mossberg, Joel 1870 births 1943 deaths American male singers Columbia Records artists Edison Records artists American operatic baritones People from Närke Swedish emigrants to the United States Victor Records artists American music educators American choral conductors