Moses "Mose" Christensen (February 12, 1871 – October 30, 1920) was an American musician, and founder and conductor of the

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the "Portland Symphony Society" in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. It ...

(then known as the Portland Symphony Orchestra).

Biography

Mose was born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. His father, Lars Christensen, had emigrated from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in the early 1850s to Utah as one of the

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter-day Saints, who Human migration, migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the ...

. Mose's mother, Elsa Bjerregaard, was Lars Christensen's second wife in a

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more ...

. Mose began his musical training with his father, who played the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, and his mother, who played the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. His brothers Chris, Frederic and Lars Peter were part of the Christensen Orchestra that traveled around northern Utah playing for dances and other social functions. The Christensen brothers relocated from

Brigham City Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 19,650 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from the 2010 figure of 17,899. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It l ...

to Ogden in 1890 and became partners of a dance hall in order to advance their music careers, and in 1893 they moved to Salt Lake City where they once again played for social dances. They were part of the group of musicians who accompanied the

Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for o ...

to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. After Mose married Carrie Nichols in 1898, he traveled to the East Coast to study with the German violinist

Henry Schradieck Henry Schradieck (29 April 1846 – 25 May 1918) was a German violinist, music pedagogue and composer. He was one of the foremost violin teachers of his day. He wrote a series of etude books for the violin which are still in common use tod ...

. After returning to the western United States, he eventually settled in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

, in 1901. During his early years in Boise, Mose met, befriended and became a mentor to the young Ferdinand Sorenson, raising funds with his other musician friends to send Sorenson to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to study cello. Sorenson went on to become a renowned cellist, conductor, and teacher in his own right. Mose also traveled to

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, to study dancing at the M. B. Gilbert School. In Boise, Mose was a partner of the Riverside Pavilion ballroom where he carried out a social dancing business. Besides playing in his dance orchestra he also played in

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

s, and from 1906 to 1908 was the conductor of the Boise Philharmonic. In 1908, Mose and his family left Boise. After settling in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, Mose once again opened a dance hall, and in 1910 joined the American National Association, Masters of Dancing,Dance Masters of America – A Brief History of Dance Masters of America
at www.dma-national.org in

. He was elected president of the organization in 1916. Additionally, in order to develop a professional approach to dance at his studio, Mose brought Stefano Mascagno from

to teach

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. In 1911, Mose gathered with a number of his musician friends at his dance hall to form the Portland Symphony Orchestra on a permanent basis. Until then,

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

concerts were intermittent affairs and years would sometimes pass with no concerts at all. Mose was the first president of the symphony, played the

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

, and was one of its conductors on a rotating basis. Mose stopped conducting in 1918 when Carl Denton become the permanent conductor. Mose died two years later at the age of 49.

References

*Goodrich, Frederick W. "Nearly 70 Eventful Years of Orchestral Music". ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', November 3, 1935 page 11. *Sowells, Debra. ''The Christensen Brothers, An American Dance Epic''. Australia: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Mose 1871 births 1920 deaths American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) Latter Day Saints from Utah Musicians from Portland, Oregon American people of Danish descent Music directors of the Oregon Symphony Latter Day Saints from Idaho Latter Day Saints from Oregon

Biography

See also

References