Carsten Woll

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Carsten Thorvald Woll (1885–1962) was a Norwegian-American singer, composer, and teacher who became a leading recording artist in the early 20th century. Born in Oslo, Norway, he studied music and voice in Denmark and Germany before moving to the United States in 1913. In America, he taught singing at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and later at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. In 1926 he also directed the Woll Music Studio in Minot, North Dakota. After retiring from St. Olaf College in 1951, he moved to Eugene, Oregon.

Woll was one of the most prominent Norwegian-American performers of the acoustic recording era, making about 200 recordings between 1913 and 1925 for labels such as Victor and Columbia, and also appearing on Edison, Vocalion, Okeh, and Brunswick. He helped popularize Norwegian folk songs in the United States, recording a large body of traditional Norwegian tunes. His repertoire included songs like Eg gjette Tulla, Eg veit ei lita jente, Kjerringa med staven, and Og reven lå under birkerot, as well as a Norwegian version of Silver Threads Among the Gold titled Sommersol til siste stund.

In 1926 Woll published a songbook for Sons of Norway, compiling more than one hundred Norwegian songs along with pieces like Home, Sweet Home and songs by Stephen Foster. He was celebrated for his extensive live performances and festival appearances, cementing his status as a key figure in Norwegian-American music for his era.