Brattleboro Union High School - Colonel Yearbook (Brattleboro, VT)

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LBERT COATES, an English con- ductor and composer, stated recently in a newspaper interview: Had I been an American, I'cloubt if I'd had a chance, in this country at least. The American public rebels against such a statement which di- rectly suggests that our nation does not ap- preciate or understand music which is thought worthwhile in European countries. NNe consider ourselves well advanced in the field of musical art. The growth of musical culture is mani- fest in three ways: the understanding and discriminating appreciation of audiencesg development of interpretative musicians, production of characteristic national com- positions. Our many opera houses'which are filled with people who are anxious to hear beautiful music is proof in itself that Americans do appreciate excellent composi- tions of noted artists. john Philip Sousa, Ameriea's March King, is a splendid ex- ample of an interpretative musician who has produced some compositions symbolic of our country. John Philip Sousa, successor to Gilmore, who was the conductor of the first Ameri- can concert band, was born in 1854 in Vifashington, District of Columbia, the son of a Portugese father and a Bavarian mother. This young man was destined to lead a very remarkable career. At the age of ten, he took violin lessons with John Esputa, a local teacher. Later Sousa studied theory and composition with a Mr. Benk- lert. After he had become skillful at play- ing several band instruments, his father had him enlist in the Marine Band. At this played in civilian orchestras. being discharged from the time he also Sousa, after Marine Band in 1872, became at the age of eighteen, the WVashington's director of the orchestra at Theatre Comique. Later he lead an orchestra in a comedy company and also for' Morgans' Living Pictures. In 1876, Sousa went to Philadelphia where he played under Otienbaeh, and- at several theatres. In 1880, he was appointed director of the Marine Band, and in the twelve years following, he served under tive presidents: Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, and Harrison. Sousa constructed a new band out of what had previously been mere routine organization. He built THE DIAL IVY ORATION JOHN PHILIP SOUSA up its library, changed its instrumentation and raised its morale. Sousa formed his own band in 1892, which gave its first concert in Plainfield, New Jersey. The first season was not suc- cessful financially, owing to the manager's poor judgment in selecting towns that the 'band was to visit. After the first season, the band was a success because of the fact that the enthusiastic Sousa insisted that they keep on. They made annual tours through the United States and Canada, four to Europe and one around the world. The citizens of Brattleboro have been honored twice in recent years by a visit of the Sousa band, and have shown their ap- preciation, by the assembly of large audi- ences at these concerts. Sousa's band has been engaged for almost all important ex- positions in the past years, starting with the Chicago W'orld's Fair in 1892. Sousa was a man of distinctive per- sonality and character, thoughtful and gen- erous. His musicians were always unfail- ingly loyal to him. Every man gave his best at all times uneomplainingly and with spirit and vigor. Sousa displayed great pride and affection for them, which they returned with the same enthusiasm. Sousa has carried the concert band to heights never achieved before. He has de- vised an instrumentation that allows effects as soft and fragile as those of a symphony orchestra. Sousa strove in every way to improve the quality and variety of the in- struments. He suggested to a manufac- turer that he have an upright bell of so large a size that the sound would diffuse over the entire band. The manufacturer designed a horn after that description, which has been used ever since by many bands under the name of Sousaphone. Marches have earned for Sousa the title of March King, for he has been to the march what Johan Strauss was to the waltz. Stars and Stripes Forever, The Vtfashington Post, The High School Cadets, and The Gladiator are only a few of thc many that bear the indelible Sousa trade-mark. Sousa wrote ten comic operas the most successful of which were: The Bride Elect, El Capitan, and The Free Lance. He also composed many other musical 7 varieties, lyrics and a few librettos for some of his operas. As well as being a musician, Sousa was an author. He wrote three novels and Marching Along, one of the most readable memoirs in American literature. In 1917, when America entered the NNorld XfVar, Sousa became a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. His last important public appearance was at the NVashington Bicentennial Celebration for the Nation last February 22. He directed the massed Army, Navy and Marine Corps bands, when they played America, while thousands of people sang that hymn in a chorus which was broadcast throughout the world. They also played the George Wlashington Bicen- tennial March written by Sousa for the oc- casion. Sousa died when he was in his seventy- eighth year, March 6, 1932, at Reading, Pennsylvania, following a heart attack. He was buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington. This great composer was often asked reasons for some of his conducting methods. He considered it the business of a conductor to publish in its dramatic form the central idea of a composition, and that he could not convey that idea successfully if he didn't enter heart and soul into the life of the music and the tale it unfolded. The movements he made could not possibly be repressed, for at the time he was ac- tually the idea he was interpreting. Sousa pictured his players and audience in one accord with him. There were clever musicians in the Sousa band, but if their interpretation of a phrase did not agree with his, they subordinated their idea. His men realized that the en- tire elfect was better if they submitted to one dominating spirit-their leader. Sousa, however, believed that he should watch for outbursts of genius among his players. If he considered that one of his men inter- preted a passage in a manner superior to his, he was glad to lead it in that way. VVith Sousa, thought came sometimes slowly, sometimes with ease and rapidity. Ideas gathered force in his brain, and took form not only melodically but harmonieally. The theme was'always complete before he tContinued on page 433

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6 THEDIAI. CLASS ESSAY INFLUENCE OF THE MOTION PICTURE INCE the time of Marlowe, Shake- speare and Jonson, men have tried to reproduce, on the stage, the joys and tribula- tions of human life. The characters that these great artists of the drama have created still live today, and their stories are well known. But of late years, because of that wonderful, far-seeing mind of Edison, actors of great ability have made both the old and the new characters of literature move, speak, and live for the public on the screen! The movie has become one of the greatest sources of entertainment in this country. The industry has spread to all parts of the world, and now every civilized nation has theatres and motion pictures. France now has some six thousand projec- tors in different institutions, and these are used for the most part for instruction. But France is not the only country that has realized the importance of the motion pic- ture for education. From data gained by the Federal Otitise of Education in the United States, it is shown that more than sixty per cent of the elementary and high schools in this country use motion picture films for pur- poses of instruction. In such courses as those of natural science, social science, physical education, and home economics the films are a great help to both the teacher and the pupil. The possibilities for instruction by the motion picture are many. In the grade schools, such subjects as History, Geog- raphy, Reading, and Hygiene could be made much more interesting to the pupil. Al- though books are greatly improved today with their illustrations and attractive bind- ings, a child would much rather see some- thing take place before him, than to read a dry account of it in a book or newspaper. And he remembers it better and for a longer time! History from the year of Columbus' great voyage to the present time could be pre- sented on the screen and so made alive and realistic. How vividly one would re- member the small, storm-tossed ship of the Pilgrims as it landed on the rocky New England shore! All the important events in American history could be pictured-the struggle of the early colonists against starvation and the Indians: the great war caused by taxation without representa- A A A CLASS POEM A new day dawns! Scarce do we feel its gracious rays, For yet we dream of yesterdays, All yesterdays seem fairy Tomorrow canni t, we declare, Be half so swe t or half so rare. Youth's early days, Vivid with mirt 1 and keen delight, VVhicl1 fade befiore the harsh daylight, Your ideals we'll hold true, And join with those determined few Who truth or r1inbow's gold pursue. How bright the noong Bold over all its light is shedp 'eel the past is dead, eal. Quite soon we Today alone is Our dreams are truths, and deep hurts heal, VVe laugh at fears we used to feel. We greet the rainy Perchance it leaves us chilled and drenched, But with our ve y soul's thirst quenchedg , refreshingg . 'Tis gentle, cal It is a mother's kind caressing, Her children's anguished tremors easing. Wihen twilight comes, We'll live again our yesterdays In memory, the sun's soft rays VVill gently on 'is glow, At last we shall not mind it so, For youth and life must onward go. -ALICE GRANT. V V V tion g tl1e terrible crisis of '6lg and the Vlforld lNar, with its havoc and ruin. Such pictures as All Quiet on the VVestern Front and Journey's End, show the hell and awfulness of war, and make young people resolve that there will never be an- other such conHict. The Covered NNagon and The Gold Rush picture the emigra- tion of the pioneers to the West, and make us realize the general hardships and diffi- culties which these men had to endure. The VVestern picture, which is shown in many theatres, gives a new, true portrayal of the old VVest, with its dashing cowboys, its bandits and its fights for law and order in a new land. Cimarron, a motion picture based on Edna Ferber's book, brings to the screen a story of the settlement of Oklahoma. In this picture, the conditions of living in a small frontier town are shown. The more religious settlers wisl1 to start a church, and they have to fight against the rougher class to get it. A newspaper is started by a man who believes that all the news should be published. He has to fight to continue his work, for his life is threatened by the enemies he has made in this way. Old friends are divided by the conliict for law and order. Men who have lived adven- turous lives, doing as they please, resent the new law, and have to be forced to aCCCDf if. So the movie can show the everyday life and strife of a pioneer, as no history book could ever describe the human relations of these argonauts of the Xvest. The story of the lives of such men as George Vliashington, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt can be brought to the pupil, not as a thick book of biography with its uninteresting close-written pages, but as motion pictures such as Abraham Lincoln, played by VValter Huston, and Alexander Hamilton, played by George Arliss. These movies give very vivid portrayals of characters and scenery. Abraham Lincoln is one of the greatest history films ever made. llValter Huston is a wonderful Lincoln, and he makes this well-loved American more human and more understanding than does any history book tContinued on page 135

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8 T There be many shapes of mystery: And many things God brings to be, Past hope or fear, And the end men looked for cometh not And a path is there where no man thought So hath it fallen here. -EURIPEDES. HERE does your hobby path lie? Is it in your mind, in the laboratory, or out of doors? A hobby is a system of connected ideas with a high emotional tone, and such emotionally toned ideas are tech- nically called complexes. Psychologically speaking, the action exerted on conscious- ness by a complex is analogous to the con- ception of force in physics. A hobby is that thing in which one takes an extrava- gant interest. In this interest is found a vent for self-expression. The machine age with its brother, speed, necessitates a recreation as relief from mo- notony and hurry. Physicians today pre- scribe an avocation with its accompanying diversions for the so-called tired business man. Only a few years ago an evil-tast- ing tonic was ordered, but now experiments have proved the value of relaxing the mind and body in a complete change of occupa- tion. Vtfilliam Gladstone, the British states- man, was a famous collector of Leeds pot- tery. He once said that the joy of being able to pass from the turmoil of politics and the anxieties of Parliament to quiet contemplation of cream-colored ware was a source of great solace and rest to him. Hobbies are classified in three types: ac- quiring knowledge, acquiring things, and creating things. The choice of kind re- mains to you since a hobby is to be one of your favorite topics of thought and action. As in all phases of life, the amount of pleasure and real benefit derived from this hobby is in proportion to the amount of time and energy directed toward it. The most generally popular seems to be the second group of interests, acquiring things. It pertains to accumulating things tangible and things intangible. Collecting is cer- tainly not a new habit acquired in recent years, but dates back to the time when pre- historic man collected stones and shells for no apparent reason other than diver- sion. Collectors have a wide range from which to choose: autographs, stamps, IVY l-IE T Hail to thee, Cov'ring thes brightg Tiring not, 011 DIAL ESSAY is YOUR HOBBY? A A A IVY ODE .ine One Day 'y, with life fully blooming, walls with thy mantle so thy path lookingupward, 'Till thou hast reached to the uttermost height. CHORUS Climbing higher, sturdy and strong, May we, like 'ou, never waver nor fear, Passing our li e in one ceaseless endeavor To reach the goal which we all hold so dear. Thou in the midst of life's turmoil and trouble, Steadily upwa Teach us, Teach us plain. oh ou Strive, then, u beginning, Strive, then, N goal 5 Show us, oh I' By thy ex amp d the height can attain, vy, the source of thy living, duty, our pathway make e must while our life work's ve must 'til we come to our fy, the source of thy courage, e ' ' 1 well hte clean and whole. -PALINIA GOODNOUGH. VVV prints, china, furniture, etc. In all these hobbies there is a definite amount of study and attention to details in order to receive the greatest satisfaction. Here is an illus- tration. There has been incessant demand from collectors of authors' signatures for those of Thackeray and Dickens. Dickens, especially, varied his signatures a great deal from year to year. In each year be- tween l830-1837 he added a loop under his name, so that by 1837 there were seven loops under his name. Each year from that time to his death the position of the loops changed. A collector must be very alert to detect the authenticity of these sig- natures. In contrast to this, book collec- tors have the advantage of discovering odd bits of information and sometimes profit- ing by them. A collector once read that Alexander the Great was embalmed with honey. During the war, glycerine, one of the principal constituents in the process of embalming, was needed for the manufac- ture of explosives. The collector con- ceived the idea of producing artificial honey from sugar for use in embalmingg thus a large supply of glycerine was released for war purposes. Now let us consider in more detail a hobby from the first type of interests, ac- quiring knowledge. Do you ever think about the words you utilize every day in conversation, in transacting business, or in study? NNords are tools without which other tools are utterly useless. Wie would have no need for books, paper, pencils, telephones, or radio, if we had no wordsg in fact, we could not have these, there would be no foundation for them. XX-'ords make civilization. Our lives are guided by wordsg we are their victims. 'With words we create worlds, heavens, nature, in spite of the fact that we are told that we can neither create nor destroy matter. VVhere did we get our words? This, the study of etymology and philology, is a fascinating hobby for some people. The Greeks and Romans were excited by word lore. Ro- mance and Germanic etymology began seri- ously in the nineteenth century with the work in comparative philology by Jakob Grimm. He was the originator of the fa- mous Grimm's Law pertaining to the reg- ular interchange of consonants between CCoutinued on page 431