Calhoun School - Ink Pot Yearbook (New York, NY)

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ink pol do, mi, sol, do! DO, Ml, SOL, DO! Scales and arpeggios! Breafhing exercises! Sonia was Tired of Them all. Always pracficing and rehearsing wifh The piano! Never any fun! And Professor Giovanni was so hard To please. She remembered, in a bursf of self- pify, ThaT only yesferday, when The inTeresTing-looking young arTisT from The Third floor had asked her To go wiTh him To The sTreeT fair, she had begged The professor for per- mission To go. BuT, as usual, he had said, No! l-le Told her, as he had counfless Times before, ThaT she was There To work, noT To gallivanf around. She ThoughT, wifh a deep sense of iniury, abouf The Time when The whole group of sfruggling sTudenTs in her house had gone gondoliering. ThaT had also been denied her. The professor always had a logical answer To ward off These re uesTs, buf eighfeen does noT care for logic. IT would rafher have fun. She realized, of course, Thaf her scholarship would noT lasf forever, buf Then, one was noT young forever, eifher. Sonia Thou hT back To her firsf days in lTaly. How Thrilled and bewildered she had been! lT had ai seemed like a dream. Prior To coming To lfaly, There had been The audifion aT The lvlefropolifan in New York, before a group of imposing, seasoned musi- cians. She remembered clearly The sick feeling aT The piT of her sfomach, The dry Throaf and perspiring hands. Then, as she began To sing and, liTTle by liTTle, gained confidence and volume, her lovely voice rang ouT in all iTs prisfine beaufy, and won The favorable decision, sending her To lfaly To Professor Giovanni, for The finishing Touches she needed. Now, here she was, Tired of iT all, aching for a biT of fun. While she saT There, sympafhizing wiTh herself, Professor Giovanni rushed in ex- cifeclly, followed by a raTher small, disfinguished-looking man wifh rnusfache and goafee, aT whom he gazed wifh reverence. l'le called To Sonia, in a voice shaking wifh excifemenf and anxieTy, To bring The music for The Bell Song from Lakme. Coming for- ward wifh The music, she gasped, for she recognized The liTTle man as The famous direc- Tor of The Venice Opera House. Sonia knew, as all singers in lTaly knew, Thaf, if he gave you a conTracT wiTh The Opera House, you were as good as made. The rofessor infroduced her. She gazed wifh awe aT The direcfor, noTicing The bored indifference on his face as he glanced aT her. Walking over To The piano. she Took a deep breafh and began To sing, pouring her hearT and soul inTo making The beaufiful Tones of The Bell Song ring True. When she had finished, There was a deep silence. She scarcely dared To breafhe. Then The direcfor walked over and, wiTh all his indifference gone, solemnly kissed her on The forehead. The nexT morning, gay Trills and joyous scales were ringing ouT over The whole house, for, had she noT a conTracT wiTh The Venice Opera l-louse? No work or pracfice seemed Too greaf a sacrifice. Going To sTreeT fairs wiTh handsome, young arTisTs, gon- doliering wifh gay young people, whaT did These amounf To compared wiTh do, mi, sol, do! Scales and arpeggios! Breafhing exercises! Sonia loved Them all! FRANCES SHAPIRO, '38 memories of babyhood A fleefing kiss on my Tousled head, Which seems To ward away all harm. A cloudy figure by my bed, She driffs away as in a dream A sweeT aroma fills The air, And Mr. Sandman sways The scene, As Mommy says a silenf prayer. And on I driff To ofher lands A slighf caress on my baby arm Conscious of proTecTive hands. ESTELLE WYNER, '40 fwenfy-Three

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ink pot Q amateur in disguise CUBISM, fufurism, ex ressionism, impressionism, and surrealism are ferms invenfed fo fool 'rhe lover omparl, confuse his mind, and foisf upon him painfings fhaf he would nof wanf. Today, af every gallery, modernisfic painfings have been placed on view for fhe public's adorafion. Upon enfering a gallery of such painfings, remove your haf and glance aboul' you. Observe fhe people sfaring rapfurously al' fhe painfings and copy fheir expressions whenever possible. Try fo remember fhal' modernisfic painfings are a producl' of fhe arlisf's imaginalion, and, more offen fhan nof, inspired by some hor- rible nighfmare. As fhe people sfand alongside of you, you will hear fhem sigh and say fhaf fhe arlisl' is a genius, and has such wonderful undersfanding, expression, and a remarkable sense of fone value. Remember fhis, because you will soon have your chazce fo fell il' fo someone else and impress upon him your knowledge of fhe ar'risl s wor . lnvariably, you will find one or fwo people presenl who will refer fo fhe arfisf by his firsl' name, menfion picfures which are nof exhibifed, and deprecafe fhe presenf show by comparison wifh previous ones. lgnore fhem, for 'rhey have seen fhe arfisf only, if af all, from a disfance al' a parly, and know less abouf him fhan you do: buf fry fo remember whaf fhey say, because if mighf come in handy. When you come upon a painfing 'rhaf is ufferly incomprehensible, you have your chance fo impress 'rhose aboul' ou. Sfand in fronl' of fhe painfing for five minules wifh your hand u on our chin, ancll under no circumsfances move. Then sfep back abouf +wo feel' ancfcock your head fo one side and squinfg 'rhis ives fhe effecf of a connois- seur in deep sludy. Following fhis, look af fhe canvas ?rom all possible angles and wifh fhe besl' poses affainable. As a coup de grace, sfep forward fill your nose is wifhin a half inch of 'rhe canvas, peer infenfly, and genfl pass 'rhe fip of your pinky finger over fhe pigmenfs: immediafely following lhis, sif cllown in The nearesf seaf and sfare as if fhe painfing has overwhelmed you. Affer fhis remarkable performance, fhe manager of fhe gallery will smile af you and people will furn lo fheir companions and uffer favorable commenfs abouf your knowledge of arf. A+ l'he door 'rhe manager will ask you how you enioyed fhe show, as if your opinion were of fhe ufmosf imporfance. Don'+ disappoinl' him by sfumbling over your words: know whaf you are going lo say, menfion 'rhe name of a modern arfisf and say 'lhal alfhough 'lhe show was good, if did nor compare wifh fhe ofher ar+is'r's previous exhibif. He will feel very sorry, fhank you for coming, and wish he knew as much as you. ELAINE G. GRAHAM, '38 diana She guides her silvery chariof Over fhe sky Al' nighf. The goddess of lhe Moon. She wafches o'er fhe maidens, This beaufiful Diana. To fhe hunl She sends fhem forfh, Fair Diane. MARGARET HARTlG, '4l 'lwenfy-fwo TTT

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ink pot contemporary music hath its charms CONTEMPORARY music has aT lasT won iTs way To an imporTanT place in my musical Thoughfs. NoT so long ago, modern music appeared To me To confain iusT a series of weird, inharmonious noTes, wriTTen wiTh an uTTer disregard for paTTern or Theme. I was noT a Ii++Ie bewildered by if. However, Through much reiTeraTion. I have become accusTomed To iTs sTrange beauTy. and have even grown To love much of iT. BuT, There is s+iII modern music which sounds monoTonously uninspired and some which graTes on my ears. The beauTy in conTemporary music differs greaTl from ThaT of The classics. Brahms. BeeThoven. and MozarT sTaTed Their Themes aT The beginning of Their compo- siTions, and buiIT up numerous variafions around Them, whereas The modern composer will someTimes build up and up. before wriTing his Theme, which ofTen comes near The end of The piece. This. of course, makes The music much more difficulf To comprehend. and ofTen requires much repeTiTion To make iTseIf clear. ' I Think my favorife modern composifion is one by Debussy. His music alwa s gives me The feeling of being aparT from anyfhing ThaT is ear+hIy and maTTer-of-flacT. IT makes me experience a feeling of noT belonging To This everyday world of ours. The composifion is his Three Symphonic Skefches of The Sea. The firsf is called From Dawn To Moon aT Sea. The second. FroIics of The Waves. and The Third. Dialogue of Wind and Sea. I remember very disTincTly The firsT Time I heard This marvelous piece of music. IT was in Cleveland, The firsT year I had had a season Tickef To The Symphon ConcerTs. I was greaTIy excifed and Thrilled, and felT very grown up. When I heard! The eerie. opening bars of The firsT skefch, I could noT quiTe decide whaT To make of iT. Up To ThaT Time, I had heard very Ii++Ie modern music. As The music progressed, cerTain un- earThly chords and sequences chilled me Through and Through. During The whole per- formance, I grasped very IiTTIe of The acfual beauTy and depTh of The music. I only knew ThaT iT impressed me Tremendously. I was relieved when iT was finished. The nexT Time I heard This Debussy composiTion, I was several years older, and much beTTer equipped and mafured, musically, To aTTempT This Tremendous piece of music. This Time, from The opening bars, I saT enfranced. The conducfor, who sfood before me, waved his arms, and The orchesfra produced This beauTiful, efhereal music, which swelled To The deafening crescendoes of Trolicking seas, Then fell away To The sooThing murmurs of waTer falling over rocks, and from That fainT sound, away To nofh- ingness. IT was enchanTing. In This glorious world of sound, I feIT myself To be iusf an infinifesimal drop. The music expressed so clearly whaT The TiTles implied. I could almosT imagine The conversaTion befween The wind and The sea. When iT was finished, l had a very collapsed feeling inside of me. I had lisTened To Truly greaT music. Confemporary music has grown considerably in The IasT Tew years, and, To suc- ceed, needs only a more ToIeranT audience who will nof fear iT. FRANCES SHAPIRO. '38 pe-nsee d'amour Je pense a Toi quand Ie soleil se Ieve, J'y pense encore quand il finiT son cours, ET si parfois dans mon sommeil, ie reve C'esT au bonheur de vous aimer Touiours. RHODA MINTZ. '37. TwenTy-four