Concordia College - White and Blue Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

Page 62 text:

ANG Po YE Reker res S ence x f M $ ite TH WHIT E@ “AND BLUE NV ) PAN mm nmahninieth miRRAL AR eM MANOA A IID SANSA NM aE Fa HH nay son chacnbientenanemaeaciedemanininemnameaeaonaeearminineas tannin ities amar eye tanntentne aaa FN TER ERE ORE RRNA TI SE QA SERRE RENAN ITE N = sot “When griping griets the heart doth wound And doleful dumps the mind oppress, Then music with her silver sound With speedy help doth lend redress.” One more remark. We may indulge and gratify our senses to the very utmost by listening to good music without even the shghtest harm to our morals or intellect. On the contrary, the more we indulge, so much greater the benefit we derive. Addison wrote, ‘Music is the only sensual gratifica- tion which mankind may indulge in to excess without injury to their mora or religious feelings”. What a highly distinctive virtue of an art that it car- ries no danger of possible harmful over-indulgence!—surely, if music suits itself so well to our varied moods and feelings, all of us will strive to become more familiar with this God-given gift to man, to acquire a wider knowledge of its character and influence, and to attain to greater perfection in perform- ance for his own entertainment, pleasure and comfort. ‘The old, old tunes, the sweet old words That lips grown silent loved to sing, How close around the heart they cling, Smiting its truest, tenderest chords; Let all the world with music ring, Whereer we rest, whereer we roam, Not one can touch so sweet a string, Or to the heart such rapture bring. As these loved songs of home.” Page Forty-eight

Page 61 text:

ze} bs they, % E v 2 on PRE He anemia ARIS ea AAR RAEN ORI INRIENS SANSA IN CSSA eee ned uinetein gen maeeAnaatnnia man mrainnaenaninn connie AYE ACN RANI arma NL o Veer, So a) x am xo See he Senetan hoa pee insababeaae co taearn aeetoes Sareanee ent enna ore) oseaanh tien catenin einai ainaaaaea ahaion teemmmnn oohenmniete cao sae ae onteaeeete D AY hy OX hoses SPATS emo Settle het cent ent stents aaa Sod wy AN = w { a . ¢ a) oo SS SY, ANA y Ny VBE er Feat rv8 = | = hs anges hy music of a band, how it caused their hearts to beat faster, their pulse to throb more violently, until their animation actually bordered on a state of frenzy. A general’s earnest and spirited address may impart courage and enthusiasm to his men, but nothing can so thoroughly rouse them to action as the fiery, warlike tunes of a military band. Tuckerman wrote, “Explain it as we may, a martial strain will urge a man into the front rank of battle sooner than an argument.” Pope expresses the same thought when he exclaims, speaking of the various influences of music, “Warriors she fires with animated sounds,’’— But all of life is not a succession of happy events, much less is it spent entirely in waging war. There come quiet moments, necessary for the de- velopment of our inner man, when we wish to be left to ourselves and en- gage in silent meditation and reflection. At such times we care not to be entertained by hght and frivolous music, but rather listen to music of a more serious, sublime character, music adapted to our particular mood, which will aid us in our reflection. And how eloquently it expresses our inmost thoughts and feelings, better even than we curselves could attempt to ex- press them! Surely, music of this kind was in the mind of Carlyle when he said, “Music is a kind of inarticulate, unfathomable speech, which leads us to the edge of the infinite, and lets us for a moment gaze into that”. How willingly we give ourselves up to its ennobling influences, at the same time becoming completely oblivious of our external surroundings and living only in the realm of the music we hear! Our emotions are aroused and we forget, as it were, the real world without, with all its griefs and sorrows, and we exist for the time being in a world without sorrow. ‘This is the music which inspires poets to write their best and gentlest lines when attempting to describe it. This, too, is the kind of music than which, aside from divine power, there is probably nothing more capable of purifying our emotions. It “cleanses the understanding, inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which iivOuldmnOtercacheiettawereslerteroritscell . | lhisus the music we have im mind when we claim for it the greatest power of bringing civilization to un- cultured savages. ‘This, finally, is the music which accompanies us in our hours of devotion and sacred worship and permits, as it were, our spirit to hear angelic hosts sing celestial anthems of eternal bliss. . Sacred and sec- ular history fairly teems with instances where music was used to calm, to elevate, to inspire. Let the account of David’s playing before Saul and Dirsaeli’s remark that Milton, poet and musician, listened to his organ for his solemn inspirations suffice as illustrations. But there are times when our heart asks for music of a still more sombre character, times when we mourn the loss of our closest friend or dearest family member and our heart, whose fibres are all but rent with anguish, seems about to burst with sorrow and grief. At such times it seeks only comfort, comfort to still the intense longing for the departed. And lo! even here music supplies our want. Accompanying us in our joy, communing with us in our soul’s meditations, it now takes part in our greatest of griefs and brings healing to our bleeding hearts. And oh! how gently it calms the Acninae void in our hearts, w ith what soothing voice it “appeals to our pain-racked soul, while earthly language would have been powerless to bring comfort. Then indeed do we Calla that music is truly the heart-language and we are even inclined to term it celestial, because its power of comfort- ing. Probably Shakespeare, abounding in beautiful passages on the essence and powers of music, also expresses this quality best when he says, Page Forty-seven

Page 63 text:

aden ets enamenmengent oan gateen setae gon oan setae caeenagtannnateag cate weg eaemamatIMEEN vee Serereseap urs nSt SS eA oat oS etna SE ASAD aS THAR NEN ARR IATTAS UN cate noone sQenbANiee eer ean NN SSNRAIEEN cocmmuereet-—beeretcheveudtrnsteteistaneneaveseininels tvs entra ee ten ntnNte mete tanEnnIr ty Eeige ESS serrate SS WZ rue WHITE @ AND BLUE iA Pe vo PI) .) s (25 ¢ chen nemnetnaetattnngetapereeneanentat telatete! eee Aeon ena liee tere eames. s 2 OMRON AQ IMINO AU YIN n wane Stee Siete aaron ea) if SA REA EEE ORATOR SS ERE TERE AONE FREER (2 VST, LN we — =H revenenenonenenenenenonenonononancncnenenons Lt lopely old feeling to feel that you've done Something each day to bring someone the sun. “A merry heart doeth eee ee ood like Reed ieiniCe A lovely old feeling to feel that your heart ca . 3 i 2 Pyro ee Has striven all day to give laughter a start. == ‘. 7 ww © . M cs re te) fet tet tee Etc iet Pet Po OeDerDerMer@erne ¢ A lovely old feeling to feel that you've borne Cae SOOT SOTO OOOO One e ane Gena Lo somebody's darkness a glimpse of the morn.” Cheerfulness is human sunshine. It is the element in life that keeps this old world from being a cold drear place. Those who are without it are a deserted, discontented, crestfallen, ungracious lot. People avoid them. They aresthe drones, the grumblers, the quitters, the’ pessimists of life. Society is a bore to them, work a drudgery; nothing satisfies or pleases them. They lead a miserable existence, void of joy, and forsaken as though afflicted with a disease; and all this, because they lack the one thing, cheerfulness. Cheerfulness is that buoyant state of serenity, geniality, and benevolence to which we elevate our nature. It radiates hope, courage, and love, gives warmth and harmony to character, and enhances personality. It sees the sunlight beyond the clouds and is an insurmountable bulwark against ilisery sdeieatamd despa, Eiard luck cant stand for a cheerful’ grin.” Here one must remember, however, that cheerfulness, though appearing on the surface in ripples of laughter, smiles, pleasant words, and amiable glances, still must not be thought to consist of “silly grinning at nothing and idiotic happy platitudes.” It must be genuine in its source, rise spon- taneously, and have a real and worthy object. Cheerfulness amounts to a form of genius. Some people seem to be born with it. To them it is natural to be cheerful. Others must gain it through discipline, must resolve upon it, train themselves in it, and continually hold themselves to it. To all it is attainable and it demands but little of its sub- ject: outwardly, a lift in the cheeks and light in the eyes; inwardly, purity, that it may sparkle like the clear waters, constant practice, that it may grow, and proper physical and mental tone, that it may flood one’s nature without a break or hindrance. To whoever will imbibe it freely and dispense it un- selfishly it offers rich rewards. Cheerfulness brings friends. The sunny nature will always be welcome. People do not care to listen to complaints, to grumbling and whining; but they will never tire of one whose presence is always radiant and pleasant. What endears friendship is not so much sympathy and advice as just plain ‘cheer. Many who seek someone’s friendship too readily submit to disappoint- ment. When their attempts at gaining a friend do not at once succeed and neglect and rejection confront them, when a friend, whom they had thought near, seemingly vanishes in thin air, their whole spirit droops and collapses Page Forty-nine