Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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Pierian Sodality, the College's Oldest Musical Group, Has Weathered Four Wars One hundred and forty years of tradition as a rich source of connoisseurs and performers of fine orchestral music helped the Pierian Sodality weather the fourth war in its history with no major ill effects, though the concert orchestra formed by its members was reduced for a time nearly to a quartet. In the spring of 1943, Conductor Malcolm Holmes '28 left for war service, shortly followed by many of the '46 members who had recently joined the Society, including Manager Edward Troupin. Conductor George Brown '24 took up the baton in the interim, however, aided by Chemistry Professor A. Sprague Coolidge, and the Club adjusted itself to wartime conditions. Led by an able group of ofiicers including Vice- President Edmund Chastagner '46 the Pierian instituted summer orchestra rehearsals and continued its joint rehearsals and concerts with Radcliffe, begun as an experiment in 1942. The annual Paine Hall concerts were presented with success despite the personnel shortage, and Pierian performed in a joint concert with Colbyjunior College. The 1944 and 1945 seasons saw the orchestra's activity very nearly reduced to periodic sight reading rehearsals, classi- cal jam sessions to which anyone who could play an instru- ment was welcome. The return of Conductor Holmes from the Army in 1945 encouraged the orchestra to present a fine performance of the Brahms Requiem, in memory of President 1943-44. Bark Rowxjohn A. Finnegan '47 fAfri.rlanl Treaiurerj, David Kligler '47, Bert A. Knight '46, Howard A. Diller '44 CSeerelaryD, H. B. Nelson '47 Q Armi- ant Managed. Front Row.-jay C. Hornberger '45 flwdlldglfb, Edmond A. Chastag- ner '46 CVire Preridentj, Wyman T. Vaughan fPre,fidentJ, Vernon H. Head '44, Not in Pi:1ure.' Alexander T. Shulgin '46, Edward C. Troupin '46 fMamzgerJ. 42751- A Pierian quartet tries out its new instruments. Left to right: Albert Cline '49, Mitchell Sharmat '48, Judy Davidoff, and Conductor Malcolm Holmes. Roosevelt, at Bowdoin College, but the revival of a full concert schedule had to wait until 1946. Ed Troupin '46 returned to become president of the Sodality in the fall of 1946, and he and his associates staged over ten successful concerts, with Radcliffe, Colby, Wellesley, and Mt. Holyoke, at Choate and Groton schools, at the Tedesco Country Club, and in Sanders Theater. A wartime innovation, the Pops concert, was perpetuated with a per- formance in Lowell House, and a Pierian competition to en- courage student orchestral composition produced a concerto for piano and orchestra by Nicholas Van Slyck '44, which was performed with Noel Lee '46 as featured soloist in the Sanders Theater concert and won praise from Boston critics. An Unbroken Tradition Troubled by financial difficulties, as are most good musical organizations, the Pierian solved some of its problems in 1946 by a successful venture as impresario, presenting the Budapest String Quartet in a Cambridge concert whose profits went to bolster the Sodality's sustaining trust fund. The new creative vigor in both musical and business fields did not herald a departure from the group's prized traditions, however, and many of the original customs and rituals, abandoned for the duration, were revived among the Pierian's increasing membership. Over 150 returning veterans and eager prospective members were on hand in 1947 as Conductor Holmes raised his baton at the first sight-reading rehearsal, and the interest of the orchestra's members was matched by that of such of its patrons as Alfred Gott, a California fan and hobbyist, who presented Pierian with a string quartet of instruments con- structed by himself. Sustained through the lean years by '46, Pierian traditions seemed safe for the future.

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Gertrude Lawrence instructs Ben Gaylord '49, who was chosen prettiest chorus girl of the 100th Annual Hasty Pudding Club Show, Here'J the Pitrb. able technical difficulties of performing in Sanders Theatre, the Workshop even capitalized upon the rambling structure's architecture by using its stained glass window in the transcept as background forjoan's cathedral scene, moving the audience instead of the scenery. Donna Holabird created a spirited and moving Saint joan, and the entire production was of such high caliber that the Crimxon could truthfully acclaim it the high water mark of drama at Harvard. Sticking to the beaten paths of well-known drama and concentrating on skillful acting and effective staging, the Workshop scored another triumph in fall of 1947 with Part I of Shakespeare's Henry IV, a presentation worthy in every respect of a professional troupe. The Workshop's Managing Director, Jerome Kilty, drew high praise in his comic role as Falstaff, as did Albert Marte for his capable direction. The Pudding Goes on Tour Although the Hasty Pudding Club, oldest dramatic organization in the country, officially abandoned its theatricals for the duration in 1942, the N.R.O.T.C. smokers held in the Club beginning in 1943 proved worthy substitutes. In March 1947, the Club raised its voice in song again with Speak For Yourself a travesty on the Myles Standish-john Alden-Pris- cilla triangle, with music by Courtney Crandall '46. Among '46 supporting players were Robert Purinton, George Warren, john Munroe, jr., and Bradley Cumings, III. The show toured New York and Pennsylvania and won critical praise as gay, disarming, and one of the best College musicals ever. To celebrate the Hasty Puddings Hundredth Anniver- sary, the Club produced I-Iere'.f the Pitrla in December, 1947, with William Reed '46 in the singing lead. Courtney Cran- dall's score included the barrelhouse comedy number Little Ladybird, which stopped the show at every one of its fifteen performances, and So Well, So Soon and Extra-Currickeler Girl, which were later published by Broadcast Music, Inc. Among the cast of the show were Henry Erhard '46 and Bob Purinton, with Munroe and Warren in staff positions. After eight Cambridge performances, H0f6,.Y the Pitch toured New York, Washington, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, and De- troit, and won favorable notice from Variety, Billboard, LW, and Newyweek magazines. Pudding archives reveal that numerous governors, sena- tors, and statesmen have donned wigs and falsies in the inter- ests of undergraduate humor, and, while the Pudding shows lay no claim to being a breeding ground for genius, former members have included Owen Wister, Robert Benchley, and Robert Sherwood. Members of the NROTC take off Navy brass at a wartime Hasty Pudding smoker. l 12741-

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Standing for better tone and volume, Woody and the Glee Club punch home a crescendo in the Sever 11 practice room. The Glee Club is one of the Nation's Foremost Clioruses One of the series of spring Yard Concerts on the steps of Widener. At the end of each program students join the Glee Club to sing College songs. The present Harvard Glee Club is a far cry from the days when no College man dared to sing anything more classi- cal than Swmzee River even in the shower, and it was thought improper for Harvard and Radcliffe students to sing together in a mixed choir. Since then, through the inspiration and perspiration of its two great conductors, Professors A. T. Davison and G. Wallace Woodworth, the Glee Club has grown into one of the nation's foremost choruses, possessing its own large and varied library of choral music, and regularly present- ing the masses and requiems of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. The Club's self-effacing but astute business management has made it finance itself from numerous concerts and recordings, so that it need follow the dictates only of its own high stand- ards of musical achievement. ' During the war, Woody and the Club officers de- liberately lowered voice requirements and shortened rehearsals, in order to give as many as possible the opportunity to par- ticipateiin great music. Some 55 members of '46 warbled their way successfully through quartet trials and were later elected to membership and entitled to the Club shingle Their first season, 1942-1943, was marked by creditable per- formances of Brahms' Requiem and Beethoven's Ninth Symplaony. 12761-