Muhlenberg College - Ciarla Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

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1 i l I, Page At the death of Dr. Marks resolutions of respect were passed by the faculty and students of Muhlenberg College. The burial service was held in St. Iohn's Lutheran Church on Sat- urday, Gctober 26, 1912. The faculty of Muhlenberg College attended in a body and the students were represented by forty of their number. Interment was made privately in Fairview Cemetery. Cn Sunday, December 17, memorial services were held in St, Iohn's Lutheran Church, at which service the President of Muhlenberg College delivered the following address: DoctorlMarks, the Man of Ideals. lVhenever men meet to do honor to one they knew and loved there sadness. In it the soul sings: rc rises first the note of I cannot see the features right Vfhen on the gloom I strive to paint The face I knew, the hues are faint And mix with hollow masks of night? But when, after days have passed and the first fresh grief is con- quered, we look again and find a deeper picture and a better estimate if we have learned by grace to say: Peace, come away, the song of woe is after all an earthly thing. In the spirit of peace then and looking to the coming of the Prince of Peace we have gathered to remember the life, which has passed beyond our ken. As we knew our beloved brother and friend, Dr. Clement Marks, his life's work and character cannot be characterized more ntly than by view- ing him as the 'KMan of Idealsf, Ideals are more, greater and better than purposes, Pew are the lives which idly drift and ask not whither. Some purpose dominates most men. It may be an immediate aim and a nearby goal, for frequently the distant view and the far off fulfillment do not attract and charm, but at any rate it is a goal. But the goal and purpose may be mean, they may be among the multitude and amid the crowd. Purpose, aim and de- termination are not sufficient for the man of leadership and power. I-Ie looks up to the mountain, though its height seems unattainable. I-Iis wagon is hitched to the distant star. Not what appears immediately prac- ticable, but the apparently unreachable moves him. In the eternal truth, in the everlasting beauty and harmony, in the nnal good, he believes though all might doubt. The man of ideals does not descend to what is, but ascends to what might be, because it must be though thousands have Twelve

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ieruf. Qtlement 21. Qlbarks, 91,Bu5.2D. TVTUSICAL DIRECTOR, ROP. CLEMENT A. MARKS, director of the Euterpean Club Oratorio Society, Professor of Music at Muhlenberg College, leader in the musical circles of the city, died October 23, 1912. Dr. Marks -was born in Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County, in 1864. He attended the public schools adjacent to his home, and the knowledge thus acquired was supplemented by attendance at the prepara- tory school of Muhlenberg College. At the same time he began his musi- cal education under the instruction of Prof. C. P. Hermann, with whom he continued for six years. He then went to Philadelphia, where he com- pleted his education as director, instructor and organist. At the age of fourteen ,years he was organist of the Moravian Church at Eniaus, and after serving in that capacity for six years, was elected organist of Zion Reformed Church, Allentown, where he rem.ained ive years. ln ISQI he was elected organist .of St. Iohn's Lutheran Church, Allentown, and served that congregation continuously to the time of his death, a period of more than a score of years, during which he brought the choir of the congregation up to a high state of efficiency, serving as organist in the Sunday School aswell as in the Church. Tn 1909 he was accorded the degree of Doctor of Music, and in the same year was appointed instruc- tor in music at Muhlenberg College. Here he instructed the Cflee Club, and aided them greatly in their work. He was President of the State Music Teachers' Association. Tn 1887 the Euterpean Club was organized in Allentown, with forty male voices, and Dr. Marks was selected Director. Six years later the name of the organization was changed to the Euterpean Club-Qratorio Society, which is now composed of upward of two hundred mixed voices. Under the direction of Dr. Marks this organization reached a high stand- ard, and its reputation spread beyond the borders of the State, adding to the laurels of the director as he added to its efficiency. The success and prominence attained by the Society is directly attributable to the ability of?Dr. Marks, and the great interest he showed in its work from the in- ception until his death brought his labors to a close. Page Eleven

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no vision. The man of ideals is the seer of the unseen, and he makes others see his visions. The shadows are pierced by him and he reaches beyond the passing phenomena into the realm where truth is and beauty lives, and goodness is enthroned forever. lf we ask in what manner the :noble ideals of music were grasped and made vital by our friend, it is necessary first of all, fairly, soberly and justly to estimate his,true place in his art. The man of ideals is ,beyond all other things, conscious of his place and path. The very height of his ideals makes him neither presumptuous nor boastful, but honest. It was not given to our brother to be among the very few of highest genius in art, 'who by creative force, imagination and inspiration, en- rich the world by original works of ever living beauty. But while Dr. Marks was no great creative musician, he was nevertheless among the favored few, who possess the subtle strength to interpret the great masters. So Clement Marks' music was not a profession followed for the sake of bread and butter. It was an art which asks only to be wooed for its own sake. To interpret this art to others and to make the soul of melody speak in harmony was his life. He had realized the abso- luteness of art, not only in its length, but in its height. No greater joy was his than without question of reward and at a self-sacrihce to repro- duce through the medium of the human voice, which he so ably trained and developed, the greatest and best masterpieces of all ages. To the abil- ity of the capable teacher of singing, to the enthusiastic leadership o-f a great chorus, he added the skill of the artist, who instructed and taught all, what the art of music means. Wfhether it was the pure liquidity of tone in Palestrina, or the mighty chorus of the oratorio, or the rich and full harmony of the chorals, or the simple song-all were interpreted with power, insight, intellectual breadth and with depth of feeling. Dr. Marks could not -'bear a pretentious dilettantism, which misled the untutored and lived for temporary applause. His soul was stirred to its depths when any other consideration but the purity of the highest ideals of art were to determine music. Although not opposed to the plainer note of humbler artists, he could and justly would not stiffer the merely ephemer- al and popular, because it vitiated and degraded musical taste. And this degradation as he rightly saw, might have grave religious and moral consequences. Therefore, in church and concert hall he strove un- swervingly for the best art. Out of his ideals for art grew his love for the classic. It was the great classic musicians and composers whom he most revered, loved and studied. It is true that he was no narrow worshiper of the classic in all Page Thirteen