Muhlenberg College - Ciarla Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

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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

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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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its ways, for he had no patience with the weakness of classicism. Wfhile he loved its permanence and its clear and fixed principles, its lofty aim, its shadows of the unchanging, he did not follow its traditionalism and uncharitableness. He was not the slave .of one master or school, but kept the freedom of romantic sentiment without its individualistic vagar- ies and its proud egotism. For this very attitude he was true to ideals, the ideals of a free man in his art, and yet an humble pupil of gall the greatest masters. The ,ideals of our friend were centered about his one art. All true ideals in human life must have a centre of intellect and will. Not a dis- jointed and ununified mass of ideals make the true man. Now the unity of the ideals of Dr. Marks was the unity in diversity of the height and depth of the excellence of the art of music. But with this constant at- tention to this one art he combined a breadth of view and interest which made all knowledge contributory to its understanding and more vital presentation. As few musicians he realized the relation of music to painting and sculpture, architecture and literature. He knew the lives of the great musicians in relation to their age. A constant student he touched vitally the life of the student under him, not only by his living and his ready, full and thorough knowledge of his own subject, but also by the breadth of his learning and sympathy. Despite the meagre edu- cation of his early years he became a broad man and commended con- stantly the necessity of the cultural course in college. Hfhile his life was spent near the place of his birth, he was not provincial, but uni- versal. This community gradually valued him at his real worth. 'Some of the most choice spirits, men and women of high and distinct culture estimated him highly, not merely for his sparkling and ready wit. but much more for his conversational power in which knowledge old and new was used to interest and charm his listeners. And back of all was the magnetism of a real personality with fidelity to great ideals. There was not wanting in his life the ideal of unending work. He was not only a faithful teacher, who performed his many duties faith- fully and punctually, but he also employed every spare moment as a student. ?He attacked boldly the most difficult problems. In the very last year of his life he began to read some deep philosophical books. His was that rare unsatiable thirst for knowledge and truth. It is a pity that in our American life we are still so backward that men of talent must squander much of their time in the treadmill of trivial performance, in- stead of being furnished the leisure for Greater things. Wfhen a man 6 arises with high ideals he falls victim to his just love of intellectual Page Fourteen