North Andover High School - Knight Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

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THE GOBBLER-1944 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL unquestionably the most human of all the arts, and the one that enters most into every day experience—the mother’s lullaby, a favorite hymn, a marching tune or patriotic music of any kind. Religion has never been able to get along without music and it is one of the greatest assets of the church today. Patriot¬ ism, love, loyalty, courage, and all the other human virtues are not only expressed but stimulated by music. The art of enjoying music finds its greatest pleasure in the discovery of permanent beauty, regardless of whether the discovery has previously been made by others. When you have discovered for yourself something beautiful that proves to have passed the test of time, and to have stimulated thousands of others as it stimulates you, then you have enjoyed an experience that is akin to that of the creative artist himself; and, what is more, you have added definitely to the enduring satisfactions of life. Caroline Hayman CLASS ORATION The More Prepared, the More Powerful M HE more prepared we are, the more powerful we are. In the realm of warfare this is very evident. Germany could strike with such force and might as it did in 1939 because it had prepared for war for well over eight years. Japan, with a population of 73,000,000, could afford to attack the United States, with a population of 135,000,000, almost double that of Japan, for two primary reasons. The first was the element of surprise, and the second, but more important, was the extensive preparations that Japan had undertaken to accomplish this pur¬ pose. For years our scrap iron replenished the depleted steel stocks of the Japanese war machine. Long before Japanese naval forces struck at Pearl Harbor, Japanese troops on Formosa, in Indo-China, and on Japanese-mandated islands were waiting to strike at Guam, Wake, the Philippines and British Malaya. It took months to prepare for our invasions of Guadalcanal and North Africa. Think of the months of preparation for the much talked about and much called for “second front.” Our military leaders, the commissioned officers, must take years of military training in school and in the field before they are entrusted with a command. Education and practical preparation are absolute requisites to our military officers. In life itself this motto is just as true. On all sides of us today we hear the familiar phrase: “On the youth of today rests the world of tomorrow.” As this is only too true, the youth of today must prepare now for the tremendous task ahead of them. The young men and women in the service can continue their education, if they so desire, under a special correspondence program set up by the army and navy. But the under-classmen in the high schools today have the greatest opportunity of all to shoulder our post-war responsibilities. Special technical subjects have been put into the school curricula. These technical studies should, however, be supplemented with subjects that deal with modern economic, social, and political problems. These subjects should deal not only J 21

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THE GOBBLER-1944 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL organized music from the haphazard “plain-song” which was not measured in terms of time. If your interests are literary rather than mathematical, music offers an even larger field of enjoyment. It is interesting, and often amusing, to observe how some of the composers have treated the authors of great literary masterpieces. Shakespeare has not been very successfully set to music on the whole. Verdi’s “Othello” and “Falstaff” are the most important operatic treatments of Shakes¬ peare, and Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” is at least adequate. The finest Shakes¬ pearian music is still the youthful overture to the “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by Mendelssohn. The French poets have had an enormous influence on French music and a large proportion of all program music owes its existence to such poetry. Debus¬ sy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” is a characteristic example, based on a poem by Mallarme. Narrative music is almost as common as descriptive, even when no words are used. Music has often been compared with language itself. While it combines easily with actual language, it also speaks a language of its own, which has become universal. To understand the significance of the organizing factors of rhythm, melody, harmony, tone color and form, the knowledge of a familiar language is helpful. Music has its own alphabet, of only seven letters, as com¬ pared with the twenty-six of the English alphabet. Each of these letters repre¬ sents a note, and just as certain letters are complete words in themselves, so certain notes may stand alone, with the force of a whole word. Generally, however, a note of music implies a certain harmony, and in most modern music the notes take the form of actual chords. So it may be said that a chord in music is like a word in a language. Several words form a phrase, and several phrases form a sentence, and the same thing is true in music. Measured music corresponds to poetry, while the old unmeasured plain-song might be compared to prose. If you are interested in history or geography or both, the co-operation of music again becomes highly significant. There is no better way of studying nationalism than through the folk music of individual countries. There is no mistaking the character of a Hungarian Rhapsody or an Irish Jig, or a Polish Mazurka, or a Viennese Waltz. The music of a country should always be an important part of the study of its geography and history. Music has played a dramatic role on numerous historic occasions, such as the fall of the Bastille, when the Marseillaise was heard, the rise of Protestantism, inspired by Martin Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” even the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, when Yankee Doodle turned from an army joke into a march of triumph. Music is so closely knit with the other arts that one could not very well get along without the other. Painting, sculpture, and literature all have their anal¬ ogies in music, and the art of the dance could not exist without music, which is its heart and soul. But the greatest significance of music is in its relation to life itself. It is 20

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THE GOBBLER-1944 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL with problems found in the United States, but also with those of other countries. This would lead to better understanding and co-operation among the nations of the world. The United States is going to hold a very important position at the peace table following the conclusion of this terrific holocaust. Momentous decisions must be made at the peace conference. Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address that the government of the United States was “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Thus it is really the citizens of the United States who are to have this high responsibility. We, the American citizens and our representatives in the government, should start now to prepare ourselves to deal wisely with these problems. Many books have been written by authorities on these subjects and they are available for public consumption. There is a group of teen-age boys and girls at present who realize the need of preparation in this field. They have organized themselves under the name of Student Fed¬ eralists, and are working for a federal union of all nations when peace reigns again. This is an excellent step forward that American youth have taken. I would like to state another motto, that of the Boy Scouts—“Be Prepared.” Be prepared, America and Americans, for in preparation alone lies the strength to overcome our many perplexing problems and to be successful in our dealings with other countries and in our own personal lives. William N. Wilkinson, Jr. CLASS ESSAY Practical Idealism D MILLIONS of people the world over are looking forward to a post-war world of great scientific discoveries and economic improvements—air transports, £ television, helicopters, and many industrial inventions which will increase production and raise standards of living. We talk of reduced armaments and lowered tariff barriers; security from the cradle to the grave for workingmen and their families. Mr. Wallace would like to see a quart of milk per person per day on every doorstep in the world. Blueprints are being drawn for training, free of charge, enterprising youths of foreign nations in the building and administration of industry so that they may apply this knowledge to their native lands and help further the new prosperity. With all these modern marvels, how can we fail to keep the peace that is being won for us? There is much to applaud in this vision of the post-war world. Certainly a satisfied people are not disposed to quarrel with their neighbors; revolutions and wars grow from discontent with existing conditions. On the other hand, the wealthy home is not always happier than the poor one. Riches alone do not create happiness. It follows, then, that these material changes and improve¬ ments in themselves, though important, are not sufficient to bind the world together in such a way as to eliminate all possibilities of future aggression. As Lt. Col. W. F. Kernan has said, “Before the road to victory and peace 22