Vandergrift High School - Spectator Yearbook (Vandergrift, PA)

Page 31 text:

THE SPECTATOR 29 HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRA Director—Miss Ferrell President ............... Eugene McCormick Secretary ............... Martha Brayshaw Librarian .................. Josephine Ekin The orchestra members are working with a will. The new auditorium serves as a great inspiration. The new orchestra pit will seat twenty players so there will be no lack of room and the pleasure of playing will be greatly increased. The Orchestra’s library has a great variety of pieces, and a number of fairly difficult overtures are among them. There are seventeen in the orchestra this year: Josephine Ekin.......................cornet Edgar Blinker ...................cornet Harold Wagle ................... cornet Ervin Baughman .................. comet Eugene McCormick ............ saxaphone Paul Alcom .................. saxaphone Erni Lassasso ................ clarinet Miles Ashbaugh ............... clarinet Madeline Ferguson .............. violin Virginia Brookhart ............. violin Martha Brayshaw ................ violin Harold Heckman ................. violin John Harley..................... violin Harold McCllean ................ violin Bruce Newell.....................violin Ardell Crow .................... violin Peter Aiello .................... piano LINCOLN BUILDING ORCHESTRA The High School is not the only division of the school that has an orchestra. The Lincoln building has an orchestra of ten pieces. It is organized and has the follow ing officers. Director—Miss Butler

Page 30 text:

28 THE SPECTATOR We’ll try to get you with our looks, And what are you going to do We’ll say we will make the best of cooks, And the next thing—we’ve got you. But Boys, you know it’s all in the game, You can’t blame the girls at all Don’t be a sorehead if we want your name, For if we ask you, we’re sure you’ll fall. You’ll be so stunned when we ask you What kind of a ring do you wish ? Oh! nothing but a diamond. And you’ll buy it, you poor fish. Now girls, don’t be backward, For another time will be too late If you want him just propose, Next “Leap Year’s” not till ’28. Nineteen twenty-four is Ours, And Girls, do your best If he don’t say “Yes” send him flowers, And on your card the word “At Rest.” —Agnes Hammond, ’25. FORLORN AND DESERTED ’Twas the end of the battle The last man had fled, Among the dead bodies He was left there for dead. Forlorn and deserted And lost in the night. He crept to the stream And waited for light. He bathed there his wounds In the blood stained stream. And lay for the night In an unconscious dream. The morning dawned there Bright and clear, And he raised His dying head to hear, A word of Prayer A hand to cheer, A Red Cross Nurse A Friend so near. “Saved at last” They heard him say. And near the stream He, unconscious lay. —Adelaide Coleman, ’2G.

Page 32 text:

30 THE SPECTATOR President ................. Malcolm George Librarian Alfretta Myers Secretary.................... Carl Ferguson MUSIC MEMORY CONTEST A music memory contest is being given this year in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8. The students participating will be required to become familiar with thirty compositions by standard composers. They must be able to recognize the name of the composition, state name of the composer and his nationality and give a few salient facts concerning composer and composition. Records of the thirty pieces have been provided, and the pupils hear one or more daily. GLEE Director—Miss Ferrell President....................Virginia King Secretary................Beulah Burkhart Librarian............................Hulda Cooper Pianist .................... Pauline Bolar The Glee Club has a membership of eighty-three girls. The girls seem very enthusiastic and show a great deal of spirit. The Glee Club’s library contains a large number and variety of classical selections. The following numbers are taken from selections the girls are now using. Lullaby ......................... Brahms Holy is His Name..................Handel The Dawning Springtime ........... Capua To a Wild Rose .............. MacDowell Chit-Chat ....................... Moffat The Big Brown Bear............Nana-Zucca The teachers report much interest on the part of the pupil. This contest will be of inestimable value to the children in later life as well as now. Have you not many times heard a piece of music which was familiar yet you could not give the name of the piece or composer ? The idea is to familiarize the children with standard compositions, so they will listen intelligently to music they hear, and have the satisfaction of knowing the composition and its source. CLUB A number of new members have added their names to the roll, and it expects to receive a large number next year from the Freshman class. The Glee Club is now practicing one hour a week and already shows a marked improvement compared to the beginning of the year, due largely to the efforts of its able director Miss Ferrell. The club enjoys the new auditorium very much. It provides many new conveniences heretofore denied. The officers of the Glee Club this year are surely filling their offices faithfully. They are always on deck and very dependable. —Madeline Ferguson, ’25. MUSIC In the extensive field of music there are the advantages and disadvantages, which we might class as “classical” and “jazz”. In classical music, such as compositions by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Kreisler, Fletcher, Tschtikowsky, Mendelssohn, and those of many others, wTe find a wide range in type and style. Some of the above-mentioned composers have written in a direct simple style, the type which is easily understood by all; while others have written in a flashing style, portraying in tones of harmony the ideals of the heart, easily misunderstood, yet delightful to the listeners. As real poets write for beauty, giving the people the best that they are capable of giving, so also do real composers. Usually classical music is uplifting, as a person of my acquaintance described— “good music thrills me, and at the time, fills me with ambition.” Really, if one understands music, and is appreciative of good compositions, one derives a great deal of pleasure from it, for as it comforts, it excites, and one’ is saddened, one is uplifted. To turn to jazz; one is reminded of a French critic’s criticism of jazz music. This French critic states, and with due reason, that jazz is the reaction of the late war, and typifies a disastrous change to come soon over the people. He defines it as a state of mental frenzy which is resulting in