Westdale Secondary School - Le Raconteur Yearbook (Hamilton, Ontario Canada)

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LE BACIJNTEUII Music By Irwin Goldberg The Orchestra had a very full and interesting year and was kept busy practising for its various engagements. lt played a very entertaining pro- gram at the Royal Connaught llotel for the anni- versary of the .-Xd Club, besides playing for the Commencement, and Triune programs, the Tech- nical Exhibition, and several church programs. .Xn excellent annual concert was presented by the 1 'rchestra, and those attending enjoyed immensely the new selections playedg professional artists assisted. For the dances and the choruses of the School l'lay. the tf'rchestra changed from classics to popu- lar selections, featuring such tunes as: The Con- tirentalf' Tea for Two and Fare Thee Hell, .Xnnabclle. The scores of these pieces were trans- posed and written for the Orchestra by Mr. Lomas, who is to be congratulated on his clever arrange- ments. The Nature of Musie By Vernon Bridgewood Cf all the line arts music is, perhaps, the most wonderful, the most uplifting, the most com- plete. It explores the heights and depths of human passion and human experience, and transports the soul through the entire gamut of the emotions. Music, the gifted child of the imagination, is also the hand-maiden of exact science. It differs greatly from architecture. sculpture, and painting. Guided by the architect's plans, men hew massive rocks of granite, and lo! the mighty cathedral rises into the air: the sculptor overlays it with lacework of stone. and the painter decorates it with holy pic- tures to tell the saintly story to those who cannot read it for themselves. And century after cen- tury, the cathedral stands, and man may admire its graceful proportions and worship within its portals. Music, however, is not formed of granite blocks. but of just a succession of sounds which are so mod- ulated that they please the ear. The composer writes it: the musicians play it-and when they pause. all that remains is a beautiful memory, instead of a visible monmnent. So, compared to the other arts, music is the most ethereal. Yet it has one advantage over the great cathe- dral, for the latter can never change its site, while music may be heard at the same time in different parts of the world. 32 Not only this, but music is a most wonderful language, for it can express more emotion and intensity of feeling than any other language that has ever been spoken. The use of music as a serious factor in education is bound up with the whole question of art in the national life. Music is being accepted in an increas- ing number of high schools and universities as a credit or optional subject in courses leading to graduation. lts educational and cultural value in training the mind and developing the artistic sense is becoming universally recognized. All this marks a decided change in attitude from that which pre- vailed a very few years ago, when music was con- sidered merely a pleasing accomplishment. Short Waves By W. Smith The use of short waves used in radios in the home has been a lifesaver to both the listening public and the radio industry. ln the early days of radio, the chief object of most listeners was to try and receive stations from the greatest distances away. This lust for long dis- tance reception died out when the broadcasting stations started putting programs over the air that were really entertaining. This form of entertain- ment built up a very large listening audience, and then the depression hit the radio industry. Some- thing had to be done to keep up the sale of radio receivers and satisfy the listeners. Short waves was the answer. The crave for a new form of entertainment was satisfied. Also was the old eagerness for distance. Short wave stations in foreign countries were being received regularly and appreciated by people whose sets were equipped to receive these mysterious wave - lengths. Nowadays there are very few receivers built that do not cover the short wave- lengths. England and Germany are the outstanding for- eign countries whose programs are really excellent and are received consistently. Almost every coun- try of any size now has a short-wave broadcasting station being received throughout the world. Other stations received are amateurs, police and aircraft, but these transmissions are not intended for the listening public. VVhen tired of domestic programs, the radio listeners can now rely upon short waves to bring them a program that is different.

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Listening to Music By Wilfrid Proctor ln these days, thanks to the radio-and, in a smaller degree, to mechanized reproduction-line music, expensively produced, may be easily and cheaply obtained. This no doubt would seem to the majority of us excellent, yet it is not without its drawbacks and may quite easily have the bad effect of dulling out sensitiveness to musical stimuli. If we are content to employ music as a pleasant background for our reading, conversation or dozing, we need only to switch on our loud speakers and continue our various occupations. But listening to music is an active process which demands our full attention, and unless we concentrate on what we hear, it will, using the old expression, merely come in one ear and out the other, leaving no sediment of meaning or sensation behind it. Music to-day is so plentiful that we are tempted to regard it too cheaply. Even the few of us who attend good concerts regularly can supplement our experience by means of radio or gramophone. Music is almost literally Hin the air, but it is no easier to extract full enjoyment from it than it was before reproducing instruments were invented. It may be argued perhaps that once the habit of listening to soothing music is acquired it is possible to relax vigilance and divide attention, .Xctually the more habitual listening to music becomes, the more dillicult it is to attempt anything else at the same time. The distinction between hearing and listening may be illustrated by means of a simple analogy. Listening to our mother tongue is hab- itual, in a sense that we do not need to make any conscious effort in order to understand what is said to us. That is the effort lfor it is an effort, as first formers plainly see, when beginning another lan- guagel which has become so natural as to be negli- gible. Howeyer, in music we cannot afford to allow our attention to lapse. The whole point that l have been tryinff to make K . S clear may be easily demonstrated by one attempt- ing to read a newspaper and listen to a broadcast speech at the same time. lt may not be, of course, utterly impossible, but we realize at once that it demands a special kind of mental application. The average person will find that either the speech or the newspaper will be sufficient to keep his mind comfortably engaged, and in the end he will either listen to the broadcast or read the paper. Music, which, after all, is a form of language, equally de- mands respectful attention if it is to be enjoyed or be something more than a pleasant noise. To derive any benefit from it whatsoever we must not only hear music but listen to it. ORCHESTRA BACK ROW-W. Royce, W. Brown, M. Swlck, D. Oates, K. Burke, R. Cartmell, M. Cochrane, K. Lemmond, E. Wright. THIRD ROW-Mr. I. W. Lomas, L. Griffith, W. Lumsden. R. Thompson, W. Mummery, J. Feeney, R. Groom, A. Chilman, R. Cattell, V. Brldgewood, J. Young, A. Ward, W. Gilliland, R. Gardlner, R. McPhle. SECOND ROW-A. MacFarlane, L. Smlth, l. Kellar, M. Cattell, B. Lalng, K, Mitchell, A. Bertram, D. Mitchell, M. Walker, J. Maglll. FRONT ROW-V. Roberts, B. Harrlson, M. Spence, J. Forbes, E. Morehead, L. Llnkert, S. Turner, I. Parkhouse, F. Davls, I. Goldberg. '31

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POETn FAR FIELDS A fellow at the window of an Off!-CC? does appear, Now, wlzy ean't I be ont of doors, instead of eoofed np here? The postman is a lucky ehap, just walks from door to door, lVith time to sit and goss-if at the Corner grocery store! Says posty, on his weary tramp, 'Now there's a lueky rnan. In winter he has lots of heat, in summertime a fan, lVhile here am I, I'zfe walked for miles, with more miles to be done, Exposed to zero weatlzer, or else to blazing sun. The young 'man in his twenties, no job and nought to do, Desires an edneationg here's lzis opinion, too- 'The students ont at IfVestdale, all, as a general rule, Are happy and intelligent, and love to go to sehool. ' And yet if you were passing down our noisy noon-time halls, But few yon'd find were thankful to be within our walls. In nearly all zioeations and different walks of life Sneh. petty jealonsies exist, and diseontentmenfs rife. And so I say, my l'Vestdale friends, no n1atter what yon do, There's someone on another job who's sure to enzfy y0u,' And if you should be jealous of tlze other fellow's lot, Inst ask for his opinion, and be glad for what yozfzfe got. -Mary K. Cole. TIME One by one, the minutes fly, Waving farewell as they go by, Had I the power to stop Tim.e's eloek, I'd silence their warning, tick-tock-toek! -May Fleet. A PRAYER FOR HANDS Lord, may these willing hands of mine -rlmlwition talce, and weave it through II'ith strands of talent all ashine, .flnd malce of it good eloth and true. lint let them not do good alone For my own self, who need it not, llf'ith kindness make them helping hands For all the froor and needy lot. .Ind lastly, when my worlr is done, Let feelileness not loose my elasp On greater Hands, tlzat, reaehing down, Draw me still nearer to the last. -Ray Burriclge. EIGHT A.M. Tl1e world seemed at peaee on that eold wintry morn, .els I dreamed of the warnz Southern Seas, But my heart gave a leap-I was jarred from my sleep- you don't fix tlze fire, I'll freeze. It's time you were uf, and your homeworh's not done You must frut out the junk lrefore sehoolf' Then there ran througlz my Irrain a most lvitter refrain- Oh, my! hut these grown-ups are eruel! The bed was quite warm lvut the room was iee cold. For tl1e window was thrown often wide. So I ealled with a frown, I am eoming riglzt downf Hut I knew in my lzeart tlzat I lied. I finally got up and I bra-z'ed the jieree eold, tl7or it must have been fifteen lvelowt. Hut I thouglzt then and there tlzat it wasn't quite fair, That I should he maltreated so. On some wintry morn when RIY son is in lied. I will get my retfenge,-for with joy. I'll command in a tioiee that will leave him no ehoiee, You get up this instant, my lvoy. ' -Roger Parlour. 33 . v