It is surprising to note that when I was doing research for this article I found world renowned individuals represented in the fields of business, politics, science, medicine, sports and the arts including musicians and composers.

When we think of the gifted and illustrious composers of the past few centuries and even in modern times, most people would not have imagined they had hard times and unfortunate periods in their lives. Some examples of these famous people follow:

Musicians and Composers

Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791) was a prodigy and wunderkind, musically gifted beyond belief. He was proficient on the harpsichord at the age of four and composing at age five. However, he was often restless and even dismissed as a court musician in Salzburg, Austria. Mozart struggled to support his family financially and was always in need of his patron’s commissions. He died at the untimely age of 35, destitute. It is said that his early demise was brought about by overwork and financial worries. In his short life he wrote over 600 compositions. Think what this output would have been had he lived a normal life span.

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) was one of history’s greatest composers. As a youth he was awkward on the violin, reportedly due to non-practice. He was described as an angry young man mainly due to his father’s browbeating and bullying. One of his teachers said of him, “As a composer he is hopeless.” Deafness is a tragedy for anyone but for a musician/composer it is catastrophic. Deafness changed Beethoven’s whole personality and he became “A miserable old grump.” Unbelievably he composed his later works when he was totally deaf. He evolved from his early inadequacies to become one of the greatest composers of all time.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) enjoyed tremendous acclaim and success, especially from his ballet scores in his later years. He was literally run out of town after the premier of the ballet Le Sacre du Printemps (the Rite of Spring) in 1913.” Le Sacre du Printemps provoked a riot – nobody was ready for this extraordinary portrayal of ancient fertility rites with savage harmonies and irregular pounding rhythms. “Le Sacre du Printemps is a primitive, ritualistic breathtakingly modern, and the most single influential piece of twentieth-century music,” according to Marcus Weeks in his book, Music.  Stravinsky’s life is a story of rejection to adoration and he was a champion of twentieth-century music.

Elvis Presley (1935-1977) was a true American Icon who came from being literally a “nobody” to an international box office phenomenon. In 1954 Jimmy Dean, who was the manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired Elvis after just one performance. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son,” said Dean. “You ought to go back to driving a truck.”  If anybody ever had to eat their words, it was Jimmy Dean!

Henry Mancini (1924-1994) award winning, Oscar winning, Grammy winning musician/composer/arranger was another success story that had a rough beginning. His daughter, Felice Mancini, writes, “My father was not a good student. He got D’s and occasional F’s and many C’s throughout his school years. But he seemed to shine when it came to music and got A’s on every report card. He was fortunate to have music available to him and teachers who recognized his gift.” Mancini’s greatest claim to fame was being a staff composer and arranger at Universal Studios. He was the first to introduce Jazz to television and film scores that made his work unique. His compositions became huge hits among some are: Pink Panther, Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and TV theme songs, Mr. Lucky, Peter Gunn and Charlie’s Angels. Mancini also wrote and arranged for Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.

Other famous non-musicians with dubious beginnings are:

Henry Ford, who had early failed businesses and went broke five times.

R. H. Macy had seven failed businesses before his department store empire.

Colonel Sander’s recipe was rejected over 1,000 times before a restaurant accepted it.

Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and had a failed first business.

Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”

Winston Churchill struggled in school and failed sixth grade. He was defeated in many elections before he was twice elected Prime Minister and a Nobel Prize winner. He was recognized as being one of the world’s greatest orators and Churchill was also a very prolific writer.

Overcoming obstacles early in life can often lead to successful careers. Having a positive attitude and preparing yourself for your future career is most important for success. Don’t be discouraged by early disappointments as the future may hold great things.

Mark your calendar for the Danville Community Band’s Annual Free Spring Concert, Sunday, June 17^th, 3:00 at Community Presbyterian Church in Danville

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net

Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

The great master composers of the seventeenth, eighteenth or nineteenth centuries apparently had no qualms about “borrowing” or “lifting” tunes from each other. Musical literature is rampant with this questionable practice. I suspect that plagiarism was not the big deal in those days as it is today.

Most, but not all youth today, view the great music of the past as not relevant, out of step with the times and even boring. Creative and imaginative teachers use this phenomenon of classics to pop to teach students classical music by showing them how themes are adapted into pop/ rock musical genres. The aim or goal in this type of instruction is to show that all types of music are important and should be appreciated.

Instruction may include having students listen to the original classical theme then listen to its adaptation into popular music. In this way students learn about the classics if pop music is used to introduce it in a non-threatening and interesting way. These classes have been shown to be most effective when teaching modern day students.

The hope is that students, through this type of teaching about music they didn’t understand or appreciate i.e. classical music, would come alive for them and eventually assure its survival in the world.

The following illustrates the popular music that was generated by the great classical composers of the past:

• 1890’s -“O Promise Me” from the musical Robin Hood based on an Italian opera Mala Pasqua
• 1910’s -“I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” from Fantasie Impromptu by Frederic Chopin; “The Marine Hymn” from Gendarmes Duet by J. Offenbach
• 1920’s -“Going Home” from the Largo from Dvorak’s Symphony #9 – The New World
• 1930’s -“Song of India” from the Song of the Indian Guest from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko; “In an 18^th Century Drawing Room” from Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 545
• 1940’s -“Tonight We Love” from Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 this was Freddy Martin’s theme song “Till the end of Time” from Fredric Chopin’s Polonaise in A Flat
• 1950’s -“Stranger in Paradise” from the Broadway musical Kismet, based on Alexander Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances. Also from Borodin is Baubles, Bangles and Beads; “Catch a Falling Star” from J. Brahms Academic Festival Overture
• 1960’s -“It’s Now or Never” based on Elvis Presley and also O Sole Mio, “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh” from Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours; “A Groovy Kind of Love” based on Sonatina in G Major by M. Clementi
• 1970’s -“Pictures at an Exhibition” by Emerson Lake and Palmer from M. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition; “Could it Be Magic” inspired by Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor;
  “A Fifth of Beethoven” – a disco version of Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony; “Night on Disco Mountain” from M. Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain
• 1980’s -“Midnight Blue” from Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata; “Rock Me Amadeus” from Falco; “Mars” from Mars the Bringer of War from Gustav Holst’s The Planets
• 1990’s -“All Together Now” based on chord progressions from Pachelbel’s Canon; “Everythings Gonna Be Alright” from Bach’s Air on the G String; “Love of My Life” from J. Brahms 3^rd Symphony
• 2000’s -“Remember” from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake; “Road to Joy” from Beethoven’s Ode to Joy in the 9^th Symphony; “Lacrymosa” based on Mozart’s Lacrymosa movement from the Requiem; “Yatta” from Pachelbel’s Canon

It is interesting to note that in my research I found many more popular songs were based on Pachelbel’s Canon then any other musical source.

The above list is far from complete. This is just a sampling of some of the most well known songs. There are too many to mention in this brief space. The number of modern day composers using classical themes in writing popular songs is nothing short of staggering. The next time you hear classical music being put down, remind that person that there is a good chance they are hearing a classical theme that inspired the popular song they are hearing.

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net

Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

“Military bands educate, entertain and inspire the audiences for whom they perform and their history is far reaching,” said Mark Cantrell in an article from Military Officer “Strike up the Band.”

February marked the birthdays of two of our most famous and historically significant Presidents—George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This also happens to be an election year complete with all the hoop-la, pomp and celebratory events that go along with it. Our nation’s military bands will be doing yeoman duty before and after the elections.

In an earlier article, “Music Careers in the Military,” (October 2009) I briefly described the nation’s military bands including: the bands of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard and of course, the Marine Band “The Presidents Own.”

The Marine Band is by far the oldest military band in the nation. It is housed in the Nation’s Capitol, Washington, D. C. The band and many of its smaller units Chamber Orchestra, Dance Band, Jazz Combos, Drum and Bugle Corps and other small ensembles play regularly at the White House – hence the name “The Presidents Own.”

The Marine Band first played a concert on radio in 1922. After that auspicious event the band played weekly radio concerts for the next 24 years.

Each fall, “The Presidents Own” performs concerts for tens of thousands of people in communities across America on its annual concert tour. The band performs at many venues both in the country and abroad. In October of each year the band performs on a month-long tour in different sections of America. They generally play to packed houses making it quite difficult to get a ticket. Needless to say they are very popular. That tradition of touring was started by none other than John Philip Sousa – the 17th director of the Marine Band.

John Philip Sousa
Any description or historical facts about the band would be incomplete and remiss without mention of its most famous director. Sousa was born in 1854. His father was a trombone player in the Marine Band. Sousa’s musical aptitude and talent was recognized at an early age. His father enlisted him in the Marine Band as a boy apprentice musician when he was 13 years old-after he tried to run away to join a circus band.

In 1880 at the age of 26, Sousa was appointed conductor of the Marine Band, a post he held until 1892 when he resigned to form his own band. He led the Marine Band under five Presidents.

During World War I he was commissioned a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve and led the Navy Band at the Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago. After returning to his own band at the end of the war, he continued to wear his naval uniform for most of his concerts and other public appearances. Sousa died in 1932. Ironically he was quoted as saying, “When you hear of Sousa retiring, you will hear of Sousa dead!”

When enlistments are up or bandsmen retire, nationwide openings are posted for certain positions in the Marine Band. Rigorous auditions are held for the most proficient musicians. Candidates must be very advanced, accomplished and of symphony orchestra caliber to be chosen. Many are graduates of the nations top music conservatories. Many of them hold masters degrees in performance. They must also be physically and emotionally able to carry out military duties and responsibilities. Bandsmen sign a four year contract and start at the rank of Staff Sergeant.

The Marine Band produces recordings for educational purposes and to enhance the public affairs and community relations of the United States Marine Corps. To learn more about the Marine Band audio resources and download music visit www.marineband.usmc.mil/audio_resources.

If a person loves to play his/her instrument and wants a good job with excellent benefits and salary – why not a career in a service band? What a great way to do what you love and also serve your country.

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net.
Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

Origins

Although, bluegrass music has elements of English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and German influence, its roots were inspired by immigrants living in rural towns and villages in the Appalachian Mountains. The music was further enhanced by African Americans.

Early on, bluegrass music was used to accompany the rural area dances known as clogging, flat footing or buck dancing. This genre of music wasn’t called bluegrass when it first evolved. It was simply called “old time mountain hillbilly music.” In the early part of the 20^th century, this form of music slowly made its way into larger areas (cities). It no longer was just an accompaniment for dances, but was listened to for its own intrinsic value by a growing number of fans.

Music historians cannot pinpoint a date when this musical form was first called bluegrass but they agree it was in the early 1950’s. It was named after the father of the genre, Bill Monroe. Monroe was from Kentucky (the bluegrass state). He formed a band in 1939 and named it “Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys.” Monroe and his band established the instrumentation and sound that is the model for today’s bluegrass bands.

 Instrumentation
During the early years of bluegrass music, many combinations of acoustic instruments were tried by various groups, among them, “The Bluegrass Boys.” It was the latter group that finally settled on the instruments that are still used today. They are: the violin (fiddle), five string banjo, guitar, mandolin and string bass. Vocals, both solo and group, are also an important part of blue grass music.

The fiddle is the lead voice and will sometimes play in 3rds and 5ths, filling in between the vocals. The guitar doubles the notes of the bass and strumming gives the music its basic rhythm often described as “boom-chick.” The banjo is played with three fingers picking style.  It also plays continuous eighth note rolls. The mandolin plays chords with a fast tremolo and also fills in between vocal lines.  The string bass is the foundation of the chordal structure of the music. It plays the basic rhythm and harmony. The bassist plays pizzicato the majority of the time. It alternates between the tonic (first note of the scale or Do) and dominant (fifth note of the scale or So).

The learning and playing of bluegrass is summed up by Pete Wernick, aka, “Dr. Banjo.” He states, “Bluegrass is a team sport, and if you just learn to play a lead by learning a rote arrangement at home, that’s really not learning the language of bluegrass anymore than learning a Chinese poem phonetically is learning Chinese,” says Wernick. “You need to be fluent, and be able to change gears, like switching between lead and backup. Those skills are really critical for playing bluegrass music.”

You can experience authentic bluegrass music in many movies including: O Brother, Where Art Thou, That High Lonesome Sound, Bill Monroe, The Father of Bluegrass (documentary), Deliverance, Bonnie and Clyde, and Bluegrass Journey (documentary).

Believe it or not, you can actually get a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Bluegrass and Old Time Music studies. The program includes courses in bluegrass and country music-both academic and performance oriented. This major course of study is at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. To my knowledge it is the only four-year university offering such a degree.

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net

Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.     

Mix Engineer
A mixer takes individual instrumental and/or vocal tracks and combines them. He assembles tracks and adds effects for sound quality and aesthetic enhancements. This position is extremely important in the final performance before mass production of the recording is offered for sale. An experienced mixer may take four to six hours to complete one song. If a compact disc (CD) has 12 to 15 songs it may take several days of concentrated work.

A degree is not necessarily required to do this job but college level or technical school training in audio design, recording arts and sound engineering are vitally important. Creative and technical elements of music production and genuine appreciation of many styles of music are important for this position.

Employment may be either a full-time position at a recording studio or a free-lance contractor in many venues. Entry level positions or internships are a good starting point for employment. Being a mix engineer is not a job learned from a textbook but rather by observing and working with an expert in the field.

Event Promoter
Creativity, tenacity and a knack for knowing what makes an audience tick are the staples of a successful event promoter. The basic job of the promoter is to create interest and a “buzz” in what is being promoted. Their object is to get people to buy tickets and get them in the door.

The imaginative promoter uses all the media – radio, television, print and the internet to create and reach a potential audience. Knowing the demographics in the local area is vitally important to promoting the event. Ticket sales can be increased by knowing where, how and when to advertise the event being promoted.

A successful promoter may benefit from an educational background in public relations, marketing and advertising, the entertainment business and production. Organization, communication, networking and good people skills are essential to the successful event promoter. Above all, it’s important to be creative, aggressive and really know your audience.

Other Industry Jobs
Music industry positions vary, some examples are:

• Music Copyright & Publishing
• Concert Management & Publicity
• Music Merchandising
• Record Label Development
• Retail Promotions
• Contract Negotiations
• Business Accounting & Finance
• Music Business Law
• Recording Assistant

Teaching
There are many employment opportunities available to college graduates with a degree in music, as well as those without a degree. People with music degrees usually fall into several categories: Performance, which includes Conducting, Music Education, Musicology, Composition and varied courses in the music industry.

The majority of music graduates enter teaching careers in public schools, community colleges and universities. Public schools require a bachelor’s degree and a teaching credential. A master’s degree is essential to teach at a community college and teaching at a university would generally require a doctorate degree. University level curriculum is very specialized into several categories:

• Performance – music majors with intensive study of instrument or voice can lead to jobs in professional orchestras, bands, choruses, church jobs, pop and rock ensembles and more.
• Music Education – program preparing college students for teaching careers in elementary, high school or college.
• Musicology – the study of music history and literature usually leads to teaching positions in colleges and universities.
• Composition – the study of composing and arranging prepares one to work as a freelance composer or a composer and arranger for professional organizations.

There are many avenues to a fulfilling and enjoyable career in music. One has to have the passion and interest and go for it. There are no shortcuts and the road isn’t an easy one but it can be a very worthwhile and satisfying life endeavor.

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net
Visit our website at danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

Secular happenings abound in this season. Shopping probably tops the list, much to the dismay of many who condemn the commercialization of this holy time. For others, holiday parties, eggnog, decorations, Christmas trees, presents and a general feeling of good cheer dominate this time of year. Ever-present is the playing and singing of Christmas carols with Silent Night being the most pre-eminent of all Christmas songs.

Origins
Musicologists and music historians are in agreement that the song was conceived and composed in the early nineteenth century by two gifted men in Austria. Organist and choir master Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) wrote the music for Silent Night and his friend, a priest Friar Josef Mohr (1792-1848) wrote the words to the carol.

According to several reliable sources the story of the creation of the song goes something like this: Fr. Mohr wanted to have some special music for the midnight mass on Christmas Eve in 1818. Unfortunately the organ was broken and unplayable and both, Fr. Mohr and Franz Gruber were unable to fix it. Why the organ was broken is still a mystery but one of the early stories claims a mouse had chewed through the bellows – later this story was discounted by historians.

Mohr, an accomplished writer of sacred poetry and an excellent guitarist had written the words to Stille Nacht (Silent Night) two years before in 1816. He provided Gruber with the words and asked him to compose an arrangement for two solo voices, chorus and guitar. Mohr would play the guitar, Gruber and Mohr would be the solo voices and the church choir would sing the choral parts. Unbelievably, Gruber finished the arrangement the very same day. It was quite a feat given the short time frame in which to work.

The completed song was first performed that night, Christmas Eve December 24th 1818 at St. Nikolaus Kirche (church) in Oberndorf, a village near Salzburg, Austria. Needless to say it was extremely well received by the congregation and to this day it is considered a national treasure in Austria.

Sometime later, organ builder and repairman Karl Mauracher came to fix the broken organ. He may have either found or was given copies of Silent Night. Mauracher took copies to his village and gave them to two well known musical families of singers, much like the famous Von Trapp family. The families, Rainers and the Strassers liked the carol so much that they added the song to their Christmas repertoires. The Strassers spread the song across Northern Europe. In 1834 they sang it for King Frederick William IV of Prussia. He then ordered Silent Night to be sung every year on Christmas Eve by the cathedral choir.

Epilogue
Twenty years after Silent Night was written the Rainers brought the song to the United States singing it in German at the Alexander Hamilton Monument located outside of the Trinity Church in New York City. In 1863 Stille Nacht was translated into English. Today the words are sung in more than 300 languages around the world.

And interesting and heart warming anecdote connected with the story of Silent Night came out of World War I. The English and French forces were fighting a horrendous battle with the Germans on Flanders field. It was Christmas Eve and somehow a temporary truce was called to celebrate Christmas. The soldiers on each side sent greetings and small gifts to each other and sung carols from their own countries. Silent Night, by this time, was known all over the world. The song was sung simultaneously in French, German and English by the troops during the Christmas truce of 1914. That was truly an implausible, remarkable and once in a lifetime experience.

Silent Night

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net
Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

“Having perfect pitch is a great benefit to me in my career,” said Nancy Groeneveld, director of music at Community Presbyterian Church in Danville. She is a professional singer, pianist, teacher, and choir director. “My father was a musician and encouraged me to study music at a very early age – that’s when I discovered I had perfect pitch.”

There are several ways to describe perfect pitch: The pitch of a tone is determined by the number of vibrations per second. For example, the note A on the keyboard equals 440 vibrations per second. Perfect pitch is the ability to name or reproduce a tone without hearing it from a source like a piano. It is the ability to sing or name a particular note on the exact pitch.

Most musicians will tell you they would love to have perfect pitch. However, there are times when it is not so wonderful. “Sometimes having perfect pitch has its drawbacks,” said Groeneveld. Recently she was having lunch with a friend in a restaurant and found it hard to concentrate on the conversation due to the background music. She found herself mentally analyzing it by the key, instrumentation, form etc. “This happens all the time when there is music present,” Groeneveld said. “It can be a real distraction.”

Researchers have found that speakers of a tonal language such as Chinese dialects or Vietnamese have a higher percentage of people with absolute or perfect pitch than people who speak a non-tonal language. These and other East Asian languages are characterized by pitch variations in single words. Sometimes as many as seven or eight slight pitch differences occur in their speaking, according to Wikipedia.

Until fairly recently it was generally believed that perfect pitch was “God-given” and not a learned phenomenon. David-Lucas Burge, in 1981, supposedly dispelled this belief and created a program in which he guaranteed almost anyone could learn to develop perfect pitch.

Chords
Those with perfect pitch can name the individual pitch or the chord by a specific name such as a C major chord or a G minor chord. When a chord is heard those with relative pitch can tell you if it is a major or minor chord but they cannot tell you whether it is a C major or a C minor chord. Only people with perfect pitch can tell you the exact name of the chord.

Relative Pitch
Any discussion of absolute or perfect pitch would be incomplete and remiss without mentioning its counterpart, relative pitch. Relative pitch is the ability to recognize and or produce any pitch after having been given one note as a point of reference. People with perfect pitch hear the exact notes or tones in their mind. People with relative pitch hear the notes or tones in relation to one another. The vast majority of people have relative pitch including this writer. I once heard the statistic that less than one percent of the population possesses perfect pitch. It is that rare.

Many musicians have quite good relative pitch, a skill that can be learned. With practice, it is possible to listen to a single pitch once and then have reliable pitch identification. This is accomplished by comparing the notes heard to the stored memory of the first pitch.

Some people with relative pitch can develop perfect pitch on a single note. “String players have a decided advantage here, as they are constantly tuning their instruments from memory using the note A,” said Reginald Jacques, in his book, Voice Training In Schools. “It is extremely useful to be able to hear a note or two with a reasonable amount of certainly and then other notes by relation.”

Relative pitch helps you understand how all the tones are arranged to create the actual language of music.

Perfect pitch is a wonderful thing to have if you are a musician but being able to enjoy the wonder of music does not depend on having this ability or skill. The wonder of music is for all to enjoy,

Sources:
Voice Training In Schools By Reginald Jacques
Wikipedia
Essential Dictionary of Music By Lindsey C. Harnsberger

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net
Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

Remember radio? If you or perhaps your parents were growing up in the 40’s and 50’s then an important part of your life was spent listening to countless hours of exciting and original entertainment on the radio. Almost all of my boyhood heroes appeared on radio shows. These heroes had marvelous adventures in glamorous places and did exciting things. And most of our music of the day, and the past, was heard listening to the radio. 

As a young boy, growing up in what is referred to as “The Golden Age of Radio,” I could not wait to get home from school.  I would turn on the radio at 5:00 to hear what “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy,” would encounter in today’s episode. “Sgt. Preston of the Yukon” and his faithful dog, King, closely followed.

After dinner our family would go into the living room and dad would turn on the big console radio for the evening programs. Every night, families and their neighbors would come together and listen to radio broadcasts and radio drama. An astonishing 82% of Americans were radio listeners during this time, according to a research study by radiolovers.com. 

Radio Drama

Radio Drama is defined as an acoustic performance broadcast on radio with no visual component. It depends on dialog, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story line. It is auditory in the physical dimension but equally powerful as a visual force in the psychological dimension.

By the late 1930’s radio drama was widely popular in the United States. Dozens of programs: mysteries, thrillers, soap operas, comedies, adventures, westerns, dramas and romance stories, were listened to and enjoyed by millions who tuned in every day. By 1940 radio drama was the leading international popular entertainment.

Radio allowed the listeners to create their own image of characters and settings—a luxury we no longer have in the medium of television. Old time radio shows were pure fun and entertainment. You used your imagination.

The very stuff of radio was imagination, the very antithesis of television, writes Jim Harmon, in his book, The Great Radio Heroes.  Radio drama required great imagination and those series that best provided it were rewarded with the greater success. Radio was willing to preserve the best of the past and constantly experiment for better, new shows. Clearly television is a different world from “Golden Age” radio, but they are a clearly different species, according to Harmon.

A most unusual and very chilling program in 1938 was Orson Well’s adaptation of H. G. Wells War of the Worlds.  It was so well done and realistic it literally panicked most of the entire nation as it described an impending invasion of Martians. This was undoubtedly one of the most talked about and famous radio shows ever produced—then or now.

Radio Music Themes

Every radio program began with a musical theme and a fixed dialogue guaranteed to capture the imagination and interest of the audience in the show. It was designed to create a mood and expectation for what was to come. The theme music was specific for that particular program. Some of the themes had lyrics, most did not however. Some of the themes were identified with a particular person. For example: Bob Hope; “Thanks for the Memories,” Liberace; “I’ll be Seeing You,” Bing Crosby; “Where the Blue of the Night,” and Roy Rogers; “Happy Trails to You,” among many others.

The Lone Ranger and his faithful companion, Tonto, tracked down and outsmarted even the cleverest of bandits and outlaws of the old West. The Lone Ranger’s musical themes were drawn from classical music including Rossini’s, “William Tell Overture,” Mendelssohn’s, “Fingals Cave Overture” and Liszt’s, “Les Prelude.”

Many listeners who were never exposed to music before heard great music, both classical and popular, on radio. “Your Hit Parade,” a musical show with orchestra and various singers, was broadcast every Saturday evening. The program offered the most popular and bestselling songs of the week. Many great singers sang on the show including the very young Frank Sinatra. The show was broadcast each Saturday from 1935 until 1955, then it was broadcast on television.

Some radio show themes, because of their longevity have become household fixtures. As more and more listeners heard the shows the themes became almost as well known as the programs themselves. Many radio themes were drawn from classical music, as mentioned, others from well known tunes from earlier eras. The organ was used as the instrument of choice in many of the soap operas.

After the introduction of television programming, radio drama never completely recovered its popularity in the United States. Most radio dramas were cancelled by 1960. The last shows from the “Golden Age” were; “Yours Truly Johnny Dollar,” and “Suspense.” Both were cancelled in 1962. A remaining vestige of radio drama on Public Radio today is Garrison Keillor’s, “A Prairie Home Companion.”

This writer, for one, misses the great programming of the “Golden Age.” I am so glad that a part of my youth was spent listening to memorable programs which so stretched my imagination and filled me with wonder and delight.

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net. Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

If your son or daughter hasn’t thought about taking a music class why don’t you bring up the subject and investigate the possibilities and rewards available to them at their school. It is important to make decisions about what music courses and electives to take.

Benefits of School Music
Research studies that have been replicated many times over the years always come to the same conclusions: Students that take music courses in school do significantly better in other academic courses than students who do not take music classes. This is an undisputed fact that parents should not ignore.

There is a myriad of positive benefits that music students enjoy as a result of being part of a school music program. One of the more obvious is learning to play a musical instrument. The vocal student learns how to use the voice to develop the maximum potential possible for solo or ensemble singing.

A key benefit of school music programs is learning musicianship. The student learns to practice and rehearse to achieve their potential by studying the various musical periods and styles and gaining the experience it takes to produce a superior performance.

Team playing, as in sports, is part of the music discipline. The student learns how to be a member of an ensemble and what it means to contribute to the group effort of making music together. They learn self-discipline and how to use time wisely in terms of individual practice and their contribution to the ensemble.

Leadership experiences abound in school music groups. Elected or appointed positions such as: drum major; student director; manager; secretary; treasurer; music librarian; uniform manager; equipment and instrument manager and public relations director teach leadership skills.

Socialization is an important aspect of any well-rounded education. Students immediately have a ready-made group of friends with many common interests and abilities. Lifelong friendships are a common outcome in music groups.

Elementary School
“Students who study music have better discipline, focus and concentration,” said Karla Angle, elementary school music specialist and principle flute in the Danville Community Band (DCB). Music courses offered in elementary schools include general music; fourth and fifth grade band; beginning and advanced strings; fourth and fifth grade chorus; third grade recorders and third, fourth and fifth grade chimes. For many years, Angle has observed the benefits of studying music in schools. “I have seen individuals blossom and grow not only musically but as a “whole person,” said Angle.

Middle School
“Learning music builds camaraderie, team-spirit, responsibility and dedication as well as learning life-skills,” said Jeanette Brown, middle school instrumental music teacher and clarinetist in the DCB. She wants the kids to have fun while they learn and not make music a stressful exercise. Middle schools offer classroom music for sixth, seventh and eighth grades; bands; jazz ensemble; strings and chorus. Brown’s father, an accomplished “Dixieland” clarinetist, has been instrumental in her music teaching career choice.

High School
“School music develops values used in school and in life,” said Teri Musiel, instrumental music director at the “state-of-the-art” Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon. Musiel plays trumpet and percussion and is assistant director of the DCB. Courses offered at the high school level are: three levels of concert band; jazz band; orchestra; several choruses: chamber singers and advanced placement theory.

“Teaching music is what I really like to do – and I get paid for it,” said Musiel.

Being a member of a musical ensemble can be one of life’s enduring and meaningful adventures. Learning and playing music is an experience in self-worth, self-discipline and gives the student the ability to be a real team player.

Outside of school, students and adults may further their music experience playing in community bands like the DCB, playing in orchestras or singing in community groups. Music can be a wonderful life-time endeavor – don’t let your kids miss out!

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net
Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.

Dating back many centuries, even before Christ, the musical drama or musical theater was a part of ancient Greek life, as evidenced by their tragedies and comedies. However, the American Musical Theater had its beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in England.

Progenitors of the American Musical were music dramas and comedies by British composers and writers such as Gilbert and Sullivan and others. The French composer, Jacques Offenbach, composer of the “Can-Can,” was very popular. Most of the early musicals came from Europe. Our American composers had many models to study and improve upon when writing their own musicals. The first successful original American show was the Black Crook which premiered in New York in 1866. it included what was to become part of the American Musical—chorus girls, production numbers, costuming, dance numbers and songs.

Not withstanding the European influences, Americans wanted to create their own style of original musical theater. Early examples of this expression were somewhat similar to the British models. The March King, John Philip Sousa, penned an operetta El Capitan in 1896. George M. Cohan (1878-1942) in 1904 produced Little Johnny Jones. Cohan was an important contributor in the early 20th century to a uniquely adaptation of the British style. He believed that almost any storyline will work if the proper songs, dances, routines and comic episodes were present.

Victor Herbert (1859-1924) was a giant in terms of early American Operettas. His most famous were the Fortune Teller produced in 1898, Babes in Toyland in 1903, The Red Mill in 1906 and Naughty Marietta in 1910. Jerome Kern (1885-1945) was another influential composer after the turn of the century. “Kern’s later works demonstrated that a musical could combine light, popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs” said John Jones in his book Our Musicals, Our Selves. Kerns influence on musical theater can still be felt to this day.

In 1927, the production of Show Boat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II was a breakthrough in the development of musical theater. This show was termed a musical play where book and music were equal partners thus distinguishing it from musical comedy.

The 1930’s brought the musical to a different type of storyline. In 1935 George Gershwin wrote Porgy and Bess setting the stage for a new era of political and social storylines. These plots were later developed in West Side Story in 1957 by Leonard Bernstein and Sweeney Todd in 1979 by Stephen Sondheim.

The 1940’s through the 1960’s ushered in what is known as the Golden Age of Musicals. Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma in 1943 is still considered a blockbuster musical today. With this show, a significant American art form was born. After Oklahoma ran for 2,212 performances it was made into a film. Other smash hits by Rogers and Hammerstein followed: Carousel in 1945, South Pacific in 1949, The King and I in 1951 and The Sound of Music in 1959. Many other great shows were produced during this period including Guys and Dolls, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, and Music Man.

In the 1960’s Fantastics was first produced off-Broadway. Hit shows from this era include Funny Girl, Man of La Mancha, Cabaret, Company, A Little Night Music, Hello Dolly, Mame, and Hair.

The 1970’s saw the rock musical rise in number and popularity. Notable shows were Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, The Rocky Horror Show, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Chorus Line, and Chicago.

Mega musicals and pop operas emerged in the 80’s and 90’s with smash hits such as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita and The Phantom of the Opera. Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil’s Les Miserables is still a long-running international hit. The Disney Company produced the popular Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

John Kenrick in his book, History of Stage Musicals, sums up this genre of music very well when he writes, “Is the musical dead? Absolutely not. Changing? Always! Change is the clearest sign that the musical is still a living, growing genre. Will we ever return to the so called ‘Golden Age’ with musicals at the center of popular culture? Probably not. Public taste has under gone fundamental changes, and the commercial arts can only flow where the paying public allows.”

We, the fortunate public, have been blessed by the plethora of outstanding musicals in our lifetime to enjoy and preserve for future generations of theater-goers.

Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net. Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.