The president’s message March 1 1902 dear brother sinfonians gladly I Avail myself of this opportunity of sending to you through the medium of our annual publication my sincerest love and fraternal greetings it is now nearly four years since the evening when 14 of us met in room 108
New England Conservatory of Music Boston to consider the social life of the young men students of that institution and perchance to devise ways and means by which it might be improved the story of how a club was formed and in process of time developed into a national fraternity has often been told
And is familiar to us all but the boys who met on that eventful evening little dreamed how far-reaching would be the effect of their decision as we’ll be seen by referring to the list of members there are now nearly two hundred symphonians scattered throughout the land Brothers bound together by the
Bonds of Brotherly Love stronger than bands of Steel ever keeping in mind I trust the aim and purpose of their fraternity as expressed in our constitution the Symphonia stands for the development of the best and truest fraternal Spirit the Mutual Welfare and Brotherhood of musical students the advancement of
Music in America and a loyalty to the alma mater let all sinfonians commit these beautiful words to memory yea more let us write them on the tablet of our hearts that they may bear fruit in our lives I beg you not to let your interest in your fraternity or alma mater lag or
Grow cold subscribe each year to our yearbook so that you may be able to locate all brothers symphonians and Avail yourself of every opportunity to fraternize with each other let our friendship be marked by kind words kind deeds and Lasting cooperation in our common work and remembering that our inspiration is
From on high from the God of All Creatures we should ever be constant in our humble attitude to this great source let our sincerity be manifest to all hypocrisy should be unknown to us and a solicitude for our fellows should dominate our every word in action then our nobility will shine forth in
Our characters and our motto shall ever be nothing mean or unmanly is of a symphonian we confidently expect that before our next annual convention convenes several new chapters will have been formed in some of the largest musical institutions in our land a number of which are at the
Present time knocking at our doors the scope of our mission is National and before many years have passed the Symphonia fraternity will be known and its influence felt from Ocean to Ocean and from Lake to Gulf onward is our watchword the future is our field and as we March
Toward the west the new ground we gain must be held by Fidelity and vigilance finally Brothers remember that Harmony is ever to be the noble aim of our beloved Society Harmony not only in music but in the life within the fraternity and in the broader and Fuller life beyond its
Portals it is the harmony whose music is felt in the hearty hand clasp heard in the cheerful greeting seen in living notes in the generous Act so let us strive to promote the Mutual Welfare of all and throughout our whole life prove that a brother sinfonian is a friend indeed
Sincerely and fraternally yours asean E Mills from Sinfonia yearbook Volume 2 March 1902 11 and 12. the president’s message April 1 1903. dear brother sinfonians the record of another year has been added to the history of our organization and it is gratifying to be able to find
In the events which it exhibits abundant cause for satisfaction congratulations and encouragement our progress during that period has been steadily onward and upward and it has proceeded with a degree of rapidity which has far surpassed the most sanguine expectations there is a proverb which tells us that in every new undertaking the beginnings
Are difficult but that is a piece of wisdom which although no doubt applicable to most of the labors of life has not been convincingly verified in our experience of course the reference now is to our experience as an organization speaking individually and with regard to
The art which we pursue most of us would doubtless be willing to testify that the beginnings are difficult indeed but the beginnings of the Sinfonia were not difficult because the institution of which we are also proud from which we all derive so much both of pleasure and profit and of which we confidently
Expect so much greater things in the future than have been accomplished in the past was born as it were in the fullness of time under propitious circumstances and amid a most fostering and favorable environment it came to satisfy a long-felt want and found the ground all ready to receive it
The idea which in the goodness of his heart and the warmth of his fraternal sympathy our honorary president Mr asean E Mills had formed fell like a seed in the parable not on Stony places where it must have withered and died not by the roadside where the birds of the air
Would have snatched it away but on fertile and cultivated soil where it could readily germinate and there being most bountifully nourished it could develop and expand and bear the fruits and flowers we see and yet brothers who can doubt that as compared with what the future has in
Store for our organization this day in which we live and in which we rightly find so much occasion for gratitude and hope is after all only the day of small things who can doubt that the Sinfonia is destined to grow and spread and prosper until it has covered the whole land and
Brought all the members of our beloved profession into a fraternal and mutually helpful intercourse nor need we limit our Ambitions for its growth even to the vast expanse of the United States our art is Cosmopolitan and its scope and the day is coming when we shall be establishing chapters in the old world
As well as the new and when the possibilities of the Greek alphabet and the way of nomenclature would have been exhausted that may suggest a source of embarrassment but it will be time enough for us to cross that bridge when we come to it even from the most optimistic point of
View it is not yet in sight but someday the Symphonia will get there it must expand for the appeal it makes is one which finds an immediate response in every Generous Heart And while we musicians may have our characteristic faults yet a lack of sensitiveness or of
Sensibility is one of which not our harshest critics have ventured to accuse us let us therefore each and all for everything in our power to exemplify the principles which we profess and to promote the success of the Glorious cause for whose sake our organization was established the enmities the
Jealousies the rivalries of profession have often been made a matter of comment and among a large section of the community the impression prevails that musicians spend much of their time in mutual quarreling and recriminations to that unjust reproach the eager welcome accorded among our ranks to the Sinfonia forms a sufficient and
Conclusive answer the Symphonia stands for harmony it stands for friendship it stands for sincere Goodwill and an enduring peace and it will expand and prosper in proportion as we all cultivate those qualities in our daily lives and illustrate them in our mutual intercourse it would not have so largely
Attracted it would not have so quickly met the favor it has won did it not respond to the needs the sentiments and the desires of the musical world therein lies the deeper significance of our movement and therein is to be found the Assurance of its Triumph
Toward that Triumph it is a pleasure to be able to report it is steadily moving on and so congratulating you in all sincerity upon what has been done congratulating you even more heartily upon what is in Prospect I remain sincerely and fraternally yours Gilbert Reynolds Combs from Sinfonia yearbook volume 3 April
1903. the president’s message dear Brothers sinfonians still another chapter has been added to our Symphonia history and we are gratified to find among its Pages nothing but progress indeed when we pause to consider ours has been a phenomenal growth from the beginning to the present day
Started only three years ago in a humble manner but with the utmost faith of its promoters Sinfonia has steadily grown day by day Year from year and to let now occupies an honored Place among the fraternal organizations of our land already is the object of our beloved fraternity as stated in the Constitution
Being most nobly fulfilled and the bond of Sinfonia Brotherhood now extend throughout the length and breadth of our country never before have such cordial relations and mutual interest existed among the leading musical schools of learning never before has a like number of musicians and students of Music been
Banded together by such bonds of real Brotherhood such an influence must make itself felt beyond the borders of our fraternal quarters to the accomplishment of our further purpose the advancement of Music in America in my letter at the beginning of this fraternal year I suggested that our
Energies for the year be directed toward internal Improvement rather than to further expansion our efforts in this direction have showed Splendid results each chapter of our fraternity is in a stronger and healthier condition than ever before a true Spirit of loyalty and fraternalism is evidenced by all symphonians
Nor is the prospect for further immediate expansion unsatisfactory already other schools are knocking at our doors for admission in a few months our chapters will extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific by using the utmost discretion in the admission of new chapters we shall soon have Sinfonia homes in every large city
In the country and why limit ourselves to the United States although ours is strictly an American organization still there are schools of American principles and colonies of American students in other countries that may well deserve our attention in the future but Brothers our present position has not been reached without the earnest and
Self-sacrificing efforts of many true and energetic symphonians now that our numbers are comparatively large we must rely upon the aid of many of our younger brothers to make lighter the burdens of those who have labored hard in the past with this new stimulus of numbers and enthusiasm we may expect much from the
Future our future success however is to be found through the same general principles that have directed us to success in the past the principles of Brotherhood this is the keynote of our organization stands for harmony advancement of Music in America loyalty to our several institutions but above all for Brotherhood
Inspired by our progress in the past by our present enviable position and reputation by the brilliant outlook for the future let us with wholehearted devotion contribute our best efforts during the coming year toward the advancement of our beloved fraternity to the end that we may ever be able to say
Even now it is good to be a sinfonian with the utmost faith in the success of Symphonia and with best wishes to all brother symphonians I remain sincerely and fraternally yours George C Williams from Symphonia yearbook volume 4 March 1904. the president’s message March 1 1905. dear brothers sinfonians another year is
Being added to the history of the Symphonia fraternity six years ago the sixth day of last October the little seed was planted from which has grown what we believe to be one of the greatest factors in existence for the betterment of the young men musical students in America
Since the last president’s message there has been a healthy growth in both chapters and membership it is very gratifying to be able to say that at the present time our beloved fraternity is in a most flourishing condition conservatism is becoming the settled policy of the fraternity I believe both
As to the founding of new chapters and also of the various chapters as to the reception of new members we have learned in our short experience that it is better to go slowly and carefully thoroughly investigating all who seek admission into our fraternity rather than to make grievous mistakes by
Undue haste or careless methods it is with great pleasure that I Avail myself of this opportunity to address all members of our beloved fraternity as I sincerely hope that steps will be taken by each individual chapter to place a copy of this yearbook in the hands of every member active associate and alumni
I have many things that I would like to say to each brother but space will only allow me to touch upon some of the most important at this time we often hear it said that musicians are a very peculiar class of people impractical in many ways
And I have been told time and again during the last few years that a fraternity could not exist in a length of time if it depended upon musicians for life and support I believe that our experience is teaching us that such a thing can be done and I trust that all brother
Symphonians will Unite with me and with one another to make the fraternity a success in every possible way and prove to the world that although musicians may be in a class by themselves they are capable of living in Harmony and of experiencing and manifesting in their lives the truest fraternal spirit
With this in view let us always have in mind the aim and purpose of the fraternity as expressed in our constitution the Symphonia stands for the development of the best and truest fraternal Spirit the Mutual Welfare and Brotherhood of musical students the advancement of Music in America and the loyalty to the
Alma mater in this connection I cannot refrain from quoting from the first number of the sinfonian a paragraph taken from Delta Upsilon quarterly it is part of the pride and tradition of the fraternity man to be a gentleman not only to be above anything dishonorable and mean but to possess those finer
Instincts which are supposed to come from birth and breeding kindness and gentleness and unconscious courtesy these are good words and I would earnestly counsel all Symphonia Brothers to seriously consider them let us strive to emulate the best to live in harmony and peace one with the other in honor preferring one another
Let your nobility shine forth in your character your friendship be marked with kind words and deeds let us believe in our fraternity with all our hearts be jealous of its good name wear the emblems with pride be regular in attendance at the meetings of your chapter be eager to possess any publication that
May be issued in the interests of our fraternity and be faithful in all other duties by so doing we shall keep the fire of fraternal love Burning Brightly Let It Be Our ambition to make this infonia a power for good and have faith to believe that in future years its
Beneficent influence will be felt around the globe finally Brothers let us remember that Harmony is ever to be the noble aim of our beloved Society Harmony not only in music but in the life within the fraternity and in the broader and Fuller life beyond its portals
It is the harmony whose music is felt in the hearty hand clasp heard in the cheerful greeting seen in living notes in the generous Act and now congratulating you all my brothers on the success attained in the past rejoicing as you rejoice in our present honorable position in the
Fraternity worlds and hopeful and common with all symphonians of the bright future that awaits us I am as we all have sworn to be once a symphonian always a sinfonian most sincerely and fraternally yours asean E Mills from Sinfonia yearbook 5 March 1905 11-12 the president’s message dear brothers symphonians before next
May at which time occurs our convention in Syracuse the current yearbook will be in your hands chronicling another page in the history of Sinfonia and I feel sure it will present another as interesting an account of Sinfonia doings as the last year’s book contained I would suggest to every brother who has
Not read this last year book to at once possess himself a copy and read it carefully and having done this if he is not more optimistic regarding the future of Sinfonia if he does not beget a stouter heart and a stronger purpose to work for the advancement of our beloved
Fraternity towards the highest ideals of manhood and the uplifting of his profession and if he is not ever ready to give the cheering encouraging word and fraternal helping hand then let him forever hold his peace he has no real part with us I would call a special attention to the
Soul-stirring message of our revered honorary Supreme president whose ever helpful presence was so sadly missed from our midst at the last convention in Cincinnati it would indeed be difficult to frame a message that would bring with it a greater inspiration to live for the highest that is in us and by so doing
Thus honor our fraternity than that of his wood that he might be called upon every few years to serve as Supreme president that we might have the benefit of more such messages Sinfonia is growing along right lines we may Rejoice to say and as an Evidence of
Solid growth within and without I would call attention to the success attained by Theta chapter whose members are to be congratulated and complemented on the result of their efforts I would urge every chapter to emulate their example and as soon as possible to obtain a chapter house for the proper
Kind of growth the opportunity to broaden the scope of usefulness can be obtained by each chapter when it is settled in its own home and this connection comes the suggestion of broadening the usefulness of Symphonia by extending the membership beyond the walls of the institution wherein the chapters are now located
This suggestion seems to be the spirit contrary to the last aim or purpose expressed in our constitution namely a loyalty to the alma mater however though charity begins at home it will perish if limited to within the walls of home and so possibly synthonia might reach out beyond the alma mater in
Search of good material for membership without being disloyal but this suggestion needs careful consideration will the brothers who intend being present at Syracuse think this over and present their opinions at that meeting let us see if there be any good in it for Sinfonia I heartily Echo the
Sentiment as expressed in the last president’s message regarding conservatism and selection of material for new membership let us take for a motto obscue labor nihio and proving all things hold fast that which is good rejoicing to be able to subscribe myself once a symphonian always a symphonian I am fraternally yours W.S Sterling
From Sinfonia yearbook volume 6 1906. the president’s message Boston April 1 1908. dear brothers the object of this fraternity shall be for the development of the best and truest fraternal Spirit the Mutual Welfare and Brotherhood of musical students the advancement of Music in America and a loyalty to the alma mater
Wise words to make men wiser good words to make men better true words to make men nobler a new light shines down from above to brighten the realm in which musicians move and have their being every symphonian should know these 38 words of high sounding character as he knows his scale of C
Upon them as a fundamental clef he should build his life as a man Phi Mu Alpha what a Triune Throne around which every brother of our band shall have his affections cluster and his hopes Center as one reads of the object of the Symphonia he is at once struck with the
Significance of the words the development of the best and truest fraternal spirit I purpose to notate on the few pages that follow harmonies on this theme ten years ago when father Mills started a little Club of male students at the New England Conservatory in Boston he sought not the musician in the
Institution but the man in the musician no such question was put as how well can you sing young man or what can you play sir but come on boys let’s get together this was the slogan that struck the ear and stirred the heart for it meant something for sociabilities sake good
Fellowship and mutual helpfulness the result is today the Symphonia fraternity of America the principle that the development of manly qualities need not be stunted in the enthusiasm for one’s art has found a fine exemplification in the progress of the Sinfonia it is a truism that as long as man loves
But himself and his art he can never attain to the full measure of manhood or reach the sublimist heights of his art he must seek to love men as brothers and art not for the sake of art itself but art as a means toward bringing all men
Up to that verdant Plateau where their souls may be fed and very rejoicing in all that is true beautiful abiding such are sentiments and principles that move every heart in our midst fraternity seeks to up build the whole man to make of him a manlier man a more musicianly musician
Fraternity in spirit is not as some may imagine a four years College course policy in its real Essence it is what may be aptly termed a life insurance writ on the tablets of men’s Hearts paying precious dividends on demand he has failed utterly to catch the truest fraternal Spirit who in the world
Beyond the college door slinks away from his fellows and shrinks up in some dark corner fraternity is as real as man himself for it is in and of and for man it is not a mere name a shibboleth a magic word to conjure up song shout and shriek for a few student years
The ground that fraternity covers is not a Cellar floor of dark and dire secrets its scope is not confined by some low-studded red ceiling and four Black Walls its place of Abode is not a Fun Factory and a foolish house fraternities Foundation is a man’s honor
Its vision is from the open Windows of his soul its dwelling place is the Temple of sacrifice this Mystic Spirit of fraternity permeating a company of men having a common and honorable pursuit in life music must make of such men better musicians as the student of Music soon learns that
A Wagner Overture and a Bach Fugue stand as one may say at musical polls so a sinfonian is early taught that selfishness and sacrifice are human poles the differentiation is not only intellectually posited but actually experienced for he learns to practice self-denial if he have more of the mule than the man
In him the Sinfonia is a great school for chopping off the four legs of the animal and affecting a cure for stubbornness thus the process of cutting away the excresences and grafting on the virtues such a regeneration taking place in man will find in very logic a transmitting
And an infusion of these better nobler qualities into the every composition and performance of the artist and musician beneficial alike to musician and man is the power of receptivity a willingness an eagerness a patience to learn he who would teach must first be taught he who would give first get
The man who joins a fraternity generally makes up his mind by either the beneficent force of Intuition or some violent external suggestion that it pays to be obedient and receptive he realizes that he must be both well-rounded and on the Square a veritable human Peg able to fit into a
Round hole or a square hole he busies himself now when unraveling the naughty snarls in his mode of living and seeks to lay out before him the silken schemes of life itself if he has found that living is trying on him he makes now a firm determination to try life
Is this all a vagary and a dream of some utopian fraternity not at all but the question to the fraternity man ask yourself the symphonian about it is it not true that the Sinfonia which you have sworn by and loved so dearly puts elixir in that man who is willing to
Learn and eager to grow do you not meet one another as co-workers as brothers as fellow symphonians is not the spirit of friendship pervading and dominant doesn’t the magic grip feel like a galvanic battery do you not become electrified into a living aggressive enterprising Wide Awake student winning a new Independence
For yourself through that fraternal interdependence so keenly felt in the Sinfonia are you any longer a mere metronome keeping time with your monotonous scale practice as you walk from lodging house to classroom and then back again have you not learned to beat time in life’s own sweet true rhythm
Is not your Tempo marked by enthusiasm steadfastness earnestness manliness Brotherhood the seed of fraternity must be sown in the mind and the Heart of the young and growing student generation what is needed Brothers is a Harmony not alone of music but of minds and Hearts and Spirits
The Fraternal must become linked to the educational in the student life would that there might be a marriage of the two which no divorce court presided over by judge jealousy or a jury of musical pedophagus could and all let our organization ever seek to have the heart of fraternity beat in harmony
With the mind of Education to the tickings of some great Mystic metronome let us be they who use the intellectual telescope to discern and solve the deep and difficult problems of Music lore and focus the spiritual telescope to catch a vision of the ideal in life’s heavens Brotherhood the Brotherhood of men
What spiritual significance do we catch its true meaning does it give us a real and vital experience do we get a spiritual Insight do we look out with a broader vision do we think in terms and live in Acts of Brotherhood if we do we move in harmony attuned to
Both God the father and man the brother what is music without Harmony verily it is not music life without Good Will and fraternity what is it indeed it is not life he has not truly lived who has not lived for others in sympathy and in harmony with his fellows
If such be our life it embodies the Symphonia spirit do you know what it is can you interpret the Greek Triad find you Alpha these are not the questions do you feel it that is what I would know the most powerful and subtle emotions in life are
Oftentimes like the great force of the universe electricity mysterious and unknowable yet a pulsing moving Dynamic about and within us there is in truth a mysticism in fraternity we cannot comprehend or explain all it is well so what we understand is won’t to appear ordinary and commonplace to us yet the
Spirit of fraternity is nonetheless real indeed it is the more real because it is Mystic the more Mystic for it is real tremendously vital for it is both Mystic and real in few words we are conscious of an existent fraternity of the spirit of Brotherhood in our hearts because we feel it
Beyond this there is no standard of measurement no reduction to terms sufficient it is to feel fraternity stirring our finer emotions instilling the nobler thoughts inspiring acts of sacrifice keeping alive and fresh our highest aspirations these virtues are The Fragrant flowers of the fraternity seed and they bloom
Perennial as the fires of Brotherhood burn within us it is good to be a sinfonian for once a symphonian always a symphonium fraternally yours and find you Alpha perceived you at Bureau from yearbook Symphonia fraternity of America volume seven the president’s message Boston April 1 1909. the Mutual Welfare and Brotherhood of
Musical students dear brothers this is the text from the first page of Sinfonia writ for four little Symphonia sermons although the sermonizer I take my seat right in the midst of the Sinfonia audience and listen to the message the thought that I should like to drive
Home so that it will sink deep into the hearts of all the brothers is that of personal responsibility without this sense there can be no Mutual Welfare no Brotherhood of any class of men rapt about the idea is all that Sinfonia ever was is today and ever will be
Our very Genesis was not really a beginning after all but indeed the product of a personality father Mills and all its growth our fraternity has been nurtured by loving hearts and counsel by wise heads men have felt a personal responsibility if its future is to be one that shall
Command admiration a sense of personal responsibility must be its ever constant attendant and guide by this I mean a profound realization of Duty on the part of each one of something Beyond mere self I mean oneself projected an ego that consciously reaches out after God the father and touches man the brother
For a man’s personal responsibility never stops with himself it has a three-fold significance and Embraces himself his brother and his God the Symphonia is what each man is no less no more its dimensions are the size of the symphonian its height is your ideal its breadth your intelligence its depth your
Feeling its weight your work if you have a high ideal a broad intelligence and deep feeling and you do much work for Sinfonia you will understand full well what personal responsibility means let us print in big type the dimensions of a true symphonian ideal intelligence feeling work ideal
First Brothers get a high conception of life itself take account of what an individuality means not arrogance and self-conceit but honesty and self-respect now think of an ideal then speak out about it and next work for it let it be as practical as a high ideal can be what
How do you like the sound of the best men among musicians or the best musicians among men no the best men among men that is a splendid ideal is it not such men must possess stability you yourself should seek it for yourself do you know what oft times is the
Accumulation of a series of other virtues the gentler ones such as sincerity sympathy and sacrifice remember these virtues when you speak of the ideal sincerity sympathy sacrifice is there any higher type of men than found than that happy combination of a good great man and a great good man
Do you not recognize the elements of sincerity sympathy sacrifice and stability in such a one it is destined for few to do great Deeds but it is meant for all to be good men remember the true words of a wise man who wrote it is not what those around us
Do for us that counts it is what they are to us improve if you can on even this ideal of good and great so that you will get to think on the highest plane and move along righteous lines try it it gives a fellow a boost to personal responsibility intelligence
And ideal to be worthy must be born of intelligence and feeling it must take into consideration the Mutual Welfare of all it must not be selfish it should study men before it attempts to shape men it should sympathize with men before it seeks to summon men Sinfonia spells brains as well as heart
It does not say that every man shall admire everything and everybody who is a symphonian this would smack of insincerity it means something on the level practical and helpful for in Sinfonia it is designed that every man should study everything in every body in order that he may know him
Better that he may recognize his virtues by praising and trying to emulate him and discern his weakness and shortcomings by sympathizing with and trying to help him if intelligence demands both honest praise and heartfelt sympathy for one’s fellows in Sinfonia it also calls and in a loud voice for fairness fairness and
Judgment and action but especially so in judgment for if that be fair the act to follow will be right if the historian had told me to write a message of but one paragraph it would have been this meet the fellows halfway intelligence calls for fairness the idea
The spirit of conciliation is the most beautiful revelation of the Divine in man’s intellect that I can think of listen to the other fellow do not browbeat him do not ridicule him do not ignore him show the fair Spirit give up every little whim or Prejudice of yours up to
That point where the surrender would carry with it the very vitals of a great principle prune off the trivials the Caprices the prejudices on your argumentative tree be reasonable and you will win the other man can you find anything in that marvelous mind of Abraham Lincoln standing out
More striking than his fairness to all with malice towards none with charity for all with fairness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on see how concisely and eloquently Lincoln puts it his were the words of a victor of Victories and a master of masteries a
Worthy model a fine example for symphonians for all men when one speaks of a symphonian he means a man a fellow musician you whereas before you may have lived isolated in your work in your pleasures and pains your conquests and defeats your hopes and despairs now you have company
The force of the idea of Brotherhood has made itself felt upon you has it have you got in its way do you meet the other fellow halfway among honest intelligent men this halfway business is a great meeting place for has all the sweetness of The Lover’s twist and all the surety of the
Soldiers rendezvous it is pretty safe ground one may come from the East and the other from the west of the broad field of opinions shaking their fists at each other and when they start off again low they go arm in arm marching due south fairness warms men up try it it gives a
Fellow a boost to personal responsibility feeling I have said that an ideal to be worthy must be born of intelligence and feeling the greatest thing in the world is love may we not think of it as God’s Own feeling in man if every sinfonian felt it what a
Brotherhood would be ours do you love your fraternity what does this mean love for Fraternity may sound abstract but it is nothing of the kind it means love for men it means love for one man plus one man plus one man plus one man and so on until you have covered all
Your fraternal obligations to every other man a desire and a Strife to meet these is proof of your personal responsibility in your fraternity men ask why get the fraternity spirit learn to love men every man thinks more of himself in the end if he thinks more of his fellow men in the beginning
This is the right procedure in order to have the right kind of fraternity some men it is true have the peculiar Knack or the Blessed power to show more loving kindness more fraternal Spirit than others but if this love for the Mutual Welfare and Brotherhood of musical students be
Alive in your heart it will be seen in the glow on your face felt in the warmth of your hand clasp and heard in the ring of your voice have you sown your heart with seeds of love try it it gives a fellow a boost to personal responsibility work
Intelligence that possesses the ideal and the feeling of Love That sustains it must produce good works its visible expression must be seen in works for then shall we drown this old world’s Sharps and flats go back to the little sermon on love the Sinfonia will grow my brothers as
You grow because the Symphonia is you the word is of eight letters the spirit is of you which can never be spelled out except in life itself the Mutual Welfare and Brotherhood of musical students will Decline and die if you are selfish careless and indifferent Symphonia will become not something but
Somebody as you grow into a living loving force in the Great Big World try it it gives a fellow a boost to personal responsibility more than ever is it good to be a sinfonian for once a symphonian always a sinfonian fraternally yours and fine you Alpha Perce you at Burrell
From the yearbook Symphonia fraternity of America volume 8. greetings and other things from father Mills Boston Massachusetts October 20 1909. dear brothers of the black and red it was with great satisfaction that I learned of the plan of our historian to publish a quarterly in the interest of our beloved fraternity
I heartily bid him God’s speed in the undertaking and trust that he will have the hearty cooperation of all true and loyal sinfonians the world over I most gladly Avail myself of the opportunity offered of sending in this first issue my warmest fraternal greetings to each and every symphonian brother
As I was in some measure instrumental and thus responsible for the beginning of a movement that has during the past 10 years brought many young men in our musical institutions of learning closer together in Friendly relations who with clasped hands looking into each other’s eyes have pledged themselves to be
Brothers and friends and deed and Truth forever I am deeply impressed with the responsibility we assume when we invite men to become one with us bound together by fraternal ties that are never to be broken it is a serious responsibility as well as a great opportunity and God will
Surely hold us to strict account for our influence upon each other whether it be for good or for evil uplifting or degrading we are want to meet together as brothers on many occasions at our annual conventions at our chapter meetings socials dances Banquets suppers smokers and so forth
The question we ought to ask ourselves in all seriousness is are we better for it has all this Association and expenditure of time energy and money made us and our brothers better stronger broader men physically mentally morally spiritually if it has done so we are certainly on
The right track if not we should pause where we are and give the matter more serious thought and see if there are not some changes for the better that can be made in our programs in the future there may be some benefit derived and no doubt there is by spending our social
Evenings eating drinking smoking singing dancing and so forth but I have long felt convinced that there is a better way and that at least part of our evenings might be better devoted to exercises that would Minister directly to our higher Natures which would prove quite as enjoyable and in the end far
More profitable Alpha chapter tried an experiment last year by devoting one evening to what we called a Fireside conference the topic under consideration was life physical mental moral and spiritual the evening was such a success and so much enjoyed by those present that the entertainment committee has designated
One evening this year to be devoted to the same purpose it would be extremely gratifying to me to learn that other chapters had resolved to try this experiment I assure you that we men all of us need more perhaps than we think to withdraw from the active noisy materialistic Rush
Of the world not to mention the sensuous intoxicating social pleasures of life that Minister only to the Flesh and in peaceful quiet meditate upon and consider together some of the deep things of life listen to the voice of the Eternal and be taught by the infinite Spirit of Truth
I would suggest the following as a few topics the careful and thoughtful consideration of which I believe could not fail to broaden our Horizon and stimulate us to higher ideals life love Faith Harmony goodness peace spirituality power Purity Liberty constancy aspiration wisdom Revelation illumination Trust these are not merely abstract qualities
But as weighed by human nature and experience have reality and are the product of divine authorship two of these could be added others more directly related to the material plane as health Vitality strength Beauty soundness ability growth Freedom wholeness and so forth in conclusion I would like to quote a
Few lines from one of Professor Henry Wood’s recent books life is the most Primal and supreme reality which can engage our thought its origin order of manifestation and expressive phenomena ever have had and ever will have an absorbing interest its fundamental principles form the romance of science the fascination of
Philosophy the charm of mysticism and are involved in the basic factors of religion it is admittedly in vain that we attempt to define the indefinable or to Fathom the inscrutable but while Transcendent truth does not lie upon the surface any contemplation of an aspiration toward it is always profitable
The earnest Search for Law whether physical moral or spiritual is always inspiring while our most lofty thought of the unconditioned must be conditional we are yet conscious of its expansive and uplifting tendency Upon Our nature I should be greatly pleased to hear from any brother regarding the foregoing
Suggestions and would be glad indeed to assist any chapter desirous of adopting them again with all best wishes I am yours most sincerely and fraternally in fine you Alpha Austin E Mills from the Mystic Cat 1 1 November 1909 pages one and three the president’s message Boston March 15 1910.
The advancement of Music in America and a loyalty to the alma mater dear brothers it has been my privilege in the previous two messages to choose a text from the article of our constitution on object I have sought to say something worth your time to read on the development of
The best and truest fraternal Spirit and the Mutual Welfare and Brotherhood of musical students this year I have turned to the remaining aim of our fraternity expressed in the words the advancement of Music in America and a loyalty to the alma mater on the opening pages of our yearbook I
Desire to emphasize this specific kind of loyalty and in so doing I trust that its close relation to the advancement of Music in America may be apparent the present day demand for education is determined to no small extent by the world sizing up as it were the human
Products that are gathered and sent forth from the Collegiate and educational field the world has a right to ask what has education done for Jim Smith if Jim Smith can show a fellow feeling for Tom Brown Jon Jones and Charlie White and if he can put out a right hand
That will fit into the other fellow’s right hand education has produced brains plus Brotherhood such a man going forth with a sheepskin in his grip is going to win men women and endowments for our colleges and universities is he not Brothers you can imagine that he is the fellow
Who in college used to shout hoorah for Harvard and three cheers for Yale and who felt it in his heart as well as in his throat he is in short the very best type of the college man I fancy he would be the first to sit
Down in a spelling match if asked to spell snob or sneer but he ought to be able to stand up to the end on such words as sincerity sacrifice and Symphonia you ask what all this has to do with our text it has a great deal to do with it for
This loyalty touches in very essence the mind and heart condition of men he who does not think broadly and feel deeply does not lose much sleep because of working loyally while the man who comes out of college is expected to make a mark for himself
In the world and so prove what is in him you may put it down as certain that unless something besides rules definitions and equations got into his head as a student he will find himself quite erased as far as making a positive impress upon his fellows in the broadest
Sense of what manhood and life work really ought to be the ideal college life today should afford and I believe it does an opportunity for men to meet with influences other than those strictly academic Scholastic and pedagogical the debating and literary clubs local societies General fraternities and the
Like help in developing the social side of man’s nature here men meet one another on the same level rough exteriors are planed down by rubbing up against smooth ones and the smooth find out which way the grain really runs in getting scratched by the rough ones these diverse not diametric indeed they
Are after all harmonizing aspects of the student life are true Developers for both making a rounded manhood and putting a man on the square isolation and thought and in body does not tend to make a man love anyone in any corner but his own his corner is only big enough for himself
Fraternity it seems to me is a sort of life’s puss in the corner game where one is glad to exchange Corners when the other fellow whistles and everybody has an equally good and profitable time I see that I have used the word fraternity let us do so again and put the word
Symphonia before it so it reads Symphonia fraternity what does it mean loyalty to the alma mater I believe that that is what a true fraternity means every time I have no sympathy with the individual who berates the college fraternities because he is outside of them and knows nothing about them
It is true that some fraternities are not as good in their influence as others may be because each man himself the world over has a goodness that is relative rather than positive there are some days not as bright as others yet the Creator does not snuff out the Sun
While everyone recognizes the church and the state as the most conspicuous handmaids of education is it not true as well that the American college fraternity has been a prominent and positive factor in the growth and popularity of college life I think so does not the Frat man love his frat and
His college equally well and when he goes out into the world does he not both love his fellow men and cherish his alma mater a short time ago a class in one of our universities was getting ready to put on a Shakespearean play all the female characters chosen by the
Committee happen to be non-frat members the coach asked wouldn’t it be wise to have at least one of the fraternities represented in the cast you want their support don’t you promptly came the answer oh the frat girls have college Spirit enough to support it anyway I thought that had a pretty good
Illustration of how fraternity and college Spirit go hand in hand and that a school without the former is liable to lose much of the latter and in short order find a diminished loyalty to the alma mater you may put this down as a truism a college Spirit cannot be successfully
Worked up among alumni after graduation to be a loyal alumnus one must first have college spirit and this Same Spirit is kept aflame largely through the oxygen in the lungs of the fraternity members our own Sinfonia has proved this the institutions which have been pleased to see the red and black fluttering in
Their midst emphasize the truth of this assertion brothers and all others who read this yearbook listen to the testimony of one of the directors of a leading American Conservatory quote I have no reason to regret the expenditure of any time or money that I may have made because I feel that the
Good Symphonia has done the conservatory and the students far surpasses any outlay that I may have made one of the Cardinal principles of the order is a loyalty to the alma mater and I believe that the establishment of fraternities in the conservatories is developing their school spirit a hundred percent unquote
Another director says Sinfonia is the best thing that ever happened to our young men yet another voice is this sentiment I believe Sinfonia makes a man a better musician indeed it does make him a better musician for added to his own personal Ambitions is the Ardent desire to be an
Honor to his fraternity and to his alma mater we do not speak in Parables or Mysteries or imaginings or longings such are the testimonies of men of conspicuous positions in the musical realm who have observed critically and intimately Sinfonia and symphonians the music Departments of our universities and our conservatories of
Music are the agents wise systematic thorough and far-reaching in the advancement of Music in America their graduates are Bid God’s speed as they seek the path leading to advancement and attainment they feel the push of the alma mater behind and see the beckoning of the goodness of attainment before
Every true Symphonia knows what this means every institution that boasts a Symphonia chapter in its midst has felt the warm pulsings of the fine you Alpha heart if I were standing before my own chapter of the New England Conservatory and speaking on the same subject I believe I
Should begin the speech something like this in one sentence Brothers let me try to strike the keynote while every Sinfonia man vows that once a sinfonian always a symphonian and is a symphonian now at last and all the time he never has forgotten and never will forget that he
Is if I can coin the word a conservatorian first last and all the time the same might be said with its own local application of the members of all the chapters I have seen many a man with a symphonian pin shining on his vest but I have yet
To see the sneer at him who wore nothing safe buttons on his vest loyalty to the school and friendliness and helpfulness to its students whether symphonians or not ever have been prominent traits of the brothers of the black and red the most rational aim of any educational institution is to turn out graduates
That will be an honor to the school The Graduate to be such must possess culture as a result of musical training and enthusiasm as a result of social activity it cannot be well disputed that the growth and perpetuity of a college are largely measured by Student Activity which promotes a common interest and
Inspires consequent loyalty as well as by the personal character and Commercial Success of her graduates Sinfonia has had 10 years to make known the fact that every Sinfonia shout shouted means a more Wide Awake Enterprise and graduate that every Symphonia meeting where our discussed plans of ways and means Fosters a more
Mature judgment which in years to come may help by wise counsels the alma mater Brothers of the Sinfonia do you not realize more than ever what it means to you to associate for four three two or even one year in a fraternal brotherly way with 15 20 or 25 other young men all
Bending their youthful energies toward a high goal of musical culture this abundant good Fellowship makes a wholesome uplifting and indelible impress upon your complete manhood and is fashioning you into a better all-round man and a better man all around outside as well as inside the Mystic Circle
I speak the truth when I state that to foster a movement that so promotes real Brotherhood and musical progress among the future musicians of America reflects wisdom and farsightedness on the part of those who stand at the head of our institutions of musical learning sinfonians you are entitled to take just
Pride that you are proving at last that musicians can be welded together in love and for Mutual helpfulness and progress you are developing that type of manhood whichever shows itself in loyalty to the alma mater now you are coming back to the alma mater to see the old school the old
Teachers and to greet the new brothers in Sinfonia in unison do I catch or cry te amo alma mater another paragraph or two and I am done with the annual message it is this the institution which seeks only to develop art cultivate brains and promote the scientific does not reach the Acme
Of its possibilities or embrace all its opportunities its widest Mission extends into the field of sentiment emotion the spontaneities and indeed the humanities of life to strive to subordinate the heart to the head is a worthy performance in the unchecked passions of the race but in the one seeking knowledge in the higher
Schools the shout the song The Society are not at all the anomalies they may seem at first glance the noisy youthful outbursts that sometimes are heard may be in truth the very potentialities capable of beginning fostering and sustaining a sentiment and love for the time the occasion the thing that inspired them
The Graduate of today is inclined to remember his alma mater for its sociality as well as its intellectuality the college Spirit gets into him during the college days in his afterlife this Same Spirit seeks to get out of him in the most practical ways and helps for his alma mater
But first of all loyalty to the alma mater must have the seeds sown in the form of enthusiasm College spirit and Brotherhood in the student his first exuberance may be sometimes criticized as purile and irrational but in later years we find that these pristine bubbling over manifestations have undergone a process of evolution
And he has come to possess an alumni spirit safe and sane such a one loves his alma mater it means counseling to him the shout and the song are not forgotten oh no they were the prologues the prerequisites the harbingers of still better things for with him it is now all
Up for the old school and on with our sons and daughters to the old alma mater give the conservatory the college the university give any school an enthusiastic Wide Awake alert Progressive student body and loyalty to the alma mater must ever be the keynote struck by the alumni nothing so happily and positively
Forecasts a forceful alumni body as the visible proof in the Esprit de corps of a chapter in the Sinfonia fraternity the Symphonia fraternity of America has been and ever will be one of the strongest bonds that holds an alumnus to the alma mater every symphonian means a graduate that
Means in turn a true and loyal being with a soul all a glow for the old school that gave him a cultured musical mind and a warm brotherly heart more than ever my brothers is it good to be a sinfonian for once a symphonian always a symphonian
Fraternally yours in Phi Mu Alpha Percy Jewett Burrell from the final Alpha annual volume 9. Philadelphia March 14 1910. dear brothers it does not seem possible that 10 years have elapsed since we were preparing to go to Boston for our first convention we hardly realized how important a step
We were taking how we were about to launch an idea that would cast such a powerful influence for good on our boys intellectually and morally fraternity the universal Brotherhood of Man surely this feeling never existed before among music students and so conscious was I of the lack of it that I gladly
Welcomed the Symphonia movement it meant sacrifice of time and money to me but the results have been so gratifying that I consider the expenditure one of the best I have ever made and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have helped in a movement for the betterment of mankind a step
Toward the millennium the 10 hardest years are past and we are now on a broad and sure Foundation the future is bright and while expansion may seem desirable to the most of you a more important expansion to my mind is that of the heart let us get together in true fraternal
Spirit not with the idea of seeing how much we can get out of the fraternity but how much we can bring to it not how much we can use our brothers but how kind and useful we can be to them before we get back what we give whether
Love or hate Envy or Good Will cloud or sunshine if you would have a brother be one fraternally yours in fine you Alpha Gilbert Reynolds Combs to all symphonians my brothers from Sinfonia yearbook volume 9 April 1910. Sinfonia yesterday by asean E Mills the sun lodged on the old Gray Cliffs
And glanced from every pad the bull rushes and flags seemed to rejoice in the delicious light and air The Meadows were a drinking at their leisure the Frogs Sat meditating all Sabbath thoughts summing up their weak with one eye out on the Golden Sun and one toe
Upon A Reed eyeing the wondrous Universe in which they act their part today Sinfonia lodges herself upon that high cliff Mount thought and glances back over the meadows and Fields of the ten years of her life how extremely visible are the expressions of gratification and Delight upon her countenance as she roams from
One thought to another of her past record and Views the developments of her powers in the Fraternal worlds I shall now give you a brief historical account of Sinfonia dating from the time of our first convention which was held on April 16 to 20 in the alpha chapter rooms in Boston
They were present full delegations from the three then existing chapters Alpha Beta and Delta this was one of the most interesting conventions in the history of Sinfonia as it witnessed the merging of the old Sinfonia club which had been in existence since October 6 1898 into the Sinfonia fraternity a secret and
National male students musical fraternity the only one of its kind in America the fraternity emblem pin the colors red and black and flower chrysanthemum were adopted and a greater part of three days were spent in the construction and Adoption of a suitable Constitution and at 12 25 o’clock P.M April 18 1901 a
Constitution was finally accepted and immediately afterward the following National officers were elected Supreme president asiani Mills Alpha Supreme Vice President George C Williams Delta Supreme secretary Ralph Howard Pendleton Alpha Supreme Treasurer Gilbert Reynolds Combs beta editor-in-chief proceed you at Burrell Alpha the fact that this convention was full
Of enthusiasm and life was evidence that the Sinfonia club during the past two years had been going some the success of the club as well as the first years of Symphonia as a fraternity was due in great measure to the persistent energy courage and Enterprise of our esteemed brother Ralph Howard Pendleton
That the Symphonia organization ever expanded from a local Club into one institution to a national fraternity with chapters and many musical institutions throughout the country was due I believe in a large measure to his foresight and tireless efforts the Second National convention was held in the beta chapter rooms Broad Street
Conservatory Philadelphia Pennsylvania April 21 22 and 23 1902. it was the sentiment of all who were fortunate enough to attend that this was a most enjoyable Convention as voiced in the next annual report of the Supreme secretary from the moment our train rolled into the heart of the city until the time we
Bad at year we were most royally entertained that there had been three new chapters added to Symphonia Epsilon Zeta and Ada was a source of great satisfaction and exultation the next convention was held at Ithaca New York in the Delta chapter rooms at the Ithaca Conservatory with delegates
From all six chapters and at the close of the convention it was unanimously pronounced the best yet and so the years have come and gone with the annual conventions full of enthusiasm the delegates returning to their respective chapters overflowing with the symphonius spirit the fourth annual convention was held at
Ann Arbor Michigan with the Epsilon Brothers the fifth that Cincinnati with Ada in 1906 no convention was held and the question was asked on every hand what is the matter is Symphonia dying out but in 1907 one of the best attended and most enthusiastic conventions was held
In the alpha chapter rooms in Boston this was the second time Alpha had entertained the delegates and all who were present were convinced that Symphonia was very much alive it was at this convention that the first edition of Our Song Book was projected and the committee in charge promised to
Have the book completed before the next convention the next year in 1908 we met in Philadelphia for the second time and the Fraternal Spirit seemed to be more manifest than ever before due in a great measure no doubt to the fact that we had promised the new song books and they
Were Faithfully used at every meeting last year 1909 we had the pleasure of meeting at Syracuse with Theta in their Beautiful chapter house and now we are looking forward with great expectation to meeting again with the Delta Boys in Ithaca next May one of the most important events of
Symphonia’s past history has been the development of its Publications the first annual yearbook appeared in March 1901 the product of alpha chapter supported heartily by Beta And Delta and each year with one exception has witnessed a great Improvement both in subject matter and dress thanks to our national historians and especially are
We indebted to our brother Pyle for the beautiful edition of 1909 which far exceeded our most sanguine expectations brother Kaiser has also scored a point by beginning the publication of our triennial bulletin the Mystic cat and Hereafter we shall look for it as a regular visitor
Looking back over the past 10 years of the life of Sinfonia one is tempted to ask has it paid personally I believe that it has many many times over the fact that hundreds of young men students have been brought together yes and bound together by friendly and mutual interests for life means very
Much and it is a well-known fact among the brothers that many a young man has been inspired through his fraternity associations with an ambition to make the most of his life and in every way to be worthy the respect of his brothers one of the most beautiful spectacles is
To see men mutually interested in each other so much so that like David and Jonathan they are ready to sacrifice even to the laying down of their lives for their brothers and this is what Sinfonia has been during the past 10 years and many of the
Boys are now out in the world fighting the Battle of life making a place and a name for themselves inspired to do their best by the thought that their brothers are deeply interested in their successes and so although Symphonia may not have accomplished all that some of us who are
Most deeply interested in its welfare have desired it has accomplished much very much for which we are grateful and of which we are proud long live the Sinfonia from the final Alpha annual 9 1910. 25-27 Henry David Thoreau music what are ears what is time that this particular series of sounds called a
Strain of Music an invisible and fairy troop which never brushed the Dew from any Mead can be wafted down through the centuries from Homer to me and he have been conversant with the same aerial and mysterious charm which now so tingles my ears What a fine communication from age to
Age of the fairest and noblest thoughts the aspirations of ancient men even such as were never communicated by speech is music it is the flower of language thought colored and curved fluent and flexible its Crystal Fountain tinged with the sun’s rays and its purling ripples reflecting the grass and the clouds
A strain of Music reminds me of a passage of The Vedas and I associate it with the idea of infinite remoteness as well as of beauty and serenity for to the senses that is farthest from us which addresses the greatest depth within us it teaches us again and again to trust
The remotest and finest as the divinest Instinct and makes a dream our only real experience we feel a sad cheer when we hear it perchance because we that hear are not one with that which is heard Thoreau from Sinfonia yearbook volume 9 1910. Winthrop s Sterling the president’s message dear brothers
Warmest greetings and congratulations on our 10 year old frat and in thinking it over some rambling thoughts have come to me on optimistic fraternalism and here they are optimism is an essential and necessary element in the development and success of every movement fraternalism is just as necessary an
Element in the development of mankind looking towards the uplift and the making of useful men The Hermit is of little use to Mankind and too often has become what he is because he has lacked that element in his makeup which is called optimism which is akin to charity and which
Inspires us to look for the best side always in our brothers in every Walk of Life the pessimist usually keeps to himself and knows not true fraternalism and differs from The Optimist as the old saying goes The Optimist sees the donut and the pessimist sees only the hole in the donut
Let us be Keen to see the donut and enjoy the good in every brother for as one writer has said there is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us that it doesn’t become the most of us to criticize the rest of us
Long Live Symphonia cordially and fraternally yours W.S Sterling from Sinfonia yearbook volume 9 1910. George C Williams Ithaca New York March 15 1910. dear brothers it is possible that a letter from me will seem to many brother symphonians like a message from the spirit world I can assure you however that brother
Williams is not dead neither has he been sleeping for several years circumstances have prevented my participating actively in Symphonia Affairs and as a result I am doubtless somewhat behind the times and uninformed but nevertheless still a symphonium remember once a symphonian always a symphonian and I expect to wear the
Sinfonia emblem on my breast and cherish the Symphonia Spirit In My Heart until my three score years and ten are done when our worthy historian requested me to contribute a few words to the yearbook I was delighted at the opportunity of thus being able to again
Address my brothers of the red and black though my message must need to be brief the fact that we have Delta are again to be privileged to entertain the Symphonia Brotherhood is in itself an inspiring thought not only are we looking forward to the reunion of many of the older brothers
Who have been greatly endeared to us through years of Association but also to the meeting of many of the newer Brothers of whom we have heard much but whose hands we have not yet been privileged to grasp I shall therefore save much of what I wish to say to the brothers until the
Convention Gathering my message to the brothers at this time will be found in the word ideal in our great haste for still further growth and expansion let us not forget our early ideals these ideals so clearly and wisely presented to us by father Mills at the organization of Symphonia
Are the foundation stones on which our fraternity has been built and all of our present greatness is due to the fact that these Foundation Stones were laid soundly and well one of these ideals is quality not numbers let us keep the standard of our membership High another point that we should not lose
Sight of is that the Symphonia fraternity was organized in order that the benefits of true Brotherhood might be extended to the young men of this country seeking a musical education in the schools of Music where the Fraternal idea had not yet extended this has given to Symphonia its prominence and distinction its individuality
Let us not lose this individuality and thus become only one of thousands of similar organizations when at present we are at the head of a field truly our own finally Brothers I am more convinced today than ever before that there is no fraternal name to be found among all the
Dead and buried languages of the world as sweet as endearing as truly significant to our ideals as the Beloved name so full of real meaning and so dear to the hearts of all Sinfonia sincerely and fraternally yours George C Williams from Sinfonia yearbook volume 9 1910. Sinfonia today by Wilson H Pyle
The past we know the future we can dream of but who can justly value the present organizations have sprung into existence spread like wildfire and seemed about to change the whole course of thought in the Civilized world only to die out as suddenly as they came and to leave
Absolutely no Mark of their eyes and fall behind them again a few students such as the pre-raphaelite Brotherhood originally was in England May sway a whole nation so in trying to hold the mirror up to Nature and see Sinfonia as she really is today we cannot actually State her
Influence on the student and musical world or even guess at the results which may come from our banding ourselves together in simple brotherly affection for the good of music and the musician knowing the power of friendship pure and warm its influence and inspiration and sympathy and mutual helpfulness
It is a hard thing to have to come down to such cold externals as so many men so many chapters and even perhaps so many dollars but these are the things that make us the shell of every working body so of it we must speak and leave our real life
Our fraternity of spirit To Be Imagined what is it that distinguishes the Symphonia of the present day from the past first of all I think the development of a national Spirit has been very marked within the past two years at the first to think of Symphonia was to think of the Home chapter
Very few of the brothers knew any of men Customs or plans of other chapters this is all very different now visitors from chapter to chapter the long tours of the Supreme president and most of all the annual convention have knit us all together into one large family
This welding of the chapters is really the distinguishing feature of the Sinfonia of the present when we now look back we do not think so much of the beginning of our own chapter as of the founding of the fraternity at Boston looking forward we do not think so much
Of giving musicals or Furnishing chapter rooms as to expansion new chapters ritual Insignia vestments and whatnot but the fundamental note in Sinfonia as a whole and changes in improvements contemplated are those that interest the whole brotherhood nothing has helped his broadening of vision so much as that Breezy newsy
Little newspaper the Mystic Cat long may it raise the big meow another characteristic that marks the present working of our dear fraternity is courage or perhaps a better word would be boldness there has always been courage shown in extending the usefulness of the fraternity but the fear of the old first days has
Gone from us we no longer fear for the life of Sinfonia we no longer fear that the Machinery of organization will not work this newly acquired confidence in ourselves has resulted in a certain amount of restlessness to be up and doing greater things perhaps this ambition is good for us
Time alone will tell another result of this boldness is the insistence of some of our big men that they be allowed to step aside from their position as officers and leave more of the governing of the fraternity in the hands of younger men and so long as we still have these
Faithful Founders still with us to counsel and help we are willing to release them as much as possible from the constantly growing cares and duties of the national officers one other phase of our existence seems to Mark us as one of the broadest of fraternities with a wide field of usefulness before us
Surely no fraternity can exhibit such diversity as are found in the various chapters of Symphonia take the conduct of the different chapters the different aims of the men here is Alpha a chapter of Brothers studying to become musicians there is Epsilon a chapter of Brothers studying to pursue a literary or engineering career
Take Zeta a chapter composed very largely of instructors and professors at the University of Missouri and so on through the whole list here is a large Chapter House there the loan of some bare room for a few hours a week but through it all runs that strong current of true Brotherhood a bond
Strong enough to make all equal as all work in the noble cause of helping one another helping others and helping to advance the noblest of Arts music each chapter each man working in his own sphere and in his own way but all truly one in a common Brotherhood and in a common object
From Sinfonia yearbook volume 9 1910. Percy Jewett Burrell the president’s message Boston Massachusetts April 1 1911. dear brothers symphonians we come a band of sinfonians true an Earnest crowd a hustling crew we will raise the flag of black and red and keep it raised until we are dead
Now on to the tune of sinfonians true and Ernest crowd a hustling crew into the air with all your hats and drowned this old world Sharps and flats in the early days of alpha chapter I spoke the foregoing lines at a local banquet the Symphonia Spirit In Me had inspired
Save the mark poetry I spoke the lines hoping to make things move a bit I forget whether I succeeded in this or not never mind it is the four movement of the present Symphonia a year that makes me recall the incident I do not refer to the verses as such but to their
Embodiment and vital forces symphonians true and Earnest crowd a hustling crew during the past year it has been a high privilege of mine to visit at least once each of our new chapters and to preside over the installation of two new ones it did me a world of good to see the flag
Of black and red and hear the drowning of this old world Sharps and flats the one regret is that my capacity was not big enough to take in all the Sinfonia oxygen and life that were everywhere about and that what I was not able to absorb could not have found its
Way into the minds and hearts of the many absent Brothers throughout the land Brothers do you recognize the vitalizing forces about you do you feel them coming to you no do you feel them going out from you that is the right question it is a fine thing to discover for
Oneself and life’s great battle that we are all Brothers of one human blood one American Home One Divine father one cannot help but bow his head in gratefulness and humility when he feels The Cordial clasp of a Brother’s hand here’s a Brother’s warm welcoming word sees the glow in a Brother’s eye
Whenever and wherever in this vast country of ours he meets a man who loves to throw his hat into the air and Shout once a symphonian always the symphonian long live the Sinfonia almost I am moved to Rite of recent symphonian incidents and anecdotes but if I should begin well Harry Kaiser’s
Book should contain a lot more than a president’s message in an index of members we’ll leave something for that Ann Arbor banquet in June it will be a Hummer get there and hum brother I have looked into the yearbooks of the past three years and I see that the
Messages have been given in sermonette form the three worthy objects of fine you Alpha have been treated and now what is left for the text and theme of this year’s annual message I feel that the time of preaching is about over practice is becoming more and more the style Among Us
This makes me wonder why the theme practice might not do for the 1911 message I think I shall try it the historian Gibbon once wrote every man receives two educations the one he gets from others and the more valuable one that he gets from himself onia affords the latter sword for first
She teaches a man the brother idea and next the brother acts it out in life he has been preached to now he practices the fraternity man should feel his fraternity as a personal epic in his life instead of throwing cobblestones at one another we are picking up precious stones and clasping hands
Yes Sinfonia has proved her right to live by her very products what has she done for the individual for the best in music for the alma mater go a long way to demonstrate to the world that finu Alpha principles are not all Theory we have passed from the static to the
Dynamic stage of life and by moving ourselves we are moving others we are ready and eager to Hitch up to share to work and move together the Yorkshire man said Earl and say not take all and pay not and if that does out for naught do it for this end
If this had been our philosophy mice and not men would have come forth in our midst Sinfonia has lived as a club and as a fraternity for 13 years while it has been our day of schooling and discipline it has not been for us all passive indeed it has been an active
Progressive producing period how far we have progressed how often we have practiced how much we have produced can be measured only by the Unseen one records and figures tell us only of records and figures deep Feeling High Hopes And obling Inspirations pure thoughts uplifting emotions and exalted aspirations have
All been ours yet no one can sound measure way or figure them out our veins have tingled and the handshake has become a Brother’s grip we cannot explain everything but we know that because of Symphonia we have been living our Brotherhood life and not merely our routine lives
To understand one another better means less Discord less Strife less war we have understood we do now understand one another better than we could have ever dreamed without our fraternal Oaths and bonds we begin to realize that the only true friend after all is he who knows all
About you and likes you just the same the Personnel of the Sinfonia is not by any means perfect no one boasts of that but those in its fold are better and bigger and broader for they have been taught sincerity sympathy and sacrifice and they have set themselves to practice
And to work out the Real the true the best things in this transitory life some men have looked bad before they passed through the first degree and almost succumbed in our seemingly heartless midst we have had the lesson taught that the surface often fails to reveal the
Substratum and that gold and diamonds in the world’s history have been often stumbled upon we have discovered that every man has a heart and we are ever seeking to find how that heart can be reached and touched the spirit of pettiness fault finding jealousy and envy is dying away
In many instances this is because it has been preached away and men have learned to practice broadness discrete admonition conciliation cooperation and just praise the hearty Royal slap on the other fellow’s back is becoming popular it is said that Matthew Arnold was a continual grumbler The Story Goes that
After he died Robert Louis Stevenson said to a friend well Arnold is in heaven but I imagine he is awfully disappointed in God let us be thankful that less and less sinfonian Arnolds are on their way there or elsewhere best of all the symphonian can go right on living out his principle of
Brotherhood of close harmony he is not a symphonian for four years and then a superior graduate a forgotten and forgetting symphonian find new Alpha issues no four-year endowment policies hers is a life insurance our fraternity is not like an Express train which runs you smoothly along the
College track gives you a good time while you are on and then when you strike the outside world in a new and perchance distant spot where there may be no local symphonian stations drops you off the rear car with thud it is a through ticket you get from the
First bat on the head or crack on the cocoa or whatever you may style these physical tokens of pristine affection through to the last breath of the body at the final degree of life itself the man in finding Alpha can be preached to and he can preach can be practiced on
And practice on the full course in Brotherhood gives him a good ear a good tongue a sore body for an initial period and a strong muscle it aims to make him a man however else little or much he may be so brothers are drinking now from the golden cup at the symphonian found
They will never cease to drain its contents for the fount is an everlasting spring of Brotherly Love 50 years hence men will drink from this same chalice and be revived and they will carry two precious instruments in their hands bequeathed unto them by you and me the intellectual microscope to
Discern and solve the deep and difficult problems of Music lore and the spiritual telescope to catch a vision of the Brotherhood ideal in their life work do you ever wonder Brothers what the history of the Sinfonia fraternity of America will be 50 years hence
Many of us will not be here to read its printed page or hear it fall from eloquent lips when that far distant day comes my hope is that the history may be told in words as beautiful and true as those which I heard not long ago and that marvelously
Tender voice of Eva booth when she was asked to write the history of the songs of the world she answered I can’t do it they are in the dying bed the child’s lisp the shout of Victory and the battlefield in Hallelujah Chorus the Morning Song of the redeemed the
Evening Song of the penitent in man’s Soul feeling engulfs them not until the subtle nature of man is solved can it be done until the half century comes May the symphonian who has seen the light see also a vision in his daily toil and joy May those who are still without and
Blind but all the time our brothers come to and see with this picture for the symphonian to look upon and to think over in its application to the life and light of our fraternity I am happily bound to write yet again once a sinfonian always a symphonian long live the Sinfonia
Fraternally yours and find you Alpha Percy duet Burrell from the findu alpha annual volume 10 1911. Ben Harris two symphonians to you who think of me wherever you may be a sweet thought I send and flight over the land and Over the Sea and out in the starless night
Over the trackless desert over the swell of the tide this tender thought I send to thee this thought with thee abide I treasure the words you’ve spoken I prize the love thoughts in your eyes I value the Oaths unbroken for you Brothers my whole soul cries Ben Harris Epsilon
From Sinfonia yearbook volume 10 1911. Coleman Dudley Frank New York City March 17 1912. dear brother Kaiser and esteemed historian each one of us thinks in terms of his own experiences and environment and so when you ask me to tell you what I think Sinfonia can do for the advancement of
Music in America I answer you in terms of my own experiences of the past few years touching only one point in the large circumference of activities in which Symphonia can Aid in the promotion of American Musical interests Sinfonia should start something here in New York City Symphonia should have a chapter in this
Great musical Center for without insult to the artistic activities of the village choir of Podunk or even to the musical Enlightenment of Boston and Cincinnati New York May safely be said to be the greatest music center of our country it is a mere platitude to add that the greatest Center of musical activity
Ought to focus about the greatest musical fraternity of the country New York has within its City confines three great universities each fostering the fraternity system yet find you Alpha is not listed among the Greek letter societies New York City has more schools of music with a larger total enrollment than any
Other Metropolis of the world probably yet all this opportunity is wasted for Symphonia here are paid the highest salaries to choir singers and here are offered better opportunities for church singing than are to be found in many states yet Sinfonia is not yet among them the orchestra’s center here in great
Numbers here is the home of the Opera Grand and light Operetta as well and musical comedy managers music Men moneyed music enthusiasts congregate here what a rich stretch of Virgin soil for the immediate sowing of the seeds of Sinfonia standards Sinfonia men Symphonia sympathies Sinfonia ideals ought to gradually find
Their way into all these choirs these schools these orchestras these musical organizations what we need here is a local chapter plus an alumni chapter a local chapter that could take under its protecting Wing the best of the large army of young musicians of talent who flock here
Annually from all over the land and who need the protection of a Sinfonia home the encouragement of a Sinfonia fraternity the good fellowship and the financial aid of Community Living and an alumni branch that would hold out the hand of Welcome to the big band of fine
You Alpha fellows who come here from year to year from Alpha from Ada from Lambda either to take up permanent residence or as mere birds of Passage but to whom a Sinfonia home would be a Haven of refuge and a much needed help then as these men scattered to the West
The north the South to become the leaders of musical matters everywhere they would carry with them the Sinfonia ideals and purpose they would scatter them throughout the length and breadth of the land to the advancement of musical America along the lines of symphonia’s ideals and Symphonia standards Coleman Dudley Frank Epsilon 03
From the final Alpha annual volume 11 1912. Henry Meyer a Man song most strong and Noble in God’s great plan is he who wills and he who can the grip of his hand does anyone good by the light of his eye he’s understood ah it’s he with the flow of song in his
Veins and he with a spirit of work in his brains who wins the fight and finds the way and carries the colors with closing day ah brother let’s live and love and grow not more not less only so that our souls may be filled with Harmony and the
Goodness of God and all we see Henry Meyer Delta from Sinfonia yearbook 11 1912. O.E Mills what are the possibilities of Symphonia optimism runs high in Phi new Alpha Boston March 15 1912. dear brother our worthy historian has requested me to write a few words on the question of
What are the possibilities of Symphonia and I am very glad indeed to improve this opportunity for a little heart to heart talk with my brother symphonians the future possibilities of our beloved fraternity will depend I believe entirely upon the individual membership the type of man you and I are the
Personal influence that radiates from our lives will be the power to make or unmake the men with whom we are now Associated or who shall come after us if we are men of low ideals or no ideals it is folly to expect much of worth from the organization
Personally I look upon a fraternity as not only a social body but an educational influence our business is the making of men and the all-important question for us are sinfonians any better for being symphonians do they leave our portals physically mentally morally stronger cleaner purer in fact more worthy men
Than when they enter if not then the Sinfonia fraternity has no excuse for existing and for making such large drafts on our time our energy and our means our fraternity was founded on Broad uplifting and nobling principles principles which we are won’t to hear rehearsed from time to time until they
Become very familiar to us but do they clutch us do they become molding influences in our lives brother come with me aside into the silence for a moment and let us seriously consider the Mystic meaning of each letter of our beloved s-i-n-f-o-n-i-a is there not enough here to develop the
Highest type of manhood if only we will with the deepest sincerity allow these Mystic meanings to sink deep into our hearts they will surely Inspire us to Noble attainment then there will be no limit to the Glorious possibilities of our fraternity so let us you and I for the sake of our
Brother man individually strive by example and influence to lift the standard of thought and conduct from the low level of selfishness and self-indulgence up to the lofty Realms of aspirational thought and self-denial this it is to be a man of the highest type to be and not seem to do and not
Simply to talk to have the right ideal the true motive and patiently to transform conduct in accordance with it so let it be for Symphonia affectionately and fraternally yours in fine you Alpha Austin E Mills from the final Alpha annual 11 1912. William Morris forsooth Brothers Fellowship is heaven
And the lack of Fellowship is hell owship is life and the lack of Fellowship is death and the Deeds that ye do upon the Earth it is fellowship’s sake that ye do them therefore I bid you not dwell in hell but in heaven upon Earth which is a part
Of heaven and forsooth no foul part William Morris from Sinfonia yearbook Volume 11 March 1912. George a Parker Syracuse New York March 9 1912. dear brothers symphonians I am asked to give briefly a few thoughts for the 1912 Phi new Alpha annual on the question what are the possibilities of Symphonia
Living as I do in an atmosphere of fraternity life there being over 40 fraternities represented in our institution I am able to observe the effect of these organizations on the student body I have no hesitancy in saying that the fraternity with high ideals is a power for good in any school college or
Profession in which it may have a chapter it encourages a loyalty to the alma mater inspires an ambition for Superior scholarship and promotes a feeling of Brotherhood and mutual helpfulness among its members in fact it is often the means of giving the student a new Vista on life in its
Relation to his fellow men and an increased sense of its obligations and responsibilities Sinfonia stands I believe for such high ideals and is rapidly coming to be a National Organization of influence and Power in the musical profession such growing numbers of earnest musical students as they go out into their life
Work have great possibilities of exerting a powerful influence on the profession which should result in a more charitable and fraternal Spirit of Goodwill where now is the altogether two prevalent spirit of jealousy enmity and the like they can also by their efforts and by distinguished scholarship do much towards securing for music greater
Recognition on the part of our College authorities and consequently in the college curriculum itself and needed be too much hope that air long from its ranks will come the Great American composer whose genius and scholarship shall command the homage and respect not only of America but of the whole musical world as well
These are some at least of the possibilities of Symphonia if the fraternity lives up to its ideals fraternally yours George a Parker from the fighting Alpha annual volume 11 1912. George C Williams we are all very prone to regard the future with uplifted eyes our gaze fixed
On the distant Horizon as though we expected all future opportunities and events to drop from some unseen realm to which we had not as yet attained and with which we had nothing to do this is but one of the many misleading fancies which we are pleased to pin our faith to
As a matter of fact brother sinfonians our future does not come to meet us but overtakes us from behind and if we would have a future filled with great possibilities we must fill the present minute with 60 seconds of well-completed past upon which our future may rest secure the possibilities for Symphonia for
Better manhood for the advancement of music for the promotion of Brotherhood are manifold but the Discerning the grasping and fulfilling of these possibilities lies all within ourselves the possibilities of Symphonia depend upon the Fulfillment of two words dear to every true symphonian inspiration and attainment when we stand in a valley the Horizon
Seems near let us climb a hill and our view is expanded the higher we climb in thought and aspiration in Noble living the greater will be our possibilities for truer than all that is written is all that has not been told the yet unlived and unloving are truer than all
The old the fairest is still the furthest the life that has yet to be holds ever the past and present itself the soul of the three George C Williams from Sinfonia yearbook Volume 11 March 1912. Ben Harris to my friend butter he was a prince we call the role he answers not my
Brother is not here yes he is gone but not forgot for my eye there drops a tear less fragrant with my life have been if I had never met you friend my brother often have I thought of those days now at an end your happy smile as we joke a while your
Optimistic way your great true heart that I know in part has cheered us many a day when the role is called someday above at a meeting of the boys we’ll greet you with fraternal love we’ll retell old-time joys you’ve left your mark O Brother mine you’ve left an imprint on my soul
And I but pray I can my part play as nobly as the years onward role Ben Harris Epsilon 08 from Sinfonia yearbook Volume 11 March 1912. Ben Harris to you brother sinfonian wherever you may be a word of greeting hearken to this thought received from me there’s a brother who is waiting to
Clasp you by the hand when your footsteps stray Eastward here’s a brother to command Ben Harris Epsilon 08. from the final Alpha annual volume 11 March 1912. perceive you at Burrell the president’s message Chicago April 21 1913. dear brothers symphonians what message of most helpfulness and greatest incentive can I send to all
Symphonians would that I had the power to discern it I have looked over five yearbooks which contain messages from the writer and have noted that the Preamble of the Constitution caused by Clause has served as texts I am impressed with the fact of the worthiness of the Sinfonia object
I am not surprised that Phi new Alpha is bigger busier and better today than ever before it lives and grows because it has a right to live and grow Sinfonia is not a usurper of another’s prerogatives not an excrescence on fraternal Society IT Supplies a very real need in the
Minds and hearts of young men and older ones too who want to develop musicianship and manhood to measure the growth of Brotherly feeling is a difficult task mathematics and scales cannot do it yet you know and I know that right in this direction has been our greatest progress
Let us rejoice in our consciousness of this fact and determine that our chief purpose is the development of the truest fraternal spirit herein each and every brother can help to increase symphonia’s weight he can be a truer brother today than yesterday and on tomorrow than today unless Brothers in the chapter know that
They are more charitable and generous more decent and more all-round better men within a fraternity than they would be outside of one then indeed such men belong outside a personal consciousness of the possession of a Symphonia idea and ideal and a practical exemplification in daily life are the proof positive that one is
A symphonian indeed will you not pardon me if I glance over the last six years ears fraught with so much of personal interest for during these years which mark one half of the life of the national Symphonia I have sought to serve my brothers as their president
With the five-year books before me and these Pages upon which I now write I count six annuals it is with a feeling of deep interest that I recall the installation of six new chapters Zeta at Columbia Iota at Evanston Kappa at Baltimore Lambda at Greencastle Mew at Oklahoma and new at Granville
And I must not forget the first alumni chapter founded this past winter in the Metropolis itself the fraternity has expanded two-fold and there has resulted men before this book is in your hands a petition will have been received from the University of Iowa and it may be
That other petitions will have come to hand one chapter has been placed on the inactive list gamma of Detroit it is a creditable record for any fraternity that of the 15 chapters founded in the first male musical fraternity ever organized in this country an experiment an organization if there ever were one
Only three chapters have become inactive in 1907 the number of synfonians in the country was 473. today there are 876. during the coming year the 1000th member will enter the Symphonia fold one thousand fine you alphons where everywhere the world over in the smallest hamlet in the land in the
Metropolis of America in the great cities of the globe what a band to boost the Sinfonia one of the next six years if the increased proof proportionate we shall have 24 chapters and 2 000 Brothers it is not too much to hope for indeed our hopes should be for an even larger success
The past six years have seen the adoption of many new policies and the realization of fond hopes all of which I believe time will justify I am not attempting to name them in the order of importance for in many cases there is an equality in this respect
I refer to what all Brothers must know to our successful Publications three Mystic cats a year and as credible of fraternity organ and the Phi new Alpha annual as there is in Greek letter journalism the classification and systemization of all members and the adoption of a membership card index an embossed coat
Of arms new shingles new pins a song book recognition and Baird’s official fraternity manual new and revised ritual first and second degrees and paraphernalia uniform observance of Founders Day the annual visitation and inspection of chapters expansion tours the appointment of local alumni secretaries and The Awakening of the alumni body the historical examination
Of all active members the annual prize competition for American composers a more Compact and centralized National Organization all debts paid in a surplus in the treasury a better understanding and appreciation on the part of all Brothers of the significance and scope of the national Symphonia I cherish for the future Symphonia the
Position as the most potent practical Force among musicians of America only as the units the individuals are strong intelligent aggressive enthusiastic masterful honest men can the Symphonia fraternity our organization become a real power it is up to you my brother to be a sinfonian in the musical realm of life
This should be a mark of Distinction others should look up to you because you are really above them they should expect more of you and get it because you have the goods to deliver the individual sinfonian will make or unmake the national Symphonia the Mystic letters Phi Mu Alpha are not being
Disgraced by individual indifference sloth or crime honor and more honor is attaching itself to the Sinfonia Here There and Everywhere today the name Symphonia is known from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico as it has never been known before it is good to be in the bonds of find
You Alpha travel over the Symphonia circuit once and you and I can talk in terms of a mutual and happy understanding I covet for symphonians the good things of living and of life and they will come to you and to me only by our leading a life that is good
The ethical and moral standard of your brother sinfonians is higher than ever men talk not in terms of character demolition but of character building I should like to see in the 1914 annual from Every Act of symphonian a one sentence expression as to how Sinfonia has most helped him during the year
In his own way he will tell unconsciously how he is helping Sinfonia and the grand total result will be the taking account of our fraternally moral stock Let each brother remember this suggestion it may be that the historian will think at a worthy one and act upon it
To each brother in our fraternity I wish such a success that in its winning he will set an example for others to follow him I want Sinfonia to lead forward fraternally yours and find you Alpha perceive you at Burrell from the finu alpha annual volume 12 1913. Frederick f snow
I look back with pleasure and sometimes longing at the few years of my life as an active symphonian that now seem as a few days shall I ever forget those few hours when 18 friends of mine were suddenly made 18 brothers and how as time went on we
Added to this large Family Circle ever happy ever interested in each other I know now that every brother symphonian and every part of the world is thrilled with unselfish happy pride and any honor gained any good deed done by a brother young or old this Spirit quietly creeps into the
Active’s mind and grows stronger year by year in the hearts of the alumni what would I voice then it is this to weave a closer Fellowship between the actives and the alumni the time will come when the active of today will be looking back as I am now
To the happy years of college life then we may feel that we are living in closer Harmony but is there not something we may do or something we may create that will make warm the interest between the active and the alumni members alike I believe it will be the getting
Together the returning of the alumni to the old home yes all that yet more it will be the actives coming into the alumni clubs that are now being started and finding a home there here is the secret I believe which will cement and keep forever fresh the spirit of Sinfonia among us all
It is the getting together and singing the songs some of the happiest moments of all my life have been those spent with the boys grouped around a fireplace on a cold Winter’s Night each one singing as though for years the songs had been in his makeup and now we’re issuing forth
Silver in their quality golden in their warmth and now an alumnus I am riding ah we can’t forget those songs of ours no we never could do that for some times when life seems most sad those melodies come floating back and we hear the boys are singing and we
See them everyone while our hands give mental handshakes to Every Mother’s Son and we forget our little troubles as the pictures of those days pass before our mental Vision in a soft ethereal Haze ah to gather all our brothers round the table seated there give a toast to Dear
Sinfonia while in every face so fair we read Fraternal Order born of years that winged their flight drawing hearts and closer Union vows whose strength we feel tonight Frederick f snow from Sinfonia yearbook volume 12 March 1913. Percy Jewett Burrell the president’s message Portsmouth New Hampshire august 19 1914.
Dear brothers sinfonians it is the summer tide that finds me at the task of writing the annual message my happy Fortune it has been during the past month to motor throughout peaceful New England and to see and hear and feel and breathe in all that nature bestows
Upon man and this her teeming season it is in truth his own creative works that in this year of Our Lord 1914 speak forth a message to Symphonia this is so impressed upon me at this time that I can write no more no less than what comes into my mind and goes
Out of my heart while I seek in a weak human way to interpret the infinite idea as one sees it written as by great crayon on mountain river valley and sea and the messages that are for you and for me are for and their tones are
Clarion and sound forth to every spot on earth whether at war or in peace where dwells a brother in fine you Alpha the mountains they rise the highest and Pierce the clouds and kiss the skies man must look up to see them from their Crest he can see all but he
Must look up before he can get up would he survey the great stretches into the distance he must move in the Majesty of optimism so shall the sinfonian who would seek the summit of success for Sinfonia and self have faith in himself and in his Brotherhood for without faith there can
Be no Radiance from the sunshine of optimism to light the path of progress indeed there come no Works after his strife works it suggests the rivers in the upper Androscoggin I saw a log Jam 11 miles long and a quarter of a mile wide there were millions of logs tied in
Their own embrace down the stream were dams and Sawmills with many wheels and great Machinery driven by the power of the androscogen What a Mighty work that River does it acts the Giant’s part towards Sheltering Humanity in homes of wood this river is ever in motion it moves as
A constructive force it works Brothers do you catch the message of the rivers if you do and if you heat it in the Majesty of work you will build a bigger and better Symphonia and the rivers flow into the sea as they wind on they grind deeper and
Deeper into Mother Earth they push back the shores the sea receives and welcomes her own where is the power like that of the ocean who is he who can leash her Fury or arouse her calm who can measure her fathomless depth depth is this not what determines her
Power and her glory is not the mighty Mountain Wave indeed the visible depths what is then this message of the ocean if it be not one that spells our character deep strong abiding picture before yourselves the 1000 sinfonians the world over sitting on the shores of the Atlantic for a nature
Lesson watching and listening to the Great and Mighty ocean Breakers then rising to their feet with a new Strength a wonderful invigoration and a clear consciousness of the profundity of human character before unknown to them they rise and move in the Majesty of manhood now from the Roaring surging
Ocean let the sinfonian turn his steps Inland and gaze down upon the valleys nature leaves nothing undone Recaps a mountain peak with glistening snow and carpets a valley in lovely green she Delights in delighting man did you ever ride along the upper Connecticut River Valley close to the Canadian line
How Serene and peaceful it is Hill and slope pool and stream forest and plain are jewels of nature studying the valley all his peace there is sweet Concord fragrance ladens the air every visible thing is attuned the message to ear and eye to the breathing nostrils of mankind
I to his very soul is harmony verily the mighty fabric of nature is so gloriously interwoven that man kneels in awe and it seems to me that God attunes nature not for her sake but for us that we may key our own human Natures to the Majesty of Harmony
May our Sinfonia Brotherhood on each day of the year to come draw close to the mountain river valley and sea and hear their vibrant message of optimism work character and harmony if each brother will do this ours will be a fraternity whose optimism will have no Cloud whose work will know no drone
Whose character will show no stain and from whose Harmony will sound and truest ring wants a sinfonian always a symphonian fraternally yours in fine you Alpha Percy duet Burrell from the final Alpha annual volume 13 1914. Edward J Stringham Ten Commandments for a frat man one remember that the pin you so proudly
Wear over your heart is not nearly to show the world that you are a frat man but to remind you that you are one two your fraternity is no more or less than you make it three honesty Integrity courtesy and fraternity should be synonymous terms four
It is but an honor and a privilege to be a frat man be appreciative by acting the man at all times five love your frat brother more than yourself and the man who wears no pin no less 6. don’t be a snob because you wear a pin
Just as good hearts beat beneath a vest which Bears no pin seven a frat can either make or break a man’s character it is up to you which it is eight put forth your best efforts each day in the classroom and your friends and in the frat house and you will find
That you will reap a goodly harvest nine don’t join a frat with the idea how much can I get out of it rather how much can I put into it 10. always remember that you are only one of many yet a thousand eyes are upon you and will judge the whole fraternity by
Your Deeds words and character Edward J Stringham iota from Sinfonia yearbook volume 13 March 1914. Gilbert Reynolds Combs the president’s message dear brother sinfonians when at dinner Wednesday evening December 2nd I was called to the phone by that live wire Knox of ADA and told that I was elected president of Symphonia
Words cannot express my feelings after so many years of inaction to suddenly be pushed into the office of president of the only National Music fraternity was an event which takes some time to realize to attempt to follow the pace set by my worthy predecessor in addition to carrying the responsibilities and labors
Of the position I hold as director of the conservatory is a work well nigh impossible but if my love for my brothers my interest in the welfare of the various chapters and the success of the national body is as deep as I feel it to be this year shall be one of
Internal growth a fuller realization and development of our three Cardinal principles expansion is a splendid thing but let us be cautious we have arrived at a stage where we can afford to weigh fully the merits of the applicants for new charters quality not quantity should be the watchword in chapter as well as
Fraternity expansion a few thoughts for the new year The Secret of chapter interest and activity is largely one of giving everyone something to do the retention of officers in their position longer than one year with the exception of the secretary and Treasurer has a dampening effect on the chapter members
The ritual should be memorized not only by the officers but by the members who should be rehearsed and allowed to officiate at rehearsals of the degree rehearsals of the degree should be held at least once a month as the lessons taught are beautiful and if heard frequently will have a lasting effect
Upon our whole lives by allowing members from the floor to participate in the ritualistic work their Fitness for elevation to offices in the chapter can be determined the frequency of rehearsals has much to do with the dignity and with the depth of the impression it makes on the candidate
In chapter life let us try to cultivate patience charity and brotherly love remember and bear with the impulsiveness of Youth an impatient word leaves a sting that takes long to heal we are apt to forget that our enemy is simply our friend who does not understand us
In our attitude toward each other and to the chapter keep in mind constantly that by a law of nature we receive just what we give if we give kind helpful thoughts to others they must entertain these thoughts about us give your best to the chapter and you
Will receive far more than you give finally if you would have a brother be a brother with this little message goes a Heart full of love and best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year sincerely and fraternally in fine you Alpha Gilbert Reynolds Combs Supreme president Sinfonia
From the Mystic cat volume 6 number one March 1915. Gilbert Reynolds Combs success depends on each doing his share says Supreme president Combs personal responsibility is something that youth is loathed to assume yet it cannot be shirked personal responsibility in our thoughts words and actions whether in relation to
Our country state city fraternity or domestic relations must be shouldered by each and every one of us and there can be no evasion and in just the proportion in which the load is assumed is character developed a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and as long as Government whether
Federal state Municipal fraternal or religious is composed of imperfect human beings just so long will the organizations of human society be imperfect what is everybody’s business is nobody’s business seems to be the rule everywhere we are all too short-sighted to realize that if each one would assume his personal responsibility we would
Eliminate crime poverty unhappiness and really all the ills of life do we realize our personal responsibility when we cast our Ballot or do we vote the way we are told to vote not one man and ten or a hundred would be nearer the truth does his own thinking
We accept our beliefs ready made from our parents or friends it is too much trouble to think them out for ourselves a man deserves no credit for his political or religious beliefs if he simply follows in his Father’s Footsteps without arriving at his own conclusions after mature deliberation
We are given individual minds and will be held to a strict accountability for the way we use our minds and talents as well for our conduct toward our fellow men personal responsibility we find it on every hand do we realize our personal responsibility when we assume the vowels and initiation
Each Clause of the ritual should sink deep into our minds and make a lasting impression on our whole lives do we realize that it is honest loyal enthusiasm of each individual member that makes the honest loyal chapter of an honest loyal fraternity our personal responsibilities extend from the largest to the smallest Affairs
In life to all mankind but especially to our brothers in fine you Alpha what are you doing for your brother what are you doing for your chapter are you giving the best it is more blessed to give than to receive was told us nearly two thousand
Years ago but we are just beginning to realize its truth let us Rouse ourselves from lethargy let us be prompt in the Fulfillment of our obligations and Vie with each other in good works for our beloved fraternity from the Mystic cat volume 6 number 2 June 1915. OE Mills greetings from father Mills
Dear brothers I am glad of the opportunity to say a word to you through the columns of the first issue of the cat Under New Management we have passed far enough beyond the convention of 1914 to be able to have somewhat recovered from any shock we may have received from the disarrangement of
Some of our pet schemes or plans no doubt it is a mistake for us to feel that just because we have brothers filling the highest offices of the fraternity who are in every way Superior and imminently fitted to fill the positions that there are no other brothers who with experience may become
Quite as efficient some of us were disappointed with the unexpected changes that were made in the Personnel of the Supreme Council but we have ceased to look back with regret and are looking forward with firm determination that so far as in US lies the banner of Sinfonia shall be held
Aloft and our watchword will be upward and ever onward individually my message to you my brother is be sincere be genuine in all of your life without the fraternity as well as Within let the principles of Sinfonia as emphasized by our ritual be inculcated into all your life and work and your
Membership in the Brotherhood shall not be in vain this leads me to say a word to the chapter officials urging that they give careful attention to the ritual and to its use as well as all the program connected with the second degree initiations I would suggest that brothers who are
The very best readers and of the highest character be selected to officiate at the service regardless of whether they are officers or not that they be expected to prepare themselves carefully even to committing as much of the ritual as possible and that a sufficient number of copies of the ritual be prepared so
That they can be used with as little noise and confusion as possible and the greatest care be taken by all including those who furnish the Musical part of the program to the end that the service be dignified and impressive and of that character that would make a deep and
Lasting Impression on the hearts of all present we are taking steps looking to this end in Alpha chapter and I will be pleased to answer any inquiries regarding our methods wishing you all a happy and prosperous year and hoping to meet as many as possible at Cincinnati next Christmas I
Am most sincerely and fraternally yours in fine you Alpha Austin E Mills from the Mystic cat March 1915 volume 6 number one page five OE Mills a message from father Mills dear brothers our historian has informed me that the next Mystic cat will be as near as
Possible an alumni member and has given me the opportunity to say a word through its columns to my brother symphonians which I am very glad to do in a comparatively short time delegates from the various chapters with the Supreme officers will meet in convention with Ada chapter at Cincinnati at which
Time many important matters will be discussed and acted upon it is desirable that we have a full representation from all chapters and personally I hope to see every chapter represented it goes without saying that alumni members whether delegates or not be cordially welcomed and I can assure them
That if past experience counts for anything they will feel amply repaid for any sacrifice made to be present naturally the Personnel of the alumni body is a very high standard embracing as it does The Pick of the young men of the various institutions where chapters are located
As years go by this body is ever increasing in strength and deficiency providing all ways that it is well organized and that each alumni retains an individual and personal interest to this end alumni chapters are being organized in various large centers and we hope to receive reports of great
Progress along this line at the next convention I sincerely hope that steps will be taken to publish a vest pocket directory of the alumni and feel confident that this would be assured if some alumni member would volunteer to defray the expenses of printing and distribution there are many things that alumni
Members can do for their home chapters if they are interested enough to keep in touch 14 years have passed since our fraternity was founded and there is no estimating the value of the bonds of fraternal friendship that have been cemented during the past with sincerest and fraternal wishes for
The future I am yours and FAMU Alpha Austin E Mills from the Mystic cat December 1915 volume 6 number 3 page 10. how it feels to miss a convention by paraced you at Burrell Alpha The Keeper of the Mystic cat wishes me to write about how it feels to miss a convention
I can answer his question by asking him one how would it feel brother Quinn to go without anything to eat on Thanksgiving day after you had got used to a turkey dinner ever since you could remember your first Thanksgiving what more need be said really very little
From the first convention back in 1901 in the birthplace of Symphonia in this city it has been my privilege and inspiration to be present in both body and spirit at each one of the annual Gatherings sometimes as delegate More Often by virtue of an office
There are a few things in my life which I cherish more than the memory of these Brotherhood meetings they have meant much to me it goes without saying that I would have liked to have been present in Cincinnati in December it was hard to breathe naturally in Boston during the closing
Days of 1915. as my fraternity lungs craved to fill up for another year on Sinfonia oxygen frankly I missed the annual physical exercise with the gavel and fear my right arm will become flabby I missed the self-satisfaction one finds in the exercise of a willpower that for three successive mornings gets the tired
Aching body out of a cold bed one hour and 35 minutes after it is or has been placed therein I missed everything that you fellows who were in since he got and a lot more that cannot very well be told in mere words it is that Indescribable something which
Keeps any fraternity alive and which I did not feel by personal contact that was my loss and as any man’s loss who does not know what it is to meet and mingle and measure up side by side with brothers from everywhere Bound by a common bond which no geographical line can sever
And I think this losses more keenly felt by one who has attended conventions than by him who has not for it is difficult to call anything a loss that has never been possessed during the past 15 years I had learned to look upon Sinfonia convention time as
Something of quite as much importance in the natural order of things as Fourth of July and Christmas and that the three days would find me right on Deck with my voice and my vote as the fourth does or rather did when I was young with my tin horn and firecracker and Christmas with
My hole of stocking but as years Roll by one must inject into his system more and more philosophy in order to be happy and hopeful it is all right to be sad for a reason it is all wrong to brood for there is no reason for that
This is just where the philosophy of life and the joy of living comes in so I am sorry to have missed greeting the old boys and meeting the new boys but after saying this I want you to know brothers that I Rejoice there were many
And since he who did meet and sing and shout for the red black and gold that able conscientious workers reconstructed the Symphonia Temple and will go on doing so under the guidance of master builder Drayton that misunderstanding and misgivings vanished like Mist before the morning sun that every man who is there believes
More than ever before that Phi new Alpha is the best thing that has come into his life that once again was reiterated in no mistaken tone the Article of Faith once a symphonian always a symphonium from the Mystic cat Volume 7 number 1 March 1916. F Otis Drayton
Excerpt from service is the watchword of the new supreme president the main thing after all is to be able to meet our fellows in the proper way Dr Holmes said once that in two parties to a conversation there were at least six persons speaking the first was the man
Who spoke as he seemed to himself the second was the man as he appeared to others and the third was the real man as he was known to his maker better known than he was willing to acknowledge for himself and as you multiply these three
By two you get the six parties to that conversation now it seems to me that what we want for ourselves is in the first place to find out what the real man is as he would wish to be known by his maker and second
To try to be as near to that as we can and third to be known to our brothers as trying to do that so doing we can make our fraternity a great success and then the true Symphonia will be the attitudes that a man occupies towards his brother man
Excerpt from the Mystic cat Volume 7 number one March 1916. almost a man author unknown every day looking on crowds of better men than ourselves we are tempted to put the blame on nature on luck on the fact that our ancestors were imperfect eugenists on any and every cause except
Our loitering and indifferent selves it is provoking to be nearly and not quite an adequate specimen of the race we do not ask to be as gods or as understudies at least of Apollo and Adonis but in the presence of all these better men we are conscious of our shabby incompetency
What is the matter there is a screw loose somewhere in the personal social machinery what is it where is it of course if we had known the advantages these other fellows enjoyed we should have made good they were left money the rolling Wheel of Fortune stopped at their door opportunity knocked and they
Accepted the invitation to step aboard the triumphal waiting chariot we were born luckless except for the hard luck whose story we have been retailing all our days it has often been suggested indeed that we should hire a hall or put our Lamentations in book form that must mean we assure by Supreme
Infatuation missing the sarcasm that everybody likes to hear them is it any wonder that busy people who got there by the sweat of the brow and the callousness of the palm and the foot are made a little bit tired and a little bit cross sometimes by the caterwalling
Of the misfit who puts in his time morning spilled milk and now spends the rushing hours envying those who passed him and got there why does a man fail one Smash Up or a dozen cannot put out of the running the undefeatable soul the world applauds the up boys and Adam
Spirit that is flattened out and then Puffs itself but not without conceit for a fresh start temporary failure is often the stepping stone the starting point for victory but there are men who when knocked down stay down what is the matter with them the solicitude for a fizzler is not one
That concerns busy people as a rule but in these days when we are conserving every kind of waste material and coining draws into gold it is time to take account of the wastage in brains and souls and moral stamina issued or but half utilized most men are using but a part of
Themselves like a motor car running on one or two of its six cylinders as Williams James pointed out they could do a great deal more than ever they attempt but they are content with a latent capacity rather than a patent achievement they describe to themselves sometimes to
Us what they could do if they would potentially they are in the superlative degree we would have to admire with our whole box of adjectives the fine fellow whose portrait they limb with the lavish brush of the imagination they talk till there is a risk of
Parching the tongue but when we ask for the net proceeds the brutal plain result we are put aside with more linguistics the plain man doing the work wants no more of the fancy faniant gentleman than that they shall get out of his beset track and not bother him
He has his own straight Furrow and he cannot turn the clean Billows of Earth away from the plow’s Keen cleaving Edge without striking many of flinty rock and stubborn root these elegant folk Too Proud to soil their hands are a detriment to him he heartily desires to see the last of them
Let the youth right in his bright lexicon at the top of the first page the prime reason why men stay put somewhere around the latter’s lower rung is that at one time or another in their lives they supposed that some particular species of work was beneath their precious dignity
Here is something you ought to know if already you don’t know it the first requirement for accomplishment is belief in yourself and your power to achieve if you do not believe yourself capable of doing a certain thing you cannot do that thing however much skill or knowledge you may
Possess lack of self-confidence will rob you of the advantage conferred by these if you believe you can accomplish the task even though you will be less skilled and more ignorant than some competitor who excels in mental and physical equipment but lacks the spirit the will you are apt to win over him
So great is the power of faith and self now this Priceless attribute is not solely a matter of self-production if you have not the proper amount of belief in yourself and your ability to do things it may not be all your fault some of it is your fault for each normal
Individual has within him the possibility of building a reasonably strong belief in his power to overcome you have but to make a brief study of your own body to be sure of this look at the delicate structure intricate beyond words and dependent for its existence on such a number of Parts
Which must work together to maintain the proper degree of heat and provide the right amount of energy yet nature so orders this body that it does all this and more it defends itself against a hundred enemies a day it goes even farther it makes friends and helpers of many of these enemies
The cold air which might chill it is made an invigorator the heat which might Scorch it is transformed into a free Turkish bath this body is governed by a mind if the subconscious routine of that mind can as it does overcome so many obstacles in keeping this part of the
Business going cannot the conscious mind which is your master whip be trusted to take care of the rest it can but you may seek to make the most of this possibility and still fail to achieve self-confidence here comes the part of the matter which is not wholly within your control
For if those around you those with whom you work and live chill you with disapproval and mistrust even your faith and self may be frozen says a recent writer in the Irish World quote for most persons an atmosphere of disapproval of criticism of discouragement to incentive and to self-respect is hard to bear
It is also the cause of many a disaster to character through leading to the self-depreciation and to the indifference that makes effort seem useless those who take us at a generous valuation Inspire us to our best even if what we regard as our best may not be much more than seeming it
Nevertheless draws from us a recognition of true worth furthermore it plants in the mind an ideal that May Flower into a reality unquote it is just as easy to say a word that will encourage as to say one that will discourage it is just as easy to look with a smile
Of favor on the effort of the person next to you as to cast there on the cold critical frown just as easy and in many an instance far more profitable for the one who encourages as well as the one encouraged there’s a man in this country who 40
Years ago was working beside another man that other man used his spare hours to perfect an invention everybody but this particular co-worker tried to discourage him finally he completed his invention he tried to put it on the market but again he faced the doubts and discouragements of the crowd
But before he did this he handed to the one man who had not discouraged a certificate for 100 shares of stock in his company you’ve earned that by encouraging me he said today that block of stock is worth five hundred thousand dollars better than this sum is the satisfaction
Of knowing you’ve helped rather than hindered another in the struggle to make good you know how it helps you to be encouraged praised commended what about the other fellow from Sinfonia yearbook Volume 7 number 3 December 1916. fraternities and Brotherhood there is a reason for everything under the sun
Back of every bad thing is a bad reason and back of every good thing is a good reason the failure of most good undertakings is simply the failure to grasp and fully realize the ideas which are their reasons for being nothing in this world goes forward without this vital something within
Which gives it motive and Power one reason why so many evil things succeed while good things languish is because evil things so often depend upon an aggressive selfishness which is strong enough to organize their root ideas and keep them in a high state of efficiency while the good things are so
Timidly held that their root ideas suffer for want of nourishment take for example two societies one is an improvement Society for young men and the other is a gang of young Pirates organized to loaf around by day and practice vandalism upon the community by night
It is a fact that the pirate gang holds together with a quiet remarkable tenacity and the members do and Dare for each other and divide The Spoils of their thieveries with a genuine gang fealty on the other hand it is a work almost of divine grace to keep the Improvement Society going
Now in point of fact the idea back of the Improvement Society is a very Noble idea and ordinarily makes a strong appeal to the best that is in the young men on the other hand the idea back of the pirate gang is one of the meanest and
Weakest of ideas and makes no very powerful appeal even to its voteries and besides puts every one of them in constant danger and calls for sacrifices which are painful and wearying the strength of the pirate gang is forced to cling to its idea and to organize and develop it the young
Pirates find it hard to return to honest ways they are all committed and are in danger of exposure each one has something on all the rest and none dares to fall out each one soon wears an indelible cane Mark and is afraid of the honest people around him and ceases to have remunerative
Employment and so by degrees becomes dependent upon his villainous trade for a living the weakness of the Improvement Society is in the fact that no necessity drives its members to be loyal to it the idea is not vigorously and aggressively realized and thus the society becomes a mere rope of sand
All strong social or fraternal organizations grow out of the fact of Brotherhood and the usefulness and strength of such depends on this idea of Brotherhood first of all and then on the special objects the fraternity sets before itself these are the very strongest ideas known among men and they are always at work
Bringing people together but it requires a special idea of service or use or enjoyment something reasonable and desirable in itself to keep them in a state of efficient appeal to the interest of their members it is a Pity that there is so much failure to grasp the meaning of
Brotherhood by the members of organizations which have good and useful aims something that makes their existence worthwhile for everything in our civilization that is worthwhile is the fruit of this Brotherhood and the common Endeavors that grow out of it men never accomplish anything alone there are three words which ought to be
Pasted up as a warning wherever men come together and the three words ought to wear a look of awful finality and everlasting seriousness they are never nothing nowhere never has a man been known to do anything worthwhile alone nothing was ever accomplished by a man alone nowhere has a man alone ever come
To anything that was worth coming to in loneliness men work up the raw material as it were they can do some thinking make some preparation get some ideas into shape they can wash and dress and make ready to go out and mingle with their fellows but all this is merely preparation
What they will do and say and be all depends upon their behavior and conduct among their fellows in the midst of the Brotherhood of which they are apart here is their true life we are all members one of another we are branches of the same tree a
Family of one blood and no man liveth to himself alone nor even dieth to himself alone now the lesson of all this is that men ought to propose to themselves real things worthwhile things in their fraternities and brotherhoods ought to understand that what they do
Together is all that they can or will do then having set before themselves real objects whether of work or Recreation they ought to enter into the spirit of the Brotherhood organize the idea and cling to it as a serious work and fully worth all the time and means they feel
Warranted and allotting to it it is not too much to say that the hope of the future rests on the degree in which all forms of right Brotherhood now existing Among Us are faithfully and energetically developed and applied to the work they have in hand from the Mystic cat Volume 7 number 2
June 1916. F Otis straighten the spirit of fraternity you will sometimes hear it alleged by those who are ignorant of the spirit which pervades real fraternal organizations that such societies are undemocratic and that they do not readily welcome all to their membership and that the special bonds which unite
Members render them narrow in their sympathies this is a superficial View there are of course many different sorts of organizations calling themselves fraternal some of these are societies whose principal aim is social relaxation and good Fellowship some are for the specific purpose of mutual financial help and insurance with
The fraternalism more or less a side issue some it is true have become little more than exclusive clubs formed apparently as was actually alleged at a meeting of a small club in a Suburban town for the purpose of keeping certain people out these last however have departed very
Far from the spirit of the others which have in greater or less degree inculcated the spirit of fraternity as one of their reasons for existence and it is the bodies which insist most strongly on this spirit and come the nearest to actually realizing it which are most typical and are most properly
Referred to as fraternal organizations it is true that these organizations are to a certain extent exclusive but the exclusiveness is not one founded on birth on wealth or on social position it is the exclusiveness which demands that the candidates for admission should possess those qualities which will
Render them worthy of being taken into the intimate social life of the body which will cause them to dwell harmoniously with their fellow members and which will make possible the highest development of the spirit of real fraternity and what is that spirit it is the spirit of the Brotherhood of
Man of which we hear so much which is essentially the spirit of love it is the spirit of fraternalism as opposed on the one hand to paternalism and on the other to the unrestricted competition which is the doctrine of the survival of the fittest Modern Life is the battleground of these contending principles
A certain writer not long ago referred to the life of the present day as the fiercest that was ever lived in the history of the world it has been veneered with the surface polish of civilization and it is restrained by law so that men no longer
Tear and Rend each other’s bodies in the struggle of individuals for existence and Supremacy though in that of governments they may but underneath there is a Keener fiercer Spirit of contention a strenuousness a lack of rest and let up that did not exist in the more Savage but less intense days of
The past as in the days of feudalism the principles of chivalry were developed to soften and restrain the savagery of the time so in this period of commercial rivalry carried to a point the world has never known before when success is worshiped as a God and human welfare is
Made secondary to the highest development of industrial efficiency that which insists on the great truth of the Brotherhood of Man is of inestimable value to the world it isn’t this that the greatest value of the Fraternal organization lies the men who are taught this ideal of Brotherly Love and the fraternities cannot but
Carry some of it with them into their dealings with those of the outside world so far from narrowing their sympathies it broadens them the man who is a good husband and father is usually a better citizen than the one who is not and in the same way the
Member of a fraternal organization who lives up to the ideals of his order and his dealings with his Brethren is the one who will be likely to be influenced by fraternal principles in his relations with his fellow men the spirit of the Brotherhood of man is being recognized as the ideal of the
Modern world as it has never been before we cannot live as individuals alone in our daily life we are brought into contact with our fellow men constantly and there arises in connection with these contracts conflicts of Rights and interests which cannot always be settled by law
It is being recognized that it is a duty not merely a charity to give some part of our efforts and our lives to the service of our fellow men this principle has already modified to some extent the fierce business competition of the present day which while Keener is less narrow in its
Methods than it was 20 years ago The Same Spirit is beginning to be manifested in the reform of our prisons it is recognized that our urine Brethren are our Brethren still and it is influencing the life of thought and feeling of the day in other ways
There is a danger of its developing into paternalism that instead of helping our fellow man to best develop his own life we try to regulate it for him but the true Spirit of fraternity does not do this opposing this attitude on the one hand and a selfish disregard of
His interests on the other it demands that he be treated as a brother the lessons inculcated in us and the fraternity room go with us into the world and we go forth determined to care for the welfare of our fellow man to help him when he is in need to support
Him when he stumbles and to raise him when he falls in short to exemplify in our dealings with him the true Spirit of fraternity which is the spirit of the golden rule do unto others as you would that they would do unto you excerpt from the sinfonian Volume 1 Number 1 July 1917.
Orpheus by George E Layton in looking over some old files I came across a lot of notes and data collected during last season and a bit of research work made necessary by committee duties many of us in our school days lightened and brightened our labors by electing mythology instead of a more
Brainwracking study which might later in life prove a practical asset so it was with me and when the above mentioned duties compelled me to unearth a musical hero and the known facts in connection with most of our well-known and therefore deceased Brethren of the profession accepting them for many such
Designation I was constrained to delve into the dust of tradition than it was that I remembered my mythology rather remember that there was such a subject and the research work was commenced the Norse Legends and old German myths lacked warmth and color all therein is blood and fighting
Hammers and rings and fire and water and a dark and terrible destruction to end it all the only hero worthwhile is in no way connected with music what I was looking for was a traditional character whose life was associated with music and who lived a life that was worthy in most respects of
Exemplification the mythology of ancient Greece offered for Choice Orpheus his son museus the thracian barred thaniris Linus marcius and amphian the Traditions concerning Orpheus appeal to all of us of the committee as having the necessary qualities and he became our chosen hero in writing this article I am transcribing from the notes already
Referred to and I have forgotten the source of my information I can’t say now whether I am using my own words or those of more worthy scribes the worst may be his but the best he has fleeced from dinky Old Masters not only deceased but damned air there dying
Orpheus seems to have had his traditional origin in Thrace it is entirely possible that such a character really sojourned here below but even the Ancients denied his corporeal existence no mention is made of him in Homer and hesid although he was known in the time of ibicus and Pinder about 500 BC speaks
Of him as the father of song The Greek letters Omicron rho Phi dark orphanayos orphne suggests to derivation of his name and an explanation of the original conception of him as a god of the darkness having the power through song over the forces of Darkness from the 6th Century on he has been
Looked upon as one of the chief poets and musicians of antiquity the Perfection of the liar is credited to him and he is supposed to have taught mankind the Arts of medicine writing and agriculture in the religious history of Greece he is the traditional founder of a cult that
Modern writers recognize as having a close resemblance to pythagoreanism in many particulars orphism as the cult was called endeavored to inculcate aestheticism in its devotees it preached the doctrine of original sin and believed in a soul at first perfect degraded in its first entombment and corporeal frame passing later to other
Bodies and through gradual Evolution at last reaching its original state of divine perfection ritualistic ceremonies were performed nightly by the orphics and called for sacrifice prayer and purification mythical Legends were enacted an explanation of the rules and teachings of the cult and audible assistance rendered to souls on their Journey to the underworld
Some evidence bearing upon the actual existence of Orpheus might be deduced from the act of opposition offered by orphism to the drunken rights of the Thracians it is suggested by J.E Harrison that he was a reformer from Crete who preached against the bacchanalian rituals of the Thracians and was slain by them
Orphism never was popular but it provided many imitators imposters and Loathing priests with lucrative employment these latter orfio telesti traveled about the country selling expiation for sins and crimes committed and to be committed to the dead and not yet dead and even undertook for a price the punishment of their clients enemies
This as I recollect has been done since and in the name of a greater one proving of course that there is nothing new Under the Sun and that the man with an idea furnishes someone else with an easy job while he starves to death Orpheus is supposed to have visited
Egypt and there become acquainted with the writings of Moses and the doctrine of a future life a great deal of fine literature is ascribed to him but is probably the work of philosophers of a much later period a well-known Orchestra conductor was reproached by a Critic for his intention
Of performing a certain composition of the classic school which has not stood the test of time but we’ve heard it at least 10 times in the last five years said the critic ah but you haven’t heard me conduct it said the conductor the story of Orpheus and eurydice is
Known to you all ah but you haven’t heard me tell it Orpheus was the son of either Apollo and Calliope or ohigris king of Thrace and calliope the latter was amused unfortunately the relationship of his parents would not in this day and age entitle them to recognition in our best families
In the old days a man’s pedigree was forgotten as soon as he made good so the detail of his birth is unessential no record of his youth is of importance except that his playing of the liar then as later Charmed all things to echoing Harmony the wild beasts the trees the Rocks were
Sensible to his charm and in like manner was eurydice and they were married unfortunately Hyman being called in to bless the union allowed his torch to smoke and this as a prognostication soon materialized in the aristias episode the latter a Shepherd saw eurydice and imbued with the spirit of the times alarmed her
She fled and in her flight was bitten by a serpent and died grief stricken Orpheus sang his plaint to all the world but finding it of no avail sought his beloved in the Underworld he sang his way through the shades pleading for his wife and the song that
Made the furies weep and the vulture to forget its prey found a sympathetic listener in Pluto who gave him back his eurydice leaving the underworld a momentary weakness caused him to look back thus violating the condition of eurydice’s release for the second and last time she was
Lost to him and quote Beneath The Rock Air stryman’s flood on high seven months seven long continued months tis said he breathed his sorrows in a desert cave and soothed the tiger moved the oak with song unquote the thracian women practicing the bacchanalian rites attempted to lure him to their orgies
And growing angry at his scorn drowned the sound of his liar with their screams and murdered him his body and liar thrown in the Hebrews were found by the muses and the body buried at La birthra over the grave quote the single Nightingale perched in the Rosier by so
Richly toned that never from that most melodious bird singing a love song to his brooding mate did thracian Shepherd by the grave of Orpheus here a sweeter Melody though they are the spirit of the Sepulcher all his own power Infuse to swell the incense that he loves unquote
The fact that Orpheus mythical or real has played an important role in the development of speculative philosophy places him from the committee’s Viewpoint very much above his vapid and somewhat lewd colleagues the historical data that can and should be collected by some of us gives us a
Groundwork for a train of thought that should result in time in a Creed of ethics and aestheticism which because of a feeling of proprietorship and sympathy will individualize us and influence us to a higher plane Orpheus was a man and a musician we are trying to be musicians our success
Depends upon our talents and hard work but how hard are we trying to be men Orpheus was a man who in mythology remained true and lost his life rather than lose his integrity in all writings that Grant him historical existence he was slain for opposing and trying to stop the drunken
And obscene Rites of the Thracians not one tradition or accusation is there to reproach his memory except the momentary lack of faith that lost him his eurydice we have sought for a man and a musician we have found the two in one he is worthy of exemplification
From the sinfonian Volume 1 Number 1 July 197th a slacker’s prayer author unknown ye gods here I am a poor boob confronted with a small task and with neither the strength ambition or will to perform it a chapter honor was thrust on me and not said at the time concerning the duties
Attached thereto but now even now have I received from a national officer a letter which requireth an immediate answer and in deep anguish remembering my gift of voice and words I raised the one and send forth the other in fervent prayer forsake me not in this my hour of need
Send me one with all that I have not to assume my burden if such and one cometh not forward or my task be not otherwise done then must I in the 11th Hour do it myself and ye know then how it will be done I weep I wail and wait
Come to me while I sleep and awaken me not perform for me my duties in silence for with manifold worries am I fatigued and rest do I crave Fail Me Not from the symphonian volume one number one July 1917. Everett B Carter to Symphonia way back in Old New England it was in
The 90s late a little band of Kindred Souls began to congregate these Souls possessed by music they scarcely thought Beyond when they formed a little company seeking a closer Bond what should they name this company of whom none as yet had heard they looked about and lo Sinfonia was the word
But seed will not be thwarted when fertile soil is near and soon in another famous spot did a little shoot appear and though none knew just what it was it seems a species knew so it was given a special care and quickly grew and grew as other seeds were sprouting not seemed
To check its spread it must have name befitting of Latin or Greek they said so find you Alpha was chosen and so it is recognized the hopes of those early Pioneers far more than realized for kindly winds have blown the seed North and South and West the oceans only
Are its bounds but its soil must be the best from the symphonian December 1926. oratori in the public schools by procedure at viral 1. considered as the last finish of Education or of human culture worth and acquirement the art of speech is noble and even divine
It is like the kindling of a Heaven’s light to show us what a glorious World exists and has perfected itself in a man Carlisle under this General head I wish to treat an important subject in a practical way I desired a place before all readers of the quarterly the result of some
Personal observation gleaned from a 12 years course in the public schools of Boston statements of leading educationists the condition of this branch of study its prospects and the conclusions that present themselves after a careful consideration of the subject it is not my purpose to indulge in theory and merely speculative thought or
To ride an exhaustive Treatise on oratory I wish simply to make an effort to spread information on a subject on which there remains much to be learned by the General Public this is an opportune time to arouse general interest in the importance and value of oratory we’re demosthenes an American at the
Close of the 19th century he would say of his country as he once said of Greece we are those whose government is based on speaking but the difference between the grease of yesterday and the America of today is that the former educated her youth to realize the truth of these words while
The latter fails to do so but does not our country offer far more Privileges and advantages for public speaking than did the old kingdoms and republics of Greece and Rome are there not on every hand places in which to gather and to speak is not the air filled with free speech
Could the field for public speaking be larger or grander could the demand be greater could the supply be smaller but a more pertinent and practical question is how can the supply of good speakers in all branches of active life be increased if we would remedy an evil or correct a
Fault we are wise and probing to the bottom to see what is the trouble so in order to consider the last question we must look into the public schools the vestibule of Education where our molded the mind and the heart that must in some future day influence public
Opinion and change or create conditions let us see then what is being done in pursuit of this study in our schools let me speak first of Boston of her schools I am prepared to speak from a personal knowledge what may be said of Boston it is safe to
Presume may be said with the considerable degree of Truth in other cities for many years rhetoric rhetoric rhetoric has been drilled into the heads of pupils while speech and action the body and the life of oratory have been lost sight of in a maze of figurative expressions and the labyrinths of ornate display
The result of this is that large numbers of young men and women are pushed out upon the country year after year to get their living by public speech who cannot even read well if you would verify my statement go into the courtroom the legislative chamber or almost any of our churches
If you care to ask those who are our foremost orators today to what they ascribe their success as public speakers they will tell you that it was not to the drill in the public schools but to study practice and drudgery in the art on entering into public life
How is oratory commonly known as declamation in boys schools and as recitation in girl schools regarded by nearly all of the pupils simply as a matter of memory and even at that attacks on memory the only incentive to do well is to obtain a passable mark this does not seem to offer much
Inducement except to the few who would rival a bottom the hour of class declamation is looked forward to as one of amusement little or no criticism of the pupils effort is made and quite too often does cynicism take the place of criticism I do not attack the teacher he is not to
Be blamed when he has nothing better to offer as a substitute for faulty recitation he well knows that he can only hide his ignorance by resorting to sarcastic remarks that are relished by all except the pupil who is being criticized it is rather The Misfortune than the
Fault of the teacher that he knows nothing of this branch of instruction at time the disclaimer is sincere in his effort but his careful work often brings down upon him not only ridicule and mockery but derision and taunting it has come to my notice that poetry is most frequently chosen for purposes of
Recitation while it might not be expedient to dispense with the recitation of all poetry in the higher grades of the grammar school and in the high school yet there can be no question that only the Poetry of the best standard authors should be allowed the reason why most pupils prefer to
Recite poetry is evident it is easier to learn poetry than prose and as memory seems to be the chief thing taken into account it is quite natural that the best prose is seldom heard on public declamation day there may be an exception to this rule for
Then both teacher and pupil aim to put on the platform the best that lies within their combined efforts it would be no fairer to blame the scholar for his choice of reading than it is to blame the teacher for not teaching what he himself is ignorant of
Declamation is nothing more to the pupil than something that is required of him at stated times something that must be done or the rules of the school will be broken and he will be disciplined other studies are regarded by the scholars in a different manner for they know that their teachers are specialists
In them possess confidence in themselves and their work and teach with good authority teachers engaged to instruct in English literature are expected to give some attention and time to declamation which is looked upon as a kind of appendage to this General subject it would be just as sensible to engage
An instructor in arithmetic for primary schools and expect him to demonstrate examples in trigonometry and calculus the ability of the literature teacher to teach oratory depends solely upon his own study of the subject in his early School career or his personal attention to it and after time
In short it is for the most part a matter of mere chance that a teacher happens to be equipped with the desired knowledge of oratory what then is at fault it can be nothing but the system it fails to set an oratorical standard before the pupil his ideal is low
It has been said that oratory has moved the world along and that music has played its martial accompaniment certain it is that we know of the power that both oratory and music have exerted over the world’s history is it not natural then to look in the public schools for instructors in
Oratory as well as in music in all the great cities of our country at least one special teacher of music is engaged for public school work this is well and good and the results are most satisfactory in Boston there are eight special instructors in music and it is their
Duty to visit the schools teach the pupils how to sing give lectures on music and point out the primary and fundamental principles of the subject now let us see what attention is given to oratory in our schools in order that I might speak not from Mere hearsay but with the best of
Authority I have communicated with the superintendents of public schools and some of the largest cities in America the first question that I asked was this how often is declamation required of the pupils in your schools from Philadelphia came the answer there is no rule in respect to the matter
From Chicago at irregular intervals from St Louis no special set time is given to it from New Orleans twice a month for Montreal the delivery of the speeches of others has no place in the curriculum of our schools in Brooklyn and in Baltimore declamation is required frequently and in Boston the
Time for this work is left to the option of the teacher such answers as these from the leading cities of the country must be a fairly good Criterion of the work being done in other cities and towns it is evident then that oratory has the most subordinate plays and that it is taught
And practiced less than any other study only in the cities of Brooklyn and Baltimore is it a regular study but even in Brooklyn it does not count towards securing a diploma I find to my surprise that in half of these cities the schools have no public declamation day
In one of the reply sent I read the following quote I regret to have to say that we do not have public declamation days as I think they would help to train pupils in all that pertains to speaking and cultivate also in a marked degree a taste for good
Literature if the selections were judiciously made the value of such exercises must be considered also especially in teaching which is so important both to the individual and the country’s patriotism unquote in a reply from Montreal I am told that reading and paraphrasing take the place of declamation
A similar course may exist in other cities while the first two are important yet they can never take the place of declamation pupils are taught to read in order to get the thought and that they may Express that thought they must be taught how to speak and only two cities Boston and Brooklyn
Are textbooks on oratory used in any other study it would be an astonishing thing if at least one book was not in constant use by each pupil Brooklyn as far as I am able to judge is the only great city in the United States where there are special teachers in declamation
In the light of these facts what interest in oratory could pupils be expected to take the only superintendents who will say that the interest of pupils is growing are those of Brooklyn and New Orleans some superintendents do not hesitate to say that it is lessening this apathy with which pupils regard
Oratory or public speaking is bound to work serious consequences to this we shall refer again the last question that I asked of the school superintendents is the most practical one because it suggests a change of system a change which appears to be exactly what is needed do you think that the appointment of
Speaking Masters after the manner in which singing Masters are appointed would prove a wise and profitable experiment of the eight superintendents but one answered this question in the negative the superintendent of the schools of Chicago most declare that it would prove undoubtedly a good experiment the need of such instructors is
Certainly seen by many of our leading Educators Mr William H Maxwell superintendent of Brooklyn schools writes that he thinks it would be highly desirable and Mr Henry a wise superintendent of the schools of Baltimore writes the following quote for many reasons a good speaking Master would be most serviceable a man of
Literary taste able to train and develop the natural voice of pupils and to give them examples of declamation worthy of imitation would be of decided service to a school system especially in meeting the teachers to instruct and advise them unquote in Boston declamation comes under the general head of reading or language or
English literature some 30 years ago Mr Lewis B Monroe taught vocal and physical culture in the Boston Schools Mr Edwin P Seaver superintendent of schools says Mr Monroe did much good he taught practical speaking not simple elocution in its commonly accepted meaning it seems to me that as declamation is
Taught today by the instructor in English literature it would be easier for the teacher and more profitable to the pupil would all Scholars learn and be instructed in the same piece but could a man be secured like Mr Monroe I should like to see his kind of teaching renewed for I think the
Appointment of speaking Masters in the public schools would bear good results unquote while I realized that each of these opinions is but the opinion of one man yet each is by virtue of the man’s position and the extent of his supervision as important to this educational question of oratory in the
Public schools and bears as much weight upon the subject as does the opinion of the criminal lawyer in a murder case or that of the Secretary of State in a question of international diplomacy from these reports from different cities we may make a summary something like this oratory in the public schools is
Subordinate to everything else that is less time is given to this study than to any other in most schools it is regarded as an extra it does not count towards securing a diploma it is not only one of the many subdivisions of the course in English literature but receives less attention
Than to reading or rhetoric or composition or poetry or paraphrasing we note also that textbooks on the subject are rarely used moreover in only one or two of the great cities is there any special teacher of oratory in the schools the indifference and apathy shown toward the study are in Striking contrast to
The interest and importance attached to it in the early centuries then the teaching of oratori was of prime importance it was to a general education what sculpture is to Masonry every citizen in ancient Rome and Greece was expected to know how to speak in public without that knowledge a man was deemed ignorant
Cicero destroyed a conspiracy and demosthenes built up a republic because they had a thorough knowledge of public speaking the professors of oratory were the Great Men of that time Cicero divided the study of oratory into five branches and each was deemed important enough to have its special teacher
One of the branches delivery consisting of elocution and gesture required three teachers is the change that has taken place in 2000 years a pleasant one to consider I think not oratory is not a lost art rather it is a discarded one to be taken down from the
Shelf and brushed up and Polished at the time of great crises as the housewife takes down and cleans her old China and burnishes her silver when there comes to her home a worthy visitor our great essayist and historian Colonel Thomas Wentworth higginson has said quote in a country like ours where each
Man is to do his part in conducting the government and where so much of his influence must proceed from meeting his fellow citizens face to face and holding his own among them there is no part of training more important than that of public speaking unquote the same sentiment was realized quite as
Much when Greece and Rome were at the height of their Splendor and Glory as when the two countries were striving for position and Power our own country felt it before 1776 and 1861 and the consequence of it each time was Liberty to a race and a step of
Progress in the march of civilization should as Grave a situation as the revolution or the Rebellion face us today or tomorrow who would take the Forum who would climb to the balcony who would Mount the Rostrum Let It Come 20 years hence and the student in the public schools of today
Will be called upon to Rally to charge and to plead with the people man’s heart is moved when he himself is true but his lips cannot move eloquently unless his mind has the knowledge to apply those principles that in their interpretation make men free Alger said quote a perfected voice can reveal everything
Which human nature is capable of thinking or feeling or being unquote while all voices cannot be made perfect yet there are none but can be improved through systematic training place a high ideal before a student and if he’d be ambitious he will strive to reach it let Perfection a voice which
Gives power and Mastery over one’s fellows be set as the ideal Improvement must follow 2. it is not only a misfortune to us but a ground for approach that the speaking voice which has ever animated and persuaded men which has ruled monarchs destroyed oligarchies and built up republics which has given Liberty and
Citizenship to enslaved peoples which has discovered and corrected corruption Advanced morality and Purity and caused right to triumph over wrong and Justice over tyranny should receive such contemptuous treatment in the training schools of the foremost Republic in the world yet the actual State of Affairs reveals astonishing things
Boys and girls tremble before the ordeal of speaking in the presence of their classmates but before a lesson in geography or arithmetic they are calm pupils play sick on declamation day yet when the singing hour comes all are well they secure short pieces to learn yet for hours they will examine flowers and
Appear happy and contented they beg an entreat to be excused from speaking yet many are anxious to solve a difficult problem in mathematics when they reach the platform their heads hang down and their arms sway to and fro they are afraid to speak they see no use no good in it
They wonder why declamations are continued when they are repeatedly laughed down and they make no advancement I wish to repeat here that most pupils read solely for Marx they have no idea of reading well for its own sake they are severely criticized if they mispronounce a word skip a paragraph
Forget the place gasp for breath do not pause one second after a comma two seconds after a semicolon three seconds after a colon and four seconds after a period punctuation may or may not be a guide to ones obtaining the right idea but it should never be considered as a
Guide to correct expression that oratory can be taught and ability to speak well acquired can be shown by a few noteworthy examples it was a serious matter with demosthenes when he was trying to overcome his many impediments of speech with Sheridan and Erskine Mansfield and Broome Gratton and Walpole it was a
Matter of constant drudgery to master all of their imperfections the great Robert Hall closed his first service not with a benediction but by telling his audience that he had forgotten all of his ideas the younger pit labored from childhood to be a powerful speaker Webster and Phillips wrestled long with
The rules of the art but perhaps you say that these men were born great if to be born with a true heart and a noble purpose is to be born great they were born great indeed similarly many are born great today they are being educated in our Public Schools
They should be taught to send abroad their best influence they have the heart the impulse and the purpose but not the mental power to express their ideas and convictions it is certain that they never will possess it until they are drilled in what was once regarded as the art of Arts oratory
Man has devised no instrument that can reach the heart like the human voice we owe it not only to pupils and to teachers but to the community at large to cultivate the voice as far as public systematic training will allow it in the school of old Athens three different classes of teachers were
Employed for the formation and Improvement of the speaking voice one strengthened it and extended its Compass another improved its quality and yet a third dealt with intonation modulation and inflection voice culture was then regarded by the instructors and by the pupils as a matter of serious study
History has taught us that the result of this training was of practical value to thousands of the Athenian youth what is the strength the extent and the quality of the voice of the average people today it may be ear splitting on the football field but how does he wield it on the platform
What is its compass generally a shout or a barely audible whisper its quality grasping cracked and harsh stuttering stammering lisping mouthing palatal and nasal hundreds of boys and girls with one or more of these defects of speech uncorrected are graduated from our grammar in high schools every year
With these voices they go through life grading on the ears of all with whom they talk embarrassing themselves while annoying others and failing to make friends because their company is not agreeable to what can we describe these defects of speech instead of decreasing they seem
To be on the increase a fact which goes to show that little or nothing has been done to lessen such imperfections if at the beginning which as Plato has said is the most important part in any work those with impaired voices were given scientific training in the
Mechanism and right use of the voice all of these defects could be helped and a large majority of them remedied it is precisely here says Dr Lennox Brown on the threshold of their career that many fail John Ruskin gave a word of encouragement when he said general public feeling is
Tending to the admission that accomplished education must include not only a full command of expression by language but command of true musical Sound by voice Mark You Not Mere Sound by the voice but true musical sound which is variation modulation and all that does away with monotonous speech
Simple sound the shooting out of noise has become so essential upon public declamation days that in some of our schools he who speaks loudest receives highest honors to be sure a loud voice is a requisite for a good speaker but noise without expression like force without judgment Falls by its own weight
I wish that what declamation is taught in our schools might be confined to the study of the masterpieces of literature then all pupils would be brought into close touch with the greatest and best minds of the centuries thereby fostering solid thought and encouraging clear forcible and persuasive expression
I regret that the general tone of Selections in our schools is not on a high plane it would be well if High School pupils were taught not only something of the great poets and their works but something of the lives and speeches of renowned orators orators have influenced
The times quite as much as poets we all admit that poets and poetry should have an important place in the curriculum of all schools but we are inclined to forget that our very public school system was made possible through the energetic oratory of wise and good men
A child is sent to school for the purpose of developing and storing the mind and yet what many learned men declare as the best means of doing this the practice of recitation is given the least attention of any study is laughed at by many and practically ignored by more
In the city of Boston nearly five times as much time is given to this study in the primary schools as in the high schools in the first class of the English High School in this city there are not even the common declamation exercises all the year round
If any of my statements are questioned I invite your own personal inspection of this subject after such considerations we are face to face with this conclusion that a new Department under the general head of oratory should be organized in all public schools speaking Masters should be regularly
Appointed to carry out this plan they should be men with a good knowledge of voice building public speaking and forensic oratory but someone may say that teachers with such qualifications cannot be found I am convinced however that a sufficient number of competent instructors in this work can be found
I am satisfied that instruction received at colleges of oratory worthy of the name will fully equip teachers of reading and oratory for our towns and cities every Year’s delay in the adoption of some well-devised system means an irreparable loss to thousands of school graduates how important it is that an instructor
In voice building be employed in our schools so that all pupils might be trained to realize with Shepard that The Living Voices the grand ordained instrument for the world’s Awakening and Redemption if it were found necessary I would begin again in the high schools what was done in the kindergarten and primary schools
The study and practice of enunciation articulation pronunciation and flexibility of The Voice were this drill in voice building carried through all grades the Improvement in speaking that would follow would be admitted by the most skeptical in everyday life it would not only lessen and prevent slovenliness of
Speech but I am inclined to think it would lessen the use of slang to some appreciable degree voice building is but one part of the course in oratory but as it is most important I have seen fit to make special mention of it of the influence on the pupil this may
Be said that a course an oratory will have served its purpose when he can express himself clearly and distinctly with pure religion emphatically spoken in time this ability would develop into the power of persuasion if the present systems are continued we may judge of their results upon our
Future citizens by the results we see today upon men in Act of life while the coming lawyer may be deeply read and all that pertains to his profession it will be impossible for him to rise to prominence and power like a Chote or a Webster because his manner
Voice and address will not be pleasing far less persuasive he will retain all of his imperfections of speech and idiosyncrasies of manner and so will have but little influence over the jury in court sooner or later he will realize the solemn truth of Bishop Berkeley’s words
Half the learning and half the talent of the world are lost because of faulty elocution the manner of speaking the cause for which a good man labors is set back by that which ought to be its greatest help the proper use of man’s voice that which distinguishes him from
The brutes and gives him Supremacy Over All Creatures think of the remarkable power that the English language can wield when the voice is properly trained and adapted to the matter of thought in public speaking manner is quite as important as matter Arnold teacher of the poet Spencer said
That no language is better able to utter all arguments either with more pith or greater plainness than our English tongue while we possess the most adaptable language so far as expression is concerned our students are not taught to adapt it to its proper and best use in the form of expression and delivery
Some people raise the cry that the adoption of a course of study under the supervision of speaking Masters would result in graduating from our schools yellocutionists and elocution maniacs not at all not any more so than the teaching of singing sends out those who misuse the true art of music
Such a course of instruction in our schools would tend in a short time to change for the better the character of speech on the platform at the bar in the legislative Hall and in the pulpit men who know what to say would know how
To say it how could it help but do this a long course in arithmetic and the higher mathematics creates a wholesome taste for civil engineering one in geography for Geology and mineralogy and zoology one in drawing for painting and sculpture one in rhetoric and literature for poetry the novel and journalism one
In music for composition and Melody and so on continuous drill along these various lines in our schools determines many a youth to choose that specific subject which has appealed to him most forcibly as his life work so there come forth in later years great linguists journalists Engineers novelists singers composers poets
Scientists and philosophers all of these great artists were given the first incentive to their chosen work felt the first impulse to accomplish something and were inspired to attain Renown by some good influence which acted upon their minds during an early training in our public speaking the exposition of the lives of great orators
The consideration and the study of the history of oratory and the application of the rules of the art helped to prepare our men and women to address their fellows in a manner pleasing and persuasive the tendency today is to teach rhetoric the theory of the English language and
Then to stop just when the scholar is catching a glimpse of something practical the result is that we have much of fine rhetoric and little of true oratory of course the highest flights of oratory cannot be taught nor can they be reduced to rule the highest reach of any fine art goes
Beyond the scope of teaching into the field of personal genius but a certain reasonable level may always be gained and this is well worth striving for there is not an art so capable of unfolding the great Powers endowed by Nature as that of oratory or public speaking it develops faculties which would
Otherwise have remained forever hidden many a person under proper training has disclosed the most unexpected talent and achieved startling results there is more need of true oratory in America today than ever before these times of turmoil and agitation demand that the people look for leaders and how important it is that they find
Men whose heart and mental power make them eloquent simply because men lack the knowledge and ability to speak well many of our citizens must flounder along through life practically sure enough half the power that is in them and shut out from a large success let us hope that the promoters the
Faculty and the management of the public schools of this country will soon see fit to generate some force that will awake and stimulate this latent dormant faculty of the youthful mind it is not too late in the day to change the present system what Ralph Waldo Emerson said 30 years
Ago is doubly applicable to these closing years of the century when the constituency to be served is not one of 30 Millions but of 70 Millions quote if there ever was a country where eloquence was a power it is in the United States here is room for every degree of it on
Every one of its ascending stages that of useful speech in our commercial manufacturing Railroad and educational conventions that of political advice and persuasion on the grandest theater reaching as all good men trust into a vast future and so compelling the best thought a noblest administrative ability that the citizens can offer
And here are the service of science the demand of Art and the lessons of religion to be brought home to the instant practice of 30 millions of people is it not worth the ambition of every generous youth to train and arm his mind with all the resources of knowledge of
Method of Grace and of character to serve such a constituency from the New England Conservatory the conservatory the foundation of the alumni a survey of the educational and the social features in Student Life by procedure at Purell the awarding of a diploma to a graduate does not mean The Graduate Severance
From the institution which makes the reward rather is it his credential from that Institution he has appointed its lifelong representative all such representatives are alumni and the alumni that they may be United and have a practical working basis are organized into an association the Alumni Association of the New
England Conservatory is the one which claims our special attention an alumni association has an addition of forces each year its very perpetuity is dependent upon this increase the Alumni Association of this as of all institutions must grow when it ceases to grow the alma mater is itself non-ends
The association is not only born in the college or Conservatory but it grows therein and nowhere else the conservatory in this sense is an incubator for the future alumnus the student appears to be merely a student and nothing more but potentially he is an alumnus and that all his
Energies are directed toward the development of a complete student a graduate an alumnus as a final product of the educational system the alumnus wherever he may find himself in later years never ceases to be what he has been made namely an alumnus the early training the fundamental teachings the student’s Spirit are never
To be wholly erased from the individual he will bear them as the birthmark of the intellectual life he is an alumnus despite himself he is an alumnus according to the following formula ambition plus Talent Plus training plus Conservatory diploma equals alumnus but this is not all I have said that the student is
Potentially an alumnus and that all his energies are directed toward the development of a complete student or alumnus a vital question arises at this point we may ask how conscious is the conservatory student of his position his real Strife his progression his aims his ideals the intellectual maze in which the
American student is want to find himself tends to shut out from his view the well-defined marks which later on in life he more clearly discerns on the moral and intellectual roads of thought travel no honest investigator of our modern educational system dare deny the sloth of perplexity indecision and worry into
Which the average student is thrown but what has all this to do with the alumni of an institution it has considerable to do with our subject when we realize that the alumnus emerges from these tortuous paths to the broader and straighter highways which in these days of liberal education both man
And woman must find when they start upon their post-student career and Conquest what the student is so will the alumnus be it is not uncommon to hear the cry raised for a stronger more interested and active Alumni Association the college authorities realize that the sustenance the growth and indeed the
Perpetuity of a college are largely measured by the activity and loyalty as well as by the character and success of its graduates it must not be deemed a manifestation of self-reproach if a like plea be raised for a stronger more active Alumni Association of the New England Conservatory of Music
Let us deem it an appeal for the self-interest and mutual progress of student of conservatory and of the present alumni the time has passed when all our attention and energies are to be devoted to arousing enthusiasm and interest among the present alumni many an alumnus feels his dearth of alumni spirit
If he does not feel it he has at least been told of it he is ruled to a large extent by an indifference to alumni and Conservatory he is not holy to blame for his apathy aside from his present pressing business demands he has been in the past largely
A creature of the circumstances of a conservatory or college life whose trying conditions I have briefly pointed out let these bygones be bygones and let us gather our forces for the support and betterment of the present situation that he and she may become better alumni a complete perfected Alumni Association
Can only be the result or product of a completely perfected Conservatory life which shall generate the thorough Alumni Association there must be a completeness of something before there can be anything of completeness the conservatory makes the alumnus when it Awards the senior a diploma but does not produce necessarily in that award
The spirit of the true alumnus one intensified with real love for and a yearning to support the alma mater such a spirit must be the outgrowth of a conservatory Spirit which is its creator before the Alumni Association can be fully maintained it must be at least positively created
Seeds of alumni loyalty must be sown in the mind and heart of the young and growing student social impulses must receive attention if possessed by one they must be directed along proper and uplifting lines if lacking in one then there must be bred and fostered a wholesome social environment
The Graduate will never make a good alumnus unless he be as a student a good conservatorian not alone in the technical musical sense but in the broad common sense of the University spirit the students Conservatory must be to them what the United States Army is to the soldier in its ranks
When he receives his honorable discharge as year after year the finished student does his the soldier becomes a member of the Grand Army of the Republic he is ever ready to grasp the Helm of the ship of state or support the arm that signs a proclamation of freedom
His work in the active fight and the foundation and the preservation of a republic has made him loyal to his land for he has caught the spirit of patriotism while serving his country so ought the student to catch the conservatory Spirit while serving his musical apprenticeship that there may be
In him and in her a loyalty to the alma mater and a worthiness as an alumnus which as years Roll by Shall Not flag but grow in strength and enthusiasm how shall we catch the spirit this is the problem of the present day how to unite most effectively in the
Conservatory the technical and the Practical Parts the educational and the social functions the truism that no force is generated without the bringing together of two elements is suggestive in our consideration what is needed is a Harmony not alone of music but of minds and Hearts and Spirits
The social shall become linked to the educational would that there might be a marriage of the two which no divorce court presided over by judge jealousy or a jury of musical pedophagus could and all let the heart of Education beat in harmony with the heart of sociality to
The tickings of a great University metronome the let us use the intellectual microscope to discern and solve the Deep difficult problems and the spiritual telescope to catch a vision of the ideal in our life work the conservatory principles must afford the ground for a development of the
Social as well as the educational nature so that these two Natures may be most attractively manifest in the one person as he or she becomes an alumnus certain it is that such a delicate and difficult task demands for its successful accomplishment minds of deep Insight perspicuity of wisdom and hearts
Of forbearance and kindness any Conservatory has a mammoth problem on its hands when it seeks to develop properly and liberally the educational in music but is it not true that the best musician is he who has as it were a polarized nature a poll of music and a poll of sociality
One-sidedness has ever been a drawback to the highest and most complete accomplishments the musician for the sake of himself his conservatory and the alumni should be trained for something besides the mere executant or performer if he’d be constitutionally absorbed in his own work and his temperament all
Music and no play is it not possible for him to be guided unconsciously it may be on to broader higher more social plane where his life work may have its value for the Practical and the social life some of his musical oxygen he will in a short while although
Scarcely realizing it breathe into his system the social oxygen and it will become essential to the proper maintenance of his student life the student needs relaxation as much as he needs money he can learn quite as much for his own good and that of the public before whom he must go by
Studying how to make the social and the educational harmonize and become mutually helpful as he can by constantly applying himself each day to an unnatural and strained exercise of musical technique his social hours will make him a better musician his music will improve his social companionship the philanthropist would not misplace
His money by endowing some college with a chair of harmonization of the educational and the social and college life companionable Association and social advantages in Conservatory or college life are a means to the success of both individual and institution and their logical product is an energetic and worthy Alumni Association
The life of the student in college determines the life of the man in the world the life of the student body determines as well the life of the alumni body the life of the student body determines the life of the man in the world the life of the student in college
Determines as well the life of the alumni body the truth of such an analogy cannot be well disputed the conservatory has in this matter a problem on its hands which calls for Earnest and persistent attention it may be that its solution lies in the hands of the students themselves
If so it becomes the duty of the authorities of an institution to do all in their wisdom to satisfy the yearning in the student after the social I do not mean to Advocate that a management become indulgent and passing easy on the other hand there are required intelligent oversight and considerate
Foresight so that the restraint when such be laid shall be felt by the students not as the Restraint of the autocrat but of The Prudent father a restraint not for the purpose of manifesting and proclaiming one’s power but simply for the purpose of exercising a proper right to curb the over-strenuous social youth
The Alumni Association its interests and its life is grounded in the conservatory it cannot be successfully or commendably worked up after graduation I have not suggested any concrete plans which might be adopted to further the alumni interests such I may dwell upon in a subsequent article
It has been my Endeavor in this riding to open up a subject in a general way one which I deem worthy of more Universal consideration I entertain no doubt that when the ground is as well cultivated for the social as for the educational and Student Life the conservatory can point
With just Pride to a loyal ever-working Alumni Association as it points now to a magnificent Army of Conservatory graduates in the pedagogical chairs and on the concert stages of the world from New England Conservatory magazine volume 9 numbers 1 and 2 October December 9th the true orator delivered at the commencement exercises
Of the New England Conservatory June 24 by Mr Burrell who received class honors in oratory when the old Roman defined an orator a good man skilled in the art of speaking he told to the world the secret of true eloquence for eloquence is born of truth of heart
Molded in purity of mind and flows from lips that know no fear it is the spark in the heart found by the Bellows of knowledge that Flames into eloquence and makes a man the true orator great has been the power of oratory I it was speech that of old made order out of
Chaos God said let there be light and there was light the Greek rhetorician longinus calls these words the sublimist passage ever uttered and now since the almighty had lighted the universe in the land of Syria prophets of him who was to come lifted up their voices so that all might hear
And be comforted to the westward across the Mediterranean as if struck by one of God’s Thunderbolts Fair grease is shaken from Shore to mount as leaping from the loins of the earth there comes forth not Homer not Aristotle not Plato not Socrates but the man who did more for Greece than all
These together he who fired his countrymen into Victory and so made the Republic a fact demosthenes 300 years after the Hellenic orator had done his great work the citizens of Rome throng to The Forum there the voice of Marcus Cicero is heard urging them not to submit to the rule of Anthony
As he speaks the world listens be it Romans our first resolve to strike down the Tyrant and the tyranny be it our second to endure all things for the honor and Liberty of Rome other nations may bend to servitude the birthright and distinction of Rome is Liberty
Half a century passes and there stands at Corinth at Ephesus at Athens and last at Rome Saint Paul the master orator preaching the word of God and of a Risen Lord passing over the patristic period when Saint Jerome and Saint Augustine were enlightening Europe with a torch of Christian eloquence the fourth Century
Hears the East startled by the voice of chrysostom who at Constantinople and at Athens sounded his words of truth justice and patriotism that eloquence from him of the golden mouth quivered through the Dark Ages it awoke seven arola to rise in the might of an Elijah to rebuke wickedness in
High places though the end be the and the stake it stirred swingly inflamed Calvin and fired Huss it thrilled Martin Luther in Germany and aroused John Knox in Scotland and when France was sunk in moral night it awakened her to a true sense of her faith and work when heard
In the dawn Thunder of both and masiron in the political world of England but a few years later the Earl of Chatham is making himself known to all time as the great commoner and Edmund Burke whose voice was for Liberty to all mankind Cries Out For Justice to the colonies
Old England Fair Ireland and rugged Scotland have heard brave men speak the truth and seen them die for it and on their role of Honor inscribed with Immortal pen we read such names as Fox and Gratton Whitfield and Chalmers Broome and O’Connell Edmund Burke and William Pitt
All who use their powers that mankind might be blessed and God glorified so the true orator marches down through time until America feels the tread of his advancing step catches the sound of his rallying cry and lo she is thrilled from the Pine Woods of Maine to the Palmetto Groves of the Carolinas
Come back with me 120 years look in on the scene in Independence Hall the birthplace of Liberty see those staunch Patriots Carol and Sherman Jefferson and Lee Franklin and Hancock listen to those living words of Lee of Jefferson of Franklin Rising as on wings to God above they
Sway the Brazen tongue of Beyond Liberty Bell and make it Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof now let us go to the mecca of a free people old Faneuil Hall who stands there Samuel Adams and his Red Cloak cocked hat and Thai wig on
How it adds to the Sublimity of his eloquence listen to that Angelic voice and those pure words of patriotism born in a soul impressed with the strongest religious sentiment found only in the hearts of God-fearing men all honor to those Patriot orators Fisher Ames James Otis Samuel Adams and
Patrick Henry the wave of whose eloquence floated in the breeze the Stars and Stripes at Yorktown and made it possible for the 13 colonies to become the United States of America year by year eloquence in this country with the public Spirit of her citizenship ever active and growing has
Caught that life and energy which moved the orators of the republics of Greece and Rome that persecuted Zealot the man who walked across the stage of life without looking to either side to catch his image in the mirrors of the world that silver-tongued champion of the rights of humanity Wendell Phillips preferred to
Be called a bigot by his own generation than to be called a coward by the next Daniel Webster the magnet of the Senate chamber the defender of the Constitution and the greatest orator of the Western World let us place in the highest niche of all be it said of resolute Calhoun and
Skillful Everett of passionate chode and the Magnetic clay that they were all men with profound convictions who fought as they believed and what they regarded as the truth they never sold to save the hour tell the Statesmen tell the orator to look up to these men for they stand as
Models of oratory for all coming time Liberty and eloquence have ever gone hand in hand never has the great the true orator compromised with what he believed to be evil for that was to him the surrender of his integrity the orator of Greece declaimed against Asiatic Conquest he of Rome against
Imperialism the eloquence of the early church and of the Middle Ages preached against papal despotism and wickedness in high places in the 18th century France heard many a Fearless cry for Liberty a cry that rang across the channel and stirred to its depths the heart of every lover of freedom in
Britain that swept the wide Atlantic and re-echoed from these Shores in the slogan call no taxation without representation and what of the future will the art of Arts as oratory was named of old still be the power it has been the great occasion will at all times be
The opportunity of the orator and he will ever be heard arousing instructing and persuading as never printed Paige will do and in the hour of this old world’s need men will be thrilled to high Endeavor and Noble action by the true orator from New England Conservatory quarterly volume 3 number one November nineteen
The president’s message extract from the president’s address at the alumni reunion June 21 1910 New England Conservatory there is nothing in a present name unless when you hear it you think of something alive Willie Williams wouldn’t stir an eyelid Thomas Edison I fancy would open an ear and more
There is some difference between necaa being interpreted nothing ever comes always asleep and new energy coming always alive the alumni have no ax to grind they seek to get nothing for themselves except that Joy of satisfaction that comes from a consciousness of doing something as students we were in the getting
Business as alumni we should be in the giving business we entertain no doubt that the NEC would go right on without the necaa organization but this same institution would close its every door and run up the flag at half mast at the stroke of midnight June 21 1910 if it were not for
That larger body of graduates from whose ranks the membership and Personnel of this Association finds ready recruits and willing workers the historian Gibbon has said that everyone receives two educations in this life the one he gets from others and the more important one that he gets from himself
It is the latter one that should be and is being turned into its greatest usefulness by asserting it in behalf of that institution where one receives the education from others after all education is take and give life’s highest form of the battle door and shuttlecock game
If taking eagerly with the one hand one does not give bountifully with the other in gratitude Reigns members of the senior class the future power and usefulness of any alumni body is in such as you and I have long realized that the alumni association should exert itself to the utmost to
Create a wholesome Conservatory Spirit among the students that they as such May learn to love the school and go forth as alumni increasingly loyal to their Devotion to the alma mater that they should seek a place in the front ranks of the alumni Army among the outposts pickets and Cavalry skirmishers
And not lie back in the ambulance Corps following on behind with an increase of 97 New Life members during the past year among them whom was Lilian Nordica 76 I believe the core is rapidly decreasing in size seniors with your Splendid class spirit I am forced to believe that you have
Come to realize tonight that loyalty to the alma mater must have its seed sown in the form of enthusiasm College Spirit Brotherhood Sisterhood and the student toward this end have the costume carnivals been inaugurated and with the generous cooperation of the management and the Zeal of the students they have
Acquired a national reputation for themselves and an increase of prestige for the conservatory every graduate ought to mean an alumnus that means in turn a true and loyal being with a soul all a globe for the old school that gave to him and to her a cultured musical mind and a warm fast
Beating heart as the New England Conservatory has aimed to do its best by you as students so should you seek to do your best for her as an alumnus for she has sought to send you out not as good musicians only but as loyal alumni the alumni Associated affords a field
For usefulness for every graduate verily numbers make work and enthusiasm and believe me nothing can ever be done best without enthusiasm and you can never get truly enthusiastic unless you first get at work in some cause I don’t care a rap about enthusiasm without intelligence behind it and we
Need the new fresh Keen brains of the seniors in our forward movement today members of this class of 10 you stand as the most valuable and important asset of this school because you go out into the world as brand new living working human examples of what the alma
Mater has done for you and made you work for the alma mater push on and move up so that when your work is done and you fall it may be said of you as truly as of the Swiss Mountain guide whose monument in a Public Square at Geneva
Reads he died climbing it must not matter whether or not you have liked this man or that man this rule or the other the institution itself is bigger than any one man or collection of men or rule or code of rules if you can read on your diploma that you
Have not only graduated in piano organ Voice or violin but that you have graduated from Prejudice pettiness jealousy and envy you will be the possessors of priceless parchments your alma mater was founded with a peculiar reverence a Devotion to duty an unflagging perseverance I cannot help but believe that Dr
Tourege must have had a wonderful vision of some such Splendid Monument to the cause of music and education as the NEC stands for today else how shall One account for that continuous personal sacrifice the true index of greatness his unceasing labor his god-pervading and man-winning personality beginning in the little town of East
Greenwich Rhode Island 57 years ago with obscure teachers and a mere handful of pupils and despite adversity of every kind this institution lives today with nearly 1500 graduates and three thousand yearly pupils a faculty world famous and it will continue to flourish in the days
To come for it was born into this world and humbleness to fill a place in the minds and hearts of a music-loving people well may it be called in this year of Our Lord 1910 the United States Conservatory of Music members of the graduating class a
Diploma of this school is no mean asset to you your life as a musician is of no trivial consequence to this school but greater than either and both is your life as a loyal alumnus to this alma mater the future of the NEC is in the hands of
The graduates as they go on to the world’s field of work if they besmirch her name alas if they glory in her all is well therefore go into life’s battle with the enthusiasm and Faith of Gustavus Adolphus before the battle of lutzen because of wounds received on his chest
He wore no breastplate just before he went on to the field an old Soldier Advanced toward him and asked what is your breastplate going to be God and his righteousness came the answer what is your Battle Cry Emmanuel God With Us what is your Battle Hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
In that Faith detourjet found your alma mater in that same Oneness of purpose Devotion to duty clear-sighted Vision willing sacrifice and loyalty to principle will she be preserved and the preservers like those of any and all great universities the world over are the alumni who have caught the true spirit in their student
Service and who go forth loving the alma mater with a loyalty that in all time will work and win for her from New England Conservatory review Volume 2 number 1 May 1912. perceived you at Burrell president’s alumni reunion address for 35 years the Alumni Association of the New England Conservatory of Music
Has met an annual reunion I suppose it has done this not an order that friendship might be renewed and new friendships made but that enthusiasm and loyalty for the alma mater should grow and glow it occurs to your president that whatever else his remarks may be this
Evening they ought to be directed along this line of appeal to your sentiment and love for the old NEC and it also occurs to him that the word Conservatory indeed the very root of it is full of meaning and that to emphasize conserve to keep to save to preserve to defend
Means quite as much for our alma mater as its ordinary everyday meaning in the musical world does not the lamp of a conservatory or indeed any institution of learning send out a very clear light along three distinct paths all leading to the same Temple of achievement that of efficient
Service I would mark them in this way one to conserve culture two to conserve the virtues of Heritage three to conserve the student energy or Esprit de corps now just where does our alumni association fit in this work of conservation it is not the only duty of such an
Association to uphold strengthen and unify the spirit of the alumni body but our organization does not trespass outside of its Province when it seeks to have a share in creating and sustaining a wholesome Conservatory Spirit among the student body that all its members as such shall learn to love the school and
Go out as alumni ever loyal in their Devotion to the alma mater an alumni association is handicapped and uses up a vast amount of energy that ought to be directed along constructive lines whenever it is forced to use a crowbar of argument to make a hole in
The ice of a frozen graduate before the warmth of college Zeal can bubble to the surface we are not organized for the sole purpose of collecting views and holding an annual Jamboree I doubt not that every College finds men and women indifferent to the appeal of sentiment and the force of loyalty
It is the institution that finds fewer of this hard cold type that lives longest and best the perpetuity of a school is grounded in human qualities reverence for its Founders respect for its maintainers order of its students and loyalty of its alumni to conserve all of these virtues is a
Task for both the alumni and the conservatory Authority the board of directors is felt and wisely so I think that the conservatory itself has the first work to perform because it is with that and not an alumni association the student first comes in contact not only is a school known by its alumni
But the visible Mark upon this same alumni is the impression more or less well-defined made upon the undergraduate by the institution Itself by the men and the women who teach by the very policy by which marks the conduct of administration in its relation to the student body
A loyal alumnus is the product of a warm pulsing University spirit and this Esprit de corps can never be worked up after the student graduates and gets away from the Dynamics of student work I think we may put it down as a truism that the right kind of school will have
The right kind of alumni let us be frank for we are together the worthwhile alumnus is the one who has had not only a curriculum in the conservation of culture but has been through a refining process of Justice wisdom sweetness sanctity and spirit during the days of student service
In other words the alumnus of this or of any other institution will be in spirit Endeavor and loyalty just what the atmosphere of the alma mater has afforded for the student lungs if the college air has been five-fifths nitrogen the alumnus will wheeze and die but if there is life-giving oxygen he
Will throw up his hat for the old school as long as headgear is in Vogue said one farmer to another farmer Uncle Zeke ain’t the man he was Izzy said the other farmer no by gosh she never was May the application of this illustration cease to have force with us
There may be a relative in adaptability on the part of conservatories of music to get the same amount of college Spirit out of their students but they can get the same quality for Human Nature has the same mother the world over and The Graduate can be trained to count flesh
And blood and heart and soul as worthy and as useful a credential for personal success as a bundle of brains and the embodiment of Art we want live wires every grad wherever he or she may be the world over and that is just where the NEC grad is all over
The world to be individual storage batteries with wires of loyalty running to the very alma mater herself to give it constant and renewed and increasing power for efficiency and service how best to subserve these vital interests should be study of all from trustees to normal teacher into whose
Hands are entrusted the mold forms of character and the hope of learning let us provide a course in University Spirit a humanizing department then the NEC will graduate something more than musicians as technology sends out more than Engineers Georgetown more than lawyers in Harvard more than philosophers
If these alumni went away and were doctors lawyers Engineers Architects professors only what forsooth would become of their alma mater they have acquired Proficiency in something other and better than their chosen profession they have become liberalized in the spirit of human Fellowship by getting together often during the student years
This the Alumni Association succeeded in doing for four years through Symphony Hall costume Carnival what an opportunity our alma mater has with its many hundreds of students to get them together in common purpose unity and fellowship that the student energy social if you will may be conserved that in its turn alumni
Loyalty may be more of a fact and less of a theory it may not be a Miss to add here that our annual meeting held last evening it was voted that a course of lectures be given during the coming fall and winter under the auspices of the association
The committee in its report recommending that such a course be undertaken stated it felt that with the cooperation of the association the conservatory the New Boston Conservatory Alumni club to be formed the student body and the augmented public interest in the lectures and their subjects the association will be able to increase
Materially its funds promote good Fellowship through a common Endeavor for a worthy object liberalize the student education and in a practical yet dignified way bring to the attention of both the student body and the general public the fact that our alumni association is alive alert and eager to
Serve itself and others to a commendable degree they have given to the association the use of Jordan Hall for which courtesy we are deeply appreciative the course will open with a lecture by Mary anten author of the promised land at which time it is planned to have the
First formal Public Presentation in this country of Yiddish folk songs toward the end of conserving student energies the association still keeps in mind its publication of the New England Conservatory magazine and alumni review of which the Lilian Nordica Memorial number just issued is a striking evidence its up building of the valuable
Conservatory Library through its own gifts and the annual Gifts of each graduating class its tourge Memorial student aid fund which is assisting each year an ever-increasing number of students in time of emergency its present plan to organize a conservatory Boston Alumni club that we may at least keep a pace with the quite
Remarkable NEC alumni organization on the Pacific coast at Los Angeles its sympathy endorsement and activity in fostering fraternity and other social organization within the conservatory its desire for cooperation in both sentiment and work between the directory Committee of the conservatory its desire for cooperation in both sentiment and work
Between the directory Committee of the conservatory and its own board of directors and for further information along this line I urge you to read the review which has just closed its most successful year under the tireless leadership of Mr Drayton we trust that we may be a judge to not
Only alive and alert but safe and sane in all our Endeavor for the welfare of an alma mater which through nearly 2 000 graduates tens of thousands of former students and many millions of dollars paid in tuition has helped to keep the New England Conservatory of Music in big
Bold type on the musical map of the world I feel that no more need now be said about the conservation of the student energies nor shall I speak of the conserving of musical culture for those who follow are best fitted to speak of it I ought however to bring your very
Patient attention to an end by a reference in few words to what I named at the beginning as the conserving of the virtues of heritage men in this life cannot know everything about consequences but they can have faith in the outcome of their own initiative when the individual is honest
And the concerted Endeavor Worthy Faith begins where wisdom fails and this was never better brought before our eyes than by the founder of the conservatory for through his faith and sacrifice perhaps more than by his knowledge and culture do we possess the wisdom and Glory of today
The Genius of the organizer in Dr turge stands out preeminent not only in the musical realm but indeed in the field of practical and Lasting utility and it was from his conserving and infinite capacity for love that there came an infinite capacity for work he did not lisp forget God and take your
Time but with the great Livingstone exclaimed fear God and work hard and this gathering tonight is one visible proof of the value of conserving the virtues of Heritage for it was Dr turge himself who organized nearly four decades ago our alumni association I have read recently two articles which
Have brought to my mind our founder one was the address both scholarly and practical of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge which he delivered as president of the Harvard Alumni Association and in which he said let the university teach a due reverence for the thoughts and imaginings of those who have gone before
Old things need not be therefore true O Brother men nor yet the new ah still a wild the old thought retain and yet consider it again and the other is to be found in the current number of the review our own Dr elson’s article on Dr turge in which in
His terse and inimitable way he speaks of him as a personal friend to each and every pupil and how no one could accomplish the personality of work as he did will not all of you read Dr elson’s article Dr George’s optimism must have been as happy and buoyant as the words of the
New England poet and in his soul surging he must have sung in joy and spirit all space seems filled with rainbows with gold spots for me to capture and all gods Everlasting Hills was busted into rapture the birds the frogs The Grasshoppers all sung their loud hosanners and every
Single Forest tree turned into a piano may we as an association and as a conservatory conserve this virtue of Heritage a jubilant optimism may we bound together as we are by one common tie conserve all there is now and will be in years to come in musical culture student energy and the virtues
Of heritage and may all our Endeavor redound to the honor of our alma mater the NEC from New England Conservatory magazine and alumni review Volume 5 number one September October 1914. Perce you at Burrell alumni in action written originally for the 1915 class book there is a difference between an active
Volcano and a volcano in action there is too a distinction between an active member of an organization and a member in action this is why I have chosen the subject alumni in action for numbers don’t really count unless they do work as president of the New England Conservatory Alumni Association now
Nearly 40 years old the association I make a plea for New Blood I call for new recruits in the organized alumni Army not by conscription but by volunteer service the response which I hope to hear is one that will mean just as much to the class of 1915 the conservatory and the
Association as forward March fire charge mean to the soldier and the regiment these commands signify that somebody moves they tell of action nothing in this world succeeds so well as the organization of human beings and nothing counts for so much in the individual as his own organized forces
As students you have already recognized this truism in your very selves by so building your energies training your capabilities adjusting your forces and adapting your plans time and money that you will graduate a successful music student you have correlated and harmonized physical intellectual and spiritual forces both endowed and acquired for
Your own good and I trust the ultimate good of your fellows during the past two years you have gone beyond your own ordered and regulated self and projected it into what you call a class organization this class book is one tangible result of it lifelong friendship a more vital
And valuable end and other worthwhile achievements are certain to be yours because of your being a part of an organized class and this I say to convince you if it be necessary that you really do believe in organization and because you do the class of 1915 ought to be eager to Ally
Itself with the organized body of Conservatory alumni the alumni mission is service and service only to what the alma mater it is in brief that service of which you read in the object of the association there are today about 500 life members out of a total living graduate body of
More than 1700. this does not sound as if there were any imminent danger of becoming a dead crater a life member ought to be a Live member and my plea does not stop with active or life members but it calls us well for Live members for alumni in action
I have always looked upon the all-important mission of our association each year as the work of interesting the graduate class in the organized alumni body I believe that next to the very natural ambition to secure a diploma should be a firm determination on the part of each senior to become actively affiliated
With the alumni of his alma mater in truth the class of 1915 will find its usefulness increasing and its loyalty more manifest by being one of the association in action ours is an institution nobly founded should it not be loyally sustained and notably Progressive through alumni activity
If you believe that the conservatory has served you well and are conscious of an ever-growing Devotion to her this plea will not fall upon dull ears but if you are about to go out into the world indifferent to the welfare of your alma mater because you are it may be
Dissatisfied disgruntled disgusted with anything or anybody you will have to reorganize yourself and hope for the best of all if out of your three four or more years of Conservatory life you have caught no NEC Spirit the Alumni Association has long since come to realize that for such
As you no school spirit can be worked up after graduation we are sorry for you for the association for the conservatory if on the other hand you are ready to shout for sing of and serve the alma mater I believe your own human efficiency will grow in the field of our
One common art and the world will exclaim where does she come from where did he get it I know it can be said now with even more truth and in the first Noom that one may ascribe to the conservatory alumni an impressive Authority in the realm of music
The graduates of the New England Conservatory earn no small praise for to them belongs the distinction of having exercised an influence greater than any other graduate Force whatever toward raising the standard of music and inculcating in the public mind a finer appreciation of it the deeper the sense of loyalty the more
One feels for a cause the more one will be the greater things one can do can I not impress upon the graduates of this and all classes past and future to look upon the alma mater as her school and that as long as they bear her Mark
They ought to be just as much concerned about her standards and methods her equipment her Personnel her reputation and character her present and her future as those who administer her offices no institution of learning is composed only of Executives and faculty student body and employees the final analysis shows that what holds
A school together today and ensures it’s not falling apart tomorrow is the alumni in action it’s disintegrating force and ephemeral existence will be determined by the alumni out of action in days gone by a United alumni influence has made itself felt for the good of your Conservatory as it has for
Many a school and in time of lethargy or Peril if such should come it must be the alumni who will rally as they have in the past to the support of their alma mater the New England Conservatory has not yet begun to measure up to the scope of its
Possibilities it is but a child in comparison with the older institutions of learning and culture in the world do not deceive yourselves you of 1915 that you have had the best that is coming in the next decade the 50 years to come the century Beyond we are now beginning
This is indeed the commencement of your alma mater you are a New England Conservatory is not going to be satisfied to loaf along with three stories on a plot of land 250 by 150 feet a faculty of four score members an enrollment of nearly 3 000 students
Not this when by working all the time in action every minute it can multiply manifoldly both its material equipment and its human output a mighty constructive force in these years ahead will be the alumni in action and for this future and its work the Alumni Association is organized it would
Be the motor that starts and keeps in action the students and graduates of this great Institution how has the Alumni Association been kept in action lack of space here makes it necessary for me to refer you to the 1910 new in the conservatory Library where one can read the answer
I should mention however two permanent features which have been established since that year the tourism Memorial student aid fund now amounting to nearly two thousand dollars and the New England Conservatory Magazine review what of the future three new plans and hopes ought to arouse your interest they are one the
Election of a permanent class Secretary of each graduating class to keep as intact as possible through correspondence and occasional reunions the class organization two the organization of a Boston New England Conservatory club for the purpose of promoting local loyal Endeavor and efficient cooperation for the good and advancement of the conservatory
There are about 500 graduates and several thousand former students living in Greater Boston three the institution of an annual mid-year reunion for all the former students whether graduates or not that they may have the opportunity to see the conservatory in action during the midst of the regular school year
Now none of these things is very costly fortunate it is that this is so for our organization and the alumni as a whole are not blessed to any great degree with this world’s Goods yet what we may lack without the might of the dollar sign can we not make up
Through the force of Applied loyalty yet being alive the now unknown hand May lavish Upon Us many good things but first must come ideas purpose Endeavor organization cooperation solidarity enthusiasm persistence action our alma mater must ever be abreast to the times yes in the Vanguard not resting on our oars but pulling with
Them for better a splash over now and then while in action then Barnacles on the blade so together let us pull hard every loyal member of the class of 1915 can do something for 1915 by making 1915 a power in the ranks of the Alumni Association recent classes have joined in large
Numbers it has been gratifying then let the class of 1915 continue on in action as alumni it can best be done by every one of its 83 members pledging itself as a life and Alive members of the oldest organization in the New England Conservatory of Music the Alumni Association which was founded
Indeed by him who is Ever In Action and whose good face Grace is one of the pages of your class book Aben tourger from New England Conservatory magazine Volume 5 number 4 June 1950
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