In the Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver, thousands gather each year for the annual sunrise Easter service. Because of Red Rocks' natural acoustical properties, amplification is seldom needed. In summer the amphitheater is the scene of open·air concerts by Saul Caston and the Denver Symphony Orchestra.
REJECTS
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| "The Appeal to the Great Spirit" by Cyrus Dallin |
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| Norman Hall: "A Merry, Merry Christmas To All" |
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This issue bears (sic) for its front cover a very striking piece of water color work by a Philadelphia artist, Mr. Joseph Bolden. This is Mr. Bolden's first cover for THE ETUDE MUSIC MAGAZINE.
Sometimes there is more pleasure in letting one's own fancy interpret a painting or a musical composition than to be guided by what the artist or the composer had in mind when creating it. The thought of a beautiful, inspiring Easter Morning church service with special instrumental music will come to many, perhaps bringing memories of childhood impressions of an Easter morning Church service where there was an abundance of music, banks of Easter lilies and the sunshine which seemed extra bright coming through the stained glass windows; or, perhaps there will be mature recollections of Easter services when the congregation held many dear ones who long since have been laid to rest.
One never can tell the innermost thoughts or sentiments which something of this character stirs within another. Dreams of the past are as pleasant to some, as dreams of the future to others. 'Thus it may be that some, in their flights of fancy, will picture this as what they would arrange for themselves as a musical feast at Easter-tide in the music room of the mansion that someday may be theirs.
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The earliest recordings of mankind's activities indicate an instinctive desire to give thanks to an omnipotent Power for blessings enjoyed. In the United States, where all thinking citizens have a sincere appreciation for the God-respecting forefathers of this country, Thanksgiving Day has a special significance. By common consent there is the acceptance of a Thanksgiving Day as a holiday appointed by the President and usually by supplementary proclamations of the Governors of the various states. The Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth in 1621 originated this special festival of a Harvest Thanksgiving under the decree of Governor Bradford.
Today it is the general practice of most churches in this country to enrich, the Thanksgiving season with special services of praise, not only on Thanksgiving Day, but also on the Sundays before and after Thanksgiving Day. Because music plays such an important part in these services, and because many ETUDE readers have a musical responsibility in these services, there has been the effort to have the cover of this issue epitomize perhaps the most beautiful and most expressive form in which congregated worshippers find a way of voicing a special thanks for the blessings and mercies enjoyed during the past year and particularly with the culmination of the Harvest season. The photographic portion of the cover is the work of the H. Armstrong Roberts studio of Philadelphia.
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THE COVER FOR THIS MONTH -- Among those who have taken great pleasure in contributing articles and novel bits to THE ETUDE, particularly for The Junior Etude pages, is Miss Frances Taylor Rather. Miss Rather conceived the idea for making a unique and fitting Christmas cover for THE ETUDE MUSIC MAGAZINE, and after a painstaking review of Christmas hymns used by every denomination, Miss Rather selected from each of nine different hymns a line which would fit into her plan of having the initial of the first word in each line spell "Christmas."
Miss Rather, who is from Dallas, Texas, suggested the general form of presentation of this cover and in the rendering of this Idea in a color painting a young and coming artist for the first time is represented by her color work on the cover of a magazine with a nation-wide distribution. This artist is Miss Elizabeth Worthington, Woodbury, New Jersey.
Although there are many parts of the world where Christmas is celebrated when the season is warm and balmy and everything is in bloom, there is, to the majority of people in the United States, a love for associating with grandparents, parents, and others of preceding generations, thoughts of good, old-fashioned wholesomeness have a natural heart-warming association with Christmas.
The cover for this month includes these things, in the snow-covered scene and the pictured carol singers of a yesteryear, and the music parchment floating ethereally over the scene gives us the great handmaiden of Christmas. That handmaiden is Music, for since the very first Christmas morn, when the angels sang, mankind has taken great joy in celebrating the birth of Christ through joyous and reverent singing of Christmas hymns and carols.
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THE COVER ON THIS ISSUE—If everyone on this earth were to contemplate earnestly and deeply the message brought by the portrayal on the front cover of this December 1942 issue of The Etude Music Magazine then young folk such as those pictured singing the Christmas carol would have a good chance of knowing the joys of living in a world of peace and plenty for all. The Etude is indebted to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine for the photographic illustration which inspired this cover. The photograph of these wholesome young folk singing a Christmas carol was made by the Wesley Bowman Studios of Chicago, Illinois, especially for the Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. In the adaptation made for the cover of this issue, the Philadelphia artist, Verna Shaffer, rearranged the grouping of the children to fit our cover proportions, and included in the work she was commissioned to do on this cover was the color work and placement of the music and text of the Christmas carol.
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THE COVER FOR THIS MONTH -Three of the great holidays nationally observed have great religious significance, and it is deserving of particular note that they are given special attention by many active music workers throughout the country. These holidays for which choir directors, organists, Sunday School choristers, school music educators, and music club workers plan special music are Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. As our cover on this issue reminds us of our national Thanksgiving Day, its musical quotation from our National Anthem also reminds us that in many writings, American patriots of earlier days turned heavenward to the Creator of all mankind. This reverent spirit which our forefathers wove into the founding of these great United States of America and which Francis Scott Key was inspired to voice in the third stanza of “The Star-Spangled Banner” should be cherished by every true American. In these days when many American lads, as Lincoln expressed it, have given “the last full measure of devotion,” it is fitting that we “Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.”
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The Cover For This Month: The cover on this issue of THE ETUDE was rendered by Miss Marion Sabel, a student at the Philadelphia Museum of Industrial Art. For her cover subject she has copied a fragment from a page of music from the first Spanish book with printed Church Music. This book was issued bearing and imprint, Sevilla, Meinardus Ungut and Stanislaus Polonus, the 3rd of April , 1494.
It seems to be definitely the first Spanish book to contain printed musical notation. The only know copy in Spain is in the National Library, Madrid. Other copies are to be found in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, and in the British Museum. The Hispanic Society of American in New York City, seems to have possession of the one copy of this book in the United States of America. Maggs Bros. catalog is acknowledged as the source of information of the existing copies.
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THE COVER of ETUDE for December is one of the cheeriest and brightest we have ever been able to secure. The brilliant scarlet cottas of the choir boys, their eager, enthusiastic faces, and the splendid inspiration of the subject fairly shout Christmas. The artist, Maurice L. Bower, is well known for his striking covers on outstanding national magazines.
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“He Is Risen” “Glowing Easter Greetings” Easter is the day of joy in Christendom. Joy is often best expressed in music. That’s why the cover of ETUDE for April presents four beaming choristers reminding us of the famous St. Olaf Lutheran Choir of St. Olaf College at Northfield, Minnesota. This internationally known choir was originated by F. Melius Christiansen. and has traveled many thousands of miles upon its tours. Dr. Christiansen’s works are published by the Augsburg Publishing House of Minneapolis, and it is through the courtesy of this firm that ETUDE has the privilege of bringing this inspiring copyright picture to its readers.
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Prosaically catalogued "Holy Family, illuminated letter with border decoration," this parchment page with Gothic text and neumes has been preserved from a missal used in South Germany during the 15th Century. It is now in the John Frederick Lewis Collection of Medieval Manuscripts owned by the Free Library of Philadelphia. Reproduced by permission.
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F.S.Gardiner: James Russell Lowell. The Vision of Sir Launfal: Prologue to Part First. “Over his keys the musing organist, Beginning doubtfully and far away, First lets his fingers wander as they list, And builds a bridge from Dreamland for his lay” James Russell Lowell.
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| September 1914 (Interior) |
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Has the world’s year gone awry? Don’t blame the spirit of Christmas. If every soldier on the battlefield were to sing in his heart the real music of the wonderful night at Bethlehem, every gun would be forever silent. But the world is purging itself of the horror of war and the makers of war. All the more reason why we should do our utmost here in America to proclaim the great message of peace that the “Herald Angels” sang. What more beautiful music for the Christmas Glorious can be conceived than that of the Master's fellow Judean, Mendelssohn? (From A Christmas Glorious, p. 859)
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