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Dorothy Copus Brush Will folks remember Fred
Waring Music and Christmas are intertwined and because
we hear all those melodies for only a short time annually they
make an even greater impact. Every year I pull out a 1950 album
called The Meaning of Christmas featuring Fred Waring and the
Pennsylvanians. Some will say who? But others will remember the
contributions of this ensemble. Waring once explained the goal of his group's
performances in these words, "As always we interpret yesterday's
music as you remember it -- more than that -- we try to make
today's music most pleasant to all ears of all years." Born in Tyrone, PA, in 1900 Waring was part
of a family who loved to gather around the piano and sing. It
is not surprising that one of his bywords became "a singing
America is a happy America." While still in high school in 1917, his older
brother, Tom, with two other hometown friends and Fred formed
a small musical group to entertain locally. Fred dropped out
when he went to Penn State to study architecture. After one semester
his brother persuaded him to rejoin them for a performance at
the University of Michigan. It was a smashing hit, and Fred never
returned to college but became a full-time musician. Fred expanded the orchestra, and in 1925 they
went to Hollywood where they became popular entertaining live
in theaters before the movie was shown. From that success they
were hired by movie palaces across the nation. By 1928 they were
the toast of Europe, too, and in Paris George Gershwin made an
appearance with them. He credited Waring with aiding his career. Even though our country was struggling in
a Great Depression, the Pennsylvanians' appearances at the Roxy
Theater in New York City filled the house with folks trying to
forget the hard times. This was 1932 and they had a six-month
contract at the Roxy. A famed Negro choir was also on the program,
and one night their director fell ill. Waring was asked to direct
them. The experience was so thrilling to both Fred and the audience
he was convinced he should combine trained singers with his orchestra. Always a perfectionist, Waring had enlarged
the orchestra with musicians who played several instruments.
In the days before he added a chorus he always used the last
part of the orchestra's rehearsal time to direct them in chorus
singing. Once he decided to add singers, he auditioned 1,000
and chose 20 men and five women to become the first Waring Glee
Club. He engaged the then-unknown Robert Shaw to rehearse the
group in syllables and melody, but the final preparation with
Waring's unique interpretations were done by Waring himself doing
the directing. Waring's respect for songwriters was appreciated.
Rodgers and Hammerstein gave him their songs to introduce before
they appeared on Broadway. Jerome Kern said of Waring, "He
never sacrifices a song of mine because a basso can do a good
solo. He plays it exactly as I wrote it." What made the
songs unique were Waring's emphasis and blend. During the late 1930s national radio featured
the Pennsylvanians every night at 7. For Waring it was not enough
that his chorus and orchestra rendered the music as he wanted
but he introduced a better way for the radio listener to hear
the music. In those early days only one mike was used, even for
the philharmonic symphonies. Waring insisted on eight microphones
-- six for the instrumental section, two for the chorus - so
the full effect of every instrument was heard. All during the World War II years the Pennsylvanians
were heard daily on radio, broadcasting from Waring's Shawnee
Inn located at Shawnee on the Delaware. They provided that stiff
upper lip quality to civilians worried about their loved ones
in the service. Fred and his brother, Tom, opened a canteen in
New York City for service personnel. There is too much about this music man's life
for one column and next week his story will conclude. In the
meantime I'll listen to the Christmas album and remember the
hour's interview I had with him. My wish for you this Dec. 25 is to remember the meaning of Christmas. |