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THE STARSe11tei *fiStars and Stripes Photo by Richard KoenigFirst ChorusRaceMcDaniel, of Kansas Citv, Mo., assistantTo Sing in Albert200 aviation engineersRolandNegroAlbert Hall, London, on Sept. 28 andHall in 72 Yearsmore, who led a symphony orchestraplaying one of his own compositions in July at Royal Albert Hall, and Cpl. MarcBlitzstein, of New York, composer-authorof “The CradleBy Richard WilburStripesBATTALION HQ, Sept. 16-soldiers, members of fourTwo hundred Negroone had missed the cue to come in with, “Yeah, Paul Revere had a horse race“Who's Paul Revere?99manded.SomeoneWeisgall raised hisdehandWill Rock play produced several years ; Welles.musical“Theunion engineers battalions, sat on benches together andsang:cue,soldier-chorusBlitzstein shouted to thesheepishly.Weisfromthe“Mister Tom Jefferson, a mighty fine man, He wrote it down in a mighty fine han' And the rest all signed with a mighty finehan'stage, is ‘Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.' Then—loud—‘Shallnot perish from the earth.'Some of the soldiers, restless fromgall said.They came to the words, “Let my peopleWeisgall wasn't satisfied with thego.* *“Ibe*steady sitting, shifted around in their seats and murmured, 1 need complete silence, Blitzstein said.And they crossed their T s and dottedtheir I sA bran' new' country did arise.• »Let's Hear It“I meanIn a bare Nissen hut here the aviation“Ballad forengineers were rehearsing Americans, one of the songs they will sing before Allied audiences in Royal Albert Hall, where they will give a concert w ith the London Symphony OrchestraRoland Haves. Americanyou, j up atAn airplane roared overhead.too. Blitzstein shouted, grinning the roof.way they sang it. mysterious,” he said. “I want it to be religious. It's a plea. You’ve got to feelit deeply, but with restraint.”Sgt. Jimmy Daniels, of New York, had the line, “Abraham Lincoln said that onNov. 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.” The line was a lot different from lyrics that Daniels usedtoa n dNegrogood humor, the aviation engineers took up their cue again—“Let’s hear it,” Blitzstein said. “Blast it out! andsing as an entertainer in New York and Harlem nightclubs. Most of the other chorus members used to sine in Methodistsing inamateur quartets back homechoirs ornationThe people found the going rough.sang the stretch right. Then they startedontenor, on Sept. 28 and 29.“The machine age came w ith a great bigroarAn all-Americanprogram, including ten Negro spirituals, has been planned for the concert. The opening^ight will mark the first appearance of a chorus in the 72-year-oM history of Royal Albert Hall, officials of the hail blt;As Americans grew in peace and war And a million wheels went around and’round.Negro‘ That among these rights are life,Liberty,The cities reached into the sk\And dug down deep into the ground.”And the pursuit of happiness,”the chorus sang. A soloist put in his line:sound mighty fine, saidA throat-cutting gesture by Blitzstein.“No!” he shouted from the stage. “Too heavy. In that part, you've got to travel like an airplane.“ThereAnd thirteen states weren’t large enough—So they started to expand Into the western lands ”the chorus sang. Weisgall was satisfied.All right, that’s damn good, he said. Chuckles at his frank44through the chorus, very, very well,”sounds swell.”opinion swept“You guys are doingWeisgall added. “ItMcDaniel tookon Negrospirituals, steered fchorusWeisgall, full ofSgt. Cecil Jefferson, of Kansas City. Mo.The battalion men who built this GIchorusup from scratch—ChaplainWilliam M. Perkins. Philadelphia; 1 Sgt. Alexander B. Jordan, St. Paul, Minn., and T 5 James McDaniel. Kansas City, Mo.—watched from the . sidelines. Arehearsal of “Ballad was under way, led by from London—T/Sgt. HugoprofessionalAmericansforare two hundred of us, and j choruswe've got to sound like one voice.”Sgt. Jordan, who used to sing with and help direct the famed Tuskogee Collegechoir“I honestly think they could .be the bestdirectionOpening Performance Sept. 28twoGIup/Weisgall, composer-conductor from Balti-in Alabama, explained aside-how the chorus idea started. A group of 18in his battalion went around singingChristmas Carols in nearby villages. AfterChristmas, the carolers broke up into quartets, then the quartets gradually grewto choir size.We’re in a place where there's notJordanThe chorus was on the spiritual, “Ovei My Head.” These aviation engineersHeadfull knowledge of its timeliness:“Over my head, there's trouble in the air,There must be a God somewhere ”in a place much amusement nearby.” Sgt.“At nights some of the singers usedthe huts and say, ‘Whyami * i_ i-—said.High-ranking officials of the UnitedNations are expected to attend the open-fromBREGER9 9to stop by in the huts and say, don't you come out to choir rehearsals?’ and more came along each time.One of the battalions formed singing groups as far back as a U.S. staging area, where it stayed for three months, accord-1/Lt. William Work, of Pitts-ing-night performance Sept. 28, which the proceeds will go to British war charities. On the 29th, the performancebemg toburgh. “The boys used to get together there and-harmonize to relieve the monotony of training films,” he recalled.Rehearsals—Good FunThe 200 GIs.have rehearsed as a choruswomen.The 200 aviation engineers will leave this backwoods region for a week in London before the concert. They'll spend the week in intensive rehearsals withexpectedfrom the United States this week, andSpringfieldformer member of the St. Louis Municipaltwo nights weekly during the past month.On the other nights, the've rehearsed inBlitzstein, who hastwo separate groups, been living up here with one companyrecently, has alternated leading the twoand coordinated them at fullOpera Co., who, as special soloist, has“Ballad forvirtually the final say in Americans.” At the end of the ballad, when Pfc Cantril asks, “Am I an AmerL can?” he answers himself affirmatively:I V*I’m just an Irish, Negro, Jewish. Italian,wf groups,! chorus rehearsals.In a PX hut, Blitzstein has also been composing a symphonic poem, based on Neg.ro spirituals, which will be played during the concert.“It’s been wonderful fun,” he said, as Weisgall took over,the rehearsal, “trying to compose this in the PX, with the guys singing several other songs at the same time, and some of them leaning over my shoulder, correcting me. One guy didn’t think some oart I wrote fittedFrench and English, Spanish, Russian,HiC hinese,Polish, Scotch, Hungarian, Litvak,Greek and■Swedish, Finnish, Canadian,and Czech and double Czech.”T urk,v*So there isn’t much left to be said after*r-ASthat, except, as the script directs:”CHORUS (Whistle, in amazement).’*aswrote said itinsoundedsome part with Negro spiritualsRussian. So I had tlt;The chorus, still rehearsing “Ballad for Americans” under Weisgall’s direction, sane about Abraham Lincoln:versI•...vk..................«..,.....•».......)• . .. ....... „ • « .. . • *Tl . u.*• *VS. . . .*,••«............ .. . . ...................• *v.y.... *.......“But he hated oppression, he hated wrong,And he went down to his grave to freethe slave.Coflag%•*Man in white skin can never be free While his black brother is in slaverybeerWeisgallBerlin is burning, the Ruhr is on fire,a* I •troops retireSicilian straits seethed like hot lard,**Hamburg liessmoking and Naplescha. ■see SAILORS carry in’ packsduct both chorus and orchestra at Royal Albert Hall, waved his arms, drawing music out of the 200 GIs. Army cement-mixers, bricklayers, and carpenters during the day, some of them were.getting sleepy during the four-hour night rehearsal. Weisgall’s arms flopped suddenly. Some-Viking torches the Danishblazed’,In smoke near Vienna a factory’s. s-tsaAn old proverb proves Hitler’sgood slave, but flameSet. •■i■y\■s• ** £...E*u.•* vi■a.-a*x;’r gIs-I .VI'MSri*'L.,:/.■ •
Newspaper Details
New York Stars and Stripes
New York, New York, US
Fri, Sep 17, 1943
Page 2
Full Page
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Anya P.
GB 01 Jun 2022
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