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thehisTo Sing in AlbertRolandNegroAlbert Hall, London, on Sept. 28 andbullHall in 72 Yearsmore, who led a symphony orchestraplaying one of his own compositions in July at Royal Albert Hall, and Cpl. MarcBiitzstein, of New York, composer-author of “The Cradle Will Rock.” a musicalid.* *teeroth.By Richard WilburStars andIs tn }ped a n dStripesStaff WriterBATTALION HQ, Sept. 16—Two hundred Negroone had missed the cue to come in with, “Yeah, Paul Revere had a horse race“Who's Paul Revere?”manded.SomeoneWeisgall deraised his handplay produced Welles.“Thehe soldiers, members of fouraveunion engineers battalions, sat on benches together andsang:cue, soldier-chorusBiitzstein shouted to thesheepishly.Weisgall said.* **fromthe“Mister Tom Jefferson, a mighty fine man,He wrote it down in a mighty fine hanreelheyAnd 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 fromcame to the words, “Let my peopleWeisgall wasn't satisfied with thebe*steady sitting, shifted around in their seatsand murmured, “1 need complete silence, Biitzstein said..... * 5*55*5.And they crossed their T's and dottedtheir IsA bran' new country did arise.Let's Hear ItAn airplane roared overhead. “I mean* *In a bare Nissen hut here the aviationI#“Balladfortoo. the roof.4 - *engineers were rehearsing Americans, one of the songs they will sing before Allied audiences in Royal Albert Hall, where they will give a con-you, too. Biitzstein shouted, grinningup atgood humor, the aviation engineers took up their cue again—“Let’s hear it,” Biitzstein said. “Blast it out!” andgo.way they sang it. “I mysterious,” he said, religious. It's a plea. You’ve got to feelit deeply, but with restraint.”“I want it to beSgt. Jimmy Daniels, of New York, hadthe line, “Abraham Lincoln said that onNov. 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.” The line was a lot different from lyrics that Daniels usedtosing as an entertainer in New York and Harlem nightclubs. Most of the other chorus members used tocert w ith the London Symphony Orchestraand Roland Hayes, AmericanNegrosingamateur quartets back homein Methodist choirs ornationThe people found the going rough.sang the stretch right. Then they startedontenor, on Sept. 28 and 29.The machine age came with a great bigroarAn all-Americanprogram, including ten Negro spirituals, has been planned for the concert. The opening^ight will mark ihe first appearance of a chorus in the 72-year-oM history of Royal Albert Hall, officials of the hail blt;.4,y Americans grew in peace and war And a million wheels went around andNegro“That among these rights are life,Liberty,The cities reached into the sk\'round.And dug down deep into the ground.'’A throat-cutting gesture by Biitzstein.“TooingtheAnd the pursuit of happiness the chorus sang. A soloist put in his line:sound mighty line, said“No!” he shouted from the stage, heavy. In that part, you've got to travel like an airplane.“ThereAnd thirteen states weren't large enough—So they started to expandInto the western lands,the chorus sang.Weisgall was satisfied. All right, that’s damn good, he said. Chuckles at his frankthrough the chorus, very, very well,”sounds swell.”opinion swept“You guys are doingWeisgall added. “ItMcDaniel tookchoruson Negro spirituals, Weisgall, full ofsteeredtty Sgt. Cecil Jefferson, of Kansas City, Mo.The battalion men who built this GIchorusup from scratch- ChaplainWilliam M. Perkins. Philadelphia; l.Sgt. Alexander B. Jordan, St. Paul, Minn..and T 5 James McDaniel, Kansas City, Mo.— watched from the . sidelines. AfiatofItbehe professional rehearsal of “Ballad forare two hundred of us, and j chorus we'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. 28ofAmericans was under way. led by two Gls up from London—Y/Sgt. HugoWeisgall, composer-conductor from Balti-in Alabama, explained aside-how the chorus idea started. A group of 18in his battalion went around singing Christmas Carols in nearby villages. After Christmas, 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 spiri My Head.” These aviationengineers Head” withfull knowledge of its timeliness:“Over my head, there's trouble in the air,There must be a God somewhere m uch’re in a placeamusement nearby,”Sgt.said....—“At nights some of the singers usedthe huts and say, ‘WhyHigh-ranking officials of the UnitedTE BREGERto 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-Nations are expected to attend the opening-night performapce Sept. 28, from which the proceeds will go to British war charities. On the 29th, the performance will be given free for all service men andmg toburgh.The boys used to get togetherthere and-harmonize to relieve the monotony of training films,” he recalled.Rehearsals—Good FunThe 200 Gls 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 inBiitzstein, 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,Am I an Ameri*when Pfc Cantril asks,* *can?” he answers himself affirmatively:Tm just an Irish, Negro, Jewish, Italian,■Migroups,! chorus rehearsals.In a PX hut, Biitzstein has also been composing a symphonic poem, based on Negro spirituals, which will be playedFrench and English, Spanish. Russian,is*C hinese,■mPolish, Scotch, Hungarian, Litvak,Greek and-iSwedish, Finnish, Canadian,-■V.during the concert.“It’s been wondcWeisgall took over, the rehearsal, ‘ trying compose ’ ’ ’ ’ 1 1 ......singing several other songs at the same time, and some of them leaning over myOne guy didn’tfittedshoulder, correcting me. think some nart Isome part with Negro spirituals Russian. So I had t«wrote said itinsoundedand Czech and double Czech.T urk,So there isn't much left to be said afterthat, except, as the script directs:”CHORUS (Whistle, in amazement)it«I. .0€TS,*., •«* .*«««•,4 .4... 44. 4.* «• 4 4 4The chorus, still rehearsing “Ballad for Americans’’ under Weisgall's direction,about4 4 4)4 4 4. 4444,,. .• t( ... 4*T* ■ U*•B44.44.44,*4 4 4 V»«»Y#iH4 4 . *4 4 4*4.4,.44.44*4 4. 4 44. » »4*44.** .4 4• « #4 4.4 4 *44.44.44 ,.»4* «4 * 4 4i44444,“ 4-But he hated oppression, he hated wrong,CoflagSiAnd he went down to his grave to freethe slave.StMan in white skin can never be free While his black brother is in slaverybeersee SAILORS carryin’ packsAlbertplatform, Weisgall both chorus and or Hall, waved hisBerlin is burning, the Ruhr is on fire,4P .. *troops retireSicilian straits seethed like hot lard,*Hamburg liessmoking and Naplescha. ■drawingarms,music out of the 200 Gls. 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 theDanish blaze#In smoke near Vienna a factory’s_ -* _ 14 ■ . 4*4An old proverb proves Hitler’s- 4-y.v^good slave, but flameSet• .4' ,4 •'J-• i• »w.■..I•YZr£!*V**
Newspaper Details
New York Stars and Stripes
New York, New York, US
Fri, Sep 17, 1943
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anya P.
GB 02 Jun 2022
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