Newspaper Page Text
^ Mnttt Cluster
olume L
MERCER UNIVERSITY, MACON, GEORGIA, OCTOBER 31, 1968
Number 4
/fantovani
{ere Sunday
a Chapel
rhc title of a recent record—
he Incomparable Mentovani"
mien LL3392 and PS 392 la
t. How apt can be meaaured by
fact that Mantovani’a is prob-
y the only orchestra of its kind
the world capable of making
ular large scale international
ire.
It' is called by Variety “the big-
t musical phenomenon of the
■ntieth century". He has ap-
irctl in person before almost two
[lion Americans, and yet, when
ently he cancelled a Minneepo
et, nee rt, not one of the 5,000
tot holders wanted their money
ck Instead they preferred to
>p their tickets for the concert
imued in the following year.
Vhut is the secret of this pro-
jous success? Even Mantovani
not sure. “I don't understand
y we are the only light orchestra
the world doing this sort of
ns.'' he will say.
Host of the secret undoubtedly
i in his finely toned orchestra
u Each facet, like a diamond,
y display a spectrum of inter-
ijled iridescences, but as the
hest ration turns it is also o mu
ll prism: the whole is cleanly,
lost crisply, delineated until not
> -lummering spectrum winks
, hut a whole constellation of
m flecks of warmth among the
di r musical transparencies The
ole piece becomes a sort of
mhling musical candleabra, and
the musical center always that
ir melody shining through.
musical candelabra* may as
jc almost any shape—it’s “Catch
■■ailing Star” in one, and “Won-
NVho’s Kissing Her Now” in
ither. but invariably they are
Mantovani and his orchestra will appear in concert in
the Willingham Chapel Sunday. This performance is one of
his first on his 12th tour of North America.
both gemlike and iridescent, as if
the conductor were using the most
common musical materials pur
posely to emphasize the transcen-
dant nature of the orchestration.
Mantovani was born in Venice,
appropriately the most incandes
cent and evanescent, the most mir
rored and mirroring of all the
world’s cities. His father was Tos
canini's principal violinist at La
Scala. Milan, played for Mascagni
(composer of "Cavalleria Rustics
na"), was a professor at two Ital
ian conservatories and the holder
of the title "Cavalieri”.
Like many other musicians, he
would have preferred the security
of almost any other profession for
his son. "Let the boy become an
engineer,” he said. It did not work
that way.
In 1951, Mantovani hit the jack
pot with the recording of a simple
piece called "Charmaine.” The rec
ord swept the world like a prairie
fire—led to demands for personal
appearances, so that the originator
of these new sounds could be seen
in person. Today from Tobruck
to Texas, in Queensland or in Peru,
say "Charmaine” and they'll know
the name: Mantovani.
Many critics have taken a flyer
at describing his effects: “Cascad
ing violins,” "Tumbling strings,” A
Niagara Falls of Fiddles,” Variety
writer James T. Maher goes fur-
ther: "the Mantovani mintmarks
are instantly identifiable: cannonic
arpeggiations in the high strings,
simple wind solos set off from lush
string reprises by engaging luft-
pauses, wide dynamics, and expert
ly scored coloristic effects.”
John Wilson of the New York
Times once asked Mantovani bow
he maintained his pre eminence
He answered, “I am a string man
I know what I want from string
players. I know the capabilities of
the violin. I know what it can do
and what it cannot do. I can avoid
the soaring phrase that goes
squeaky on top.”
Mantovani has written a large
(Continued on Page 5)
Science Center
Dedicated
odding Carter To Present
?68 Lamar Lectures Here
odding Carter, nationallly
»n journalist and author, will
the lecturer for the twelfth La-
Memorial Lectures at Mercer
versify Nov. 6-6.
he title lor the series will be
eir Words Were Bullets: The
thorn Press In War, Recon
ction and Peece”.
he series, which will be open
hr public, will begin in WiUing-
i Chapel Nov. 5 at 10 ajn with
ter speaking on “The Fighting
ki
he second lecture will be held
I o'clock the evening of the 6th
the Recital Hall of the remo
ld Ware Music Hall. Carter’s
ject for that lecture will be
* Printed Word In War and
“t" Bert Struby, general man
sod executive vice-president
* Macon Telegraph and News,
in'.roduce him.
he final lecture will be given
P m. an the 6th in the Ware
ic Hall an the subject, “Into
Mam Stream: The Southern
• Since 1900”.
trier in 1946 was awarded the
twr Prise for editorials in the
■Peper he owns. The Daily
k Democrat-Times of Green
• Meat. He is the author ot
kooks Inalndtag “First Person
< Doomed Road of Empire”
A); “The Angry Sear: The
y of Reconstruction” (1909);
H odding Carter
"John Law Wasn’t So Wrong”
(1962) and “Where Mein Streets
Meets the River” (1962). The last
was a Book-of-the-Month selection
by the Atlantic Monthly.
In recognition of Carter’s jour
nalistic achievements, Tulane Uni
versity named him writer In resi
dence. a position he has held since
1962. He was awarded the William
Allan White Foundation’s National
Citation of Journalistic Merit in
1961 and the Bowdotn Prise in
I960.
Man has the ability to remake
the world but he must learn how to
use that knowledge wisely, two pro
minent speakers said at Mercer
University last week.
Speaking at the dedication of the
Hugh M. Willet Science Center,
Dr. Charles H. Townes, Nobel
Prize winner in 1964 for his work
on the maser and laser, said. "We
have the ability to remake the
world in almost any form, but must
have the understanding and sense
of values to go with it.”
He pointed to the vast improve
ments in medicine, agriculture,
communication and travel that
have taken place in the past few
years. "We also have the ability to
remake man . . . and the possession
of sudden death from nuclear dif
fusion in the cities.
"These things make some people
think we should turn back from sci
ence, but this is like saying we
should stop breathing oxygen and
return to life in the water . . .
Knowledge is a God-given gift and
one of his most promising monu
ments to man."
"We need people who know how
to do things and we need people
who know what to do. Every ave
nue in every walk of life needs to
have an understanding of science
and every scientist needs to have
understanding.”
Following the dedication cere
monies at the west entrance of the
$1.76 million ecience facility. Dr
Felix C. Robb, director of the
Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools, sakl at a luncheon.
“The technical knowledge to feed
all of the world's hungry is one
thing, but doing it is another.
President Harris ....
Addresses Trustees
One of the factors in the current
disquiet of college youth is suspi
cion of the adequacy of their ed
ucation, Dr. Rufus Carrollton
Harris, president of Mercer Uni
versity, said at the October meeting
of the Board of Trustees.
“They fearfully doubt ita ade
quacy when they encounter un
prepared. indifferent and dull
teaching,” Dr. Harris told the
trustees who were meeting for the
first time in the Recital Room of
the renovated Ware Music Hall.
Components of the "expanded
insight" of today's students. Dr.
Harris said, were the emergence
of new social goals, the involve
ment of education and the creation
of o new education problem—the
student.
Speaking on the emergence of
new goals, the president pointed
out, “There is serious doubt that
adult America realizes the depth
of the determination of the young
er generation to undertake any
thing they find necessary to relieve
the ravages of poverty and the
ghettos which breed some of Amer
ica's disruption and crime . . .
Sensing an insecurity of their own,
they have come to identify their
problems with those of all the un
derprivileged, abused and neglected
groups in our society."
The involvement of education in
the American society follows be
cause colleges are a part of that
society. “If American youth were
not able to believe and to perceive
that higher education is sensitive
and actively responsive to tensions
and disturbances, there would be
increased campus disruption.”
The students “being in the col
leges and regarding them as insti
tutional agencies of which they are
critical, sensitive to ways in which
the campus mirrors what they re
gard as the American malaise, tend
to strike against the target that is
most available to them. This ex
plains why the campus in America
is so much involved in student
strife."
The president called attention to
a formula recommended by the
Baptist Education Study Task
(BEST) of the Southern Baptist
Convention and reported by the
Dr. Charles Townes
•What may be needed are people
with a concern for the wise uses of
technological development.” He
railed for “a national alliance of
scientific and political leaders
(which) must emerge if we are to
maintain our sanity ami build a
better world for all ... If the im
provement of man hiraaelf is to be
the new frontier, science must
marry religion and political'
Dr. Rufus Harris
Doak S. Campbell Committee ap
pointed a year ago by the Execu
tive Committee of the Georgia Bap
tist Convention to review the oper
ations of the six Georgia Baptist
colleges
If the fortnulu recommended in
the BEST Study for support of
Baptist colleges were followed, a
student would pay $938 a year tui
tion instead of $1,216. Endowment
would produce $188 a student in
stead of $251 which it now pro
duces. The Georgia Baptist Con
vention would provide $375 for
support of every student instead
of $93 which the 1968 convention
appropriation of $167,850 to Mer
cer provides. The university next
year would be required to raise
through unrestricted gifts and
grants $375 a student instead of the
$316 which is now raises.
Anticipating the cessation of
Vietnam hostilities and an in
creased public support to private
higher education. Dr Harris said.
"If Mercer University, indeed if
all private colleges are to live
in the years ahead, they must avail
themselves of such support without
restraint other than that of the
conscience of the trustees.”
In his annual operations report,
the president reported that the fac
ulty. with 105 full-time teachers
was filled for the school year This
constitutes the largest faculty ros*
ter than at any time in the past
several years '
President Harris requested Onto
the proposal to change the Bache
lor of Laws (I.L.B.V decree now*
(Continued on Page 2)
SI Million Left
In Croft Trust
For Scholarships
Dr, Rufus C. Harris president of
Mercer University, has informed
the Board of Trustees of the es
tablishment of. trust fiinds for si hoi
nrshi|*t and two profo-saorships.
President Harris and the board
expressed appreciation for the gift
of $1 million from the estate <lf
Julia Croft who died four years agt>
in Augusta. The money was a por
tion of u .$3 million purchase price
for n tract of land near August*.
The proceeds from the trust fund
will he ustd in scholarship aid to
students.
The board ami President Harris
also expressed appreciation to the
Callaway Foundation Inc. of La-
Grange which will provide income
from a trust fund which will sup
port partially two distinguished fa
culty members of the Collage* Of
Liberal Arts. j
Mercer is one VSf'SS Georgia col
leges which will benefit from this
trust fund.
