Delta State Alma Mater

Delta State University is one of a few regional universities with an original alma mater, I would think. The alumni have always been rather proud of the tune, which was written in 1930 by Ruth Fischer. Her original manuscript is on display at the university's alumni foundation house. I took a photograph of the manuscript and typeset it as a score in PDF. The following is what that score sounds like when generated electronically.

The 1958 alumni and alumnae sang it at the Delta Music Institute during homecoming festivities, and that session was recorded on youtube:

The Sinfonia chapter at Delta State has often been asked to sing the university's alma mater on certain occasions. When it does so, it usually reads from an arrangement done by chapter alumnus Tim Goodson, scored for men's voices. We never recorded ourselves singing it, but I can provide the Finale rendering of it into strings:

The tune is very difficult to work with, as it really does lend itself toward one particular musical style—that of early twentieth century female vocal trios and jazz big band, into which I doubt this piece was ever actually rendered.

I had tried for a very long time to come up with my own noble arrangement of this tune, when I found myself sitting at my friend Coday Anthony's house one night with Chris Hartfield there who was playing a guitar. As he was strumming and joking around, I asked him, "What can you do to the Delta State alma mater tune?" He thought for a moment and started playing it from what he knew. I fed him a few of Ruth Fischer's original chord progression (which uses a lot of extended tertian and jazz harmonies), and eventually he hammered out a new guitar version of it. He started singing along and I thought it sounded very good. Coday was inspired to record it. As a student of the university's recording technology program, he had the equipment at his disposal, and we began nailing the track down in his house, one track at a time. We started with the guitar alone, then added the guitarist singing it in an easy style. When at the repeat, we wanted to have some kind of really pleasant melodic voice of some kind, and we tried whistling the tune. I started whistling it, and they decided that that whistle would be perfect. The following file is the result of that night's labor.

I still want to try to integrate the tune into other genres, but so far, I believe this version to be the best recording I've heard. We had a great time making it.

I wrote a song! // Mi verkis kanton!

I wrote a setting of "Let not your heart be troubled" earlier this month. It is a work in progress, but it is mainly written in imitation of James Horner's harmonic language, with the thematic usage style of McNeil Robinson. Hopefully it also has a little Herbert Howells in the organ part. Listen to a Finale mp3, and follow along in the PDF score.

Mi verkis kanton de la teksto "Ne maltrankviliĝu via koro" ĉi-monate. La verko estas nefinita, sed ĝi estas skribita ĉefe laŭ imitado de la harmonia lingvo de James Horner, kun la stilo de tema uzado de McNeil Robinson. Mi esperas ke ĝi havas iom Herbert Howells en la orgeno. Aŭskultu ĝin supre, kaj legu la PDF partituron.

Delta State Parking Regulations // Parkaj Reglamentoj de Delta Ŝtata Universitato

One of the old jokes I used to pull out on occasion was the Delta State University parking regulations.

As it stands, the policies have several little holes in them. The main one is the hours for zone enforcement in zones 1, 4, and 6. The other is the last section, which just says to "litter."

Interested in these anomalies, I wrote the maintainer of that page the following E-mail:

Out of curiosity, I decided to read through the published parking regulations at Delta State, and I have a few questions about them.

Firstly, the times in which zone regulations are enforced are a bit difficult to follow. You indicate here that Zone 4, for instance, is only enforced during school time on Monday through Friday, and quite strangely from Sunday to Saturday (which I believe is every day) from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., in the wee hours. Is this correct?

Secondly, the rules appear to require littering. See the regulation marked G, which simply tells the reader to "Litter."

I thought that I would bring these inconsistencies in your department's policies to your attention, so that they can possibly be worded more accurately, so as to avoid confusion, as your name was listed as the maintainer of that page on the Delta State web site.

I wish your department luck in all its endeavors.

I have yet to receive a response since I sent the letter on June 1.

Unu el la malnovaj ŝercoj ke mi rivelis estis la parkaj reglamentoj de Delta Ŝtata Universitato.

Nun, la politikoj havas multajn truetojn en si. La ĉefa estas la horoj por diszonada efikigo en zonoj 1, 4, kaj 6. La alia estas la fina sekcio, kiu nur montras ke oni "disrubu."

Interesite en ĉi tiuj anomalioj, mi skribas al la paĝestro la sekvantan retpoŝton:

Pro scivolemo, mi tralegis la publikigitajn reglamentojn de Delta Ŝtata Universitato, kaj mi havas kelkajn demandojn pri ili.

Unue, la tempoj en kiu diszonado estas efektigita estas malfacila por kompreni. Vi montras en tio ke zono 4 ekzemple estas nur efektigita dum klasa tempo lunde ĝis vendredo, kaj tre strange dimanĉe ĝis sabato (tiu, kiu mi kredas estas ĉiutage) inter 2 atm kaj 7 atm, je la fruaj horoj. Ĉu pravas?

Due, la reglamentoj ŝajnas postuli disrubadon. Vidu la reglamenton "G," kiu simple montras al la legiston, ke oni "disrubu."

Mi pensis ke mi atentigus vin al ĉi tiujn malkonsekvencecojn, por ili povas eble teksti pli ĝuste, por eviti konfuzon, ĉar via estas la paĝesto.

Mi volas al via departemento fortunon en ĉiuj penoj.

Amike,

Andreo Oŭen

Diplomiĝinto

Mi jam ne ricevas respondon ekde 1 de junio.

I feel like learning a language. // Mi volas lerni lingvon.

The summer has been a very relaxing one. The relaxation will no doubt make the following two semesters possible. For the most part, I have been calmly learning information and courting my girlfriend. This summer, I have learned how to use Adobe Illustrator to a reasonable degree, and I have used it and other products to develop my web sites. I started learning a few basic grammar rules and words in Turkish and of course I continue to work on my Esperanto. All is well.

La sumero trankvilas. La trankvilo ebligos la du sekvajn semestrojn. Plejparte, mi trankvile lernas informojn kaj amindumas mian koramikinon. Ĉi-sumere, mi lernis kiel uzi Adobe Illustrator modere, kaj mi uzis ĝin kaj aliajn produktojn por plibonigi miajn retpaĝojn. Mi komencis lerni kelkajn gramatikaĵojn kaj vortojn turke, kaj kompreneble mi daŭrigas lerni esperanton. Ĉiuj bonas.

End of semester joys

As much as I love school, the weight of its responsibilities can become difficult for a little while, which makes the summer even more refreshing than sitting around doing nothing normally would. In the last couple of weeks, I have written three papers (20-page, 15-page, and 12-page), graded 120 assignments, and taken care of several other assignments along the way. By the end of the week, I need to turn in a paper, grade 60 written assignments, translate a 10-page article from French to English, grade 60 final exams, and study for finals in Baroque survey and the Burgundian court music seminar. On top of that, I have to sing four concerts in the next five days—two choral, two vocal.

I really do love the lifestyle, though. I am learning a tremendous amount of information and feeling more and more confident in my field.

This evening's concert at 6:00 at St. Alban's chapel will include 14 lovely choral pieces that the LSU chamber singers have prepared in six rehearsals, each one by a different conductor. This brings the year's total number of pieces sung in chamber singers to 80. That choir is good for the brain.

Assistantship and other things

This week, I have been privileged to many things.  On Monday, I saw a master clarinetist from Kansas (originally from Romania) perform several pieces flawlessly, watch him teach, and speak with him for a while.  On Tuesday, I saw a woodwind specialist play masterfully three very different instruments:  the clarinet, oboe, and saxophone.  He then taught and spoke with the students.  Both candidates were very good, and I will be happy with whichever one the university chooses.  To be honest, it does not matter to me who gets the job, as I am leaving in the fall, but it is still very entertaining to see these great performers for free.

At the end of Tuesday, I performed on horn with a community band a folder of fun, easy music.  We played the "Declaration Overture," "Clash of the Ironclads," a Phantom of the Opera medley, "Heaven's Light," a prelude and fugue arranged from J.S. Bach, and a circus piece called "Circus Days."  Before and after the concert, ice cream was served.  It's a fun tradition that has been rekindled in the last year or so.

Wednesday morning, I woke up and saw in my e-mail inbox where LSU had given me an assistantship to pay for my graduate education.  One could not imagine the weight that was lifted from my shoulders.  It is clear that the weight of financial insecurity is far greater than the weight of uncertain future responsibilities.

I went straight from having read that to having gone to an old tradition in a nearby community of a potluck.  In Merigold, the United Methodist Church hosts a potluck of interesting food that one otherwise would never encounter.  I brought my girlfriend with me and my mother and we ate several very interesting potluck dishes.  This tradition has interested my mother to the point that she has been researching and writing a book about Merigold's food history.

It was a busy three days.

Busy weekend // Okupita semajnofino

The weekend before last was pretty busy and interesting.

Saturday afternoon at about 2:00 p.m., I performed "The Lord is my Light" by Francis Allitsen at the memorial service at the Mississippi United Methodist Annual Conference (which is available for viewing at http://mississippiumc.podhoster.com/index.php?sid=2324 under "Service of Remembrance") in front of over 2000 people. It was fun to perform for that many people—it was pretty cool to have so many people come up to me after the service and tell me how it was the highlight of the conference, and how it had blessed them. It brings me no end of joy to hear that I have helped someone in his or her spiritual life, especially when all I did was sing a song. I am very glad I was able to do it.

Immediately after the service, I drove from Jackson to Laurel, where the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters had its 2009 awards gala. Aubrey Lucas, Mississippi's most beloved man, emceed the event. This year, we awarded Steve Rouse (a former student of the late William Albright, and the composer of one of the pieces that I performed with the Delta State Wind Ensemble a couple of semesters ago) with the music composition award, for a ballet he wrote based on the work of the artist who designed the sculpture above the front doors of Washington National Cathedral. We awarded the pop music award to 3 Doors Down, who sent the parents of one of the band members to receive the award. Another notable winner was Marshall Bouldin, who painted more portraits that are hanging in the US Capitol than any other portrait artist. He was an extraordinary man, not only having great notoreity (he and Norman Rockwell were good friends), but also having tremendous humility and spirituality. He was a very elderly man who possessed an enviable degree of joy. He blamed much of his happiness on his ability to pray and meditate every evening. The rest of the winners are listed on the MIAL site: http://www.ms-arts-letters.org/winners.shtml. The whole evening was very entertaining, enlightening, and worth every cent the membership to the MIAL costs. I was there in three capacities—as a former winner, a current nominee, and as a loyal member of the MIAL. So many interesting people come to this event. I sat at a table with Lee McCarty, the famous potter; we shared several great stories.

That evening, I drove back to Jackson, to wake up the next morning for more business sessions of the Mississippi United Methodist Church.

The whole weekend was very interesting.

At the end of Sunday evening, I mustered enough courage to ask a girl with which I had been secretly in love for about five years if she would be interesting in dating. To my surprise, she admitted that she had felt exactly the same way for the same amount of time. We met at Honor Choir 2004, and ever since then we both secretly felt a special affection for the other. Needless to say, we started dating.

La antaŭlasta semajnofino estis sufiĉe okupita kaj interesa.

En la posttagmezo de sabato, ĉe la 14a horo, mi kantis "La Sinjoro estas mia Lum'," de Francis Allitsen ĉe la rememora diservo ĉe la Misisipia Unuiĝinta Metodista Ĉiujara Konferenco antaŭ pli ol 2000 homoj. Ĉi tiu estas videbla ĉe http://mississippiumc.podhoster.com/index.php?sid=2324 sub "Service of Remembrance." Kanti por tiom da homoj estis amuza—tiom da homoj venis al mi post la diservo kaj diris al mi ke ĝi estis la kulmino de la konferenco, kaj ke ĝi benis ilin. Aŭdi ke mi helpis iun en lia aŭ ŝia spirita vivo feliĉigas min, precipe kiam mi nur kantas kanton. Mi ĝojas ke mi povis kanti ĝin tie.

Tuj post la diservo, mi veturis Laŭrelon de Ĵaksono. En Laŭrelo, la Misisipia Instituto de Artoj kaj Literaturo havis ĝian 2009 premia bankedo. Aubrey Lucas, la plej amata viro en Misisipio, direktis la eventon. Ĉi-jara, ni premiis al Steve Rouse (ekslernanto de la mortinta William Albright, kaj la komponisto de unu de la pecoj ke mi ludis kun la Blovmuzikistaro de la Ŝtatuniversitato de l' Delto antaŭ du semestroj) la muzikan komponadan premion, pro baleto ke li verkis laŭ la verko de la artisto kiu faris la skulptaĵo super la frontaj pordoj de Vaŝingtona Nacia Katedralo. Ni premiis la popularan muzikan premion al 3 Doors Down, kiu sendis la gepatrojn de unu de la muzikistaranoj por ricevi la premion. Alia rimarkinda gajnanto estis Marshall Bouldin, kiu pintis pli portretojn ke estas montritaj en la Usona Kapitolo ol ajna alia portreta artisto. Li estis eksterordinara viro, ne nur havante rimarkindon (li kaj Norman Rockwell estis bonaj amikoj), sed ankaŭ havante grandegan humilecon kaj spiritecon. Li estis tre maljuna viro, kiu posedis envieblan kvanton de ĝojon. Lia povo de preĝi kaj mediti feliĉigis lin. La aliaj gajnantoj estas listigitaj en la MIAL retpaĝaro: http://www.ms-arts-letters.org/winners.shtml. La tuta vespero estis tre amuza, informa, kaj inda kiom membreco kostas. Mi estis tie per tri oficoj—kiel antaŭa gajnanto, kiel nuna kandidato, kaj kiel lojala ano de la MIAL. Tiom da interesaj homoj venas ĉi tiun eventon. Mi sidis ĉe tablo kun Lee McCarty, la fama potisto. Ni dividis multajn bonegajn rakontojn.

Tiam vespere, mi reveturis Ĵaksonon por veki dum la sekva mateno por pli aferaj sesioj de la Misisipia Unuiĝinta Metodista Eklezio.

La tuta semajnofino estis tre interesa.

En tiu dimanĉo vespere, mi kolektis sufiĉan kuraĝon por peti virinon kun kiu mi estis aminta kaŝe en la daŭro de kvin jaroj se ŝi estus interesita pri havi amrilaton. Surprize, ŝi konfesis ke ŝi estis sentinta same en la sama daŭro. Mi renkontis ŝin ĉe Honora Ĥoro 2004, kaj depost tiam, ni ambaŭ kaŝe sentis specialan amon por la alia. Nenecesa por diri, ni komencas havi amrilaton.