SEPTEMBER. 1982
THE BELLES
PAGE 3
Some of the strangest and most pitiable
sounds which the St. Mary's girl will hear
this fall--contlnuous sighs, squeaks,
squeals--wlll come, not from students
desperate in the library, but rather from
the organ in St. Mary's Chapel. In fact,
the organ has gotten into such bad shape
during the last few years that one expert
has judged It to be "one of the worst in
Christendom." The Chaplain habitually
warns future brides who plan to be
married In the Chapel that they should be
safe and hire a string quartet. I thought
that I would Inaugurate this year's series
of "Behind the Desk" essays by
presenting to St. Mary's students an
account of how our school owns such a
famously-unsuccessful instrument, by
telling about recommendations for the
future, and then by evaluating these
recommendations.
Almost every organist would agree
that the present organ, built 30 years ago
by the Reuter Company of Lawrence,
Kansas, was never a fine Instrument,
even in its heyday: it lacked the clarity
and variety of good organs. And then,
time has not treated the Reuter well.
Even though it Is a real organ--with
pipes--it contains much electrical
circuitry, and this has deteriorated to the
extent that notes disappear, leaving
audible holes In chords. The leather sides
of the wind reservoirs have rotted: the
escaping air causes the "wind-rustling-
fhrough-the-trees" effect, audible
through the whole Chapel, and produces
such shaky wind pressure that the organ
cannot be tuned. Squirrels have
burrowed into the organ chambers (on
the Gospel side of the chancel) and have
hidden nuts and built nests among pipes
and electrical circuits/ the organ
f’epairman has even found pecan hulls in
between the keys of the console, all the
'^ay on the epistle side.
Back In 1980, Mr. Rice named a
committee to study the problem, it
concluded that the present organ is not at
an salvageable: St. Mary's could spend
^20,000 on a rebuild and still have a
•‘adically unsuccessful instrument, one
'acking the clarity and proper soun s or
Playing the organ works of ac .
Instead, the committee recommended
^he purchase of a completely .
modest size, with two manuals ana
pedal. The proposed organ would contain
25 ranks or sets of pipes, each rank
containing from 32-56 pipes, and would be
built by the Gabriel Kney Company of
London, Ontario, Canada. This organ
would be constructed with mechanical,
moving connections between the keys
and pipes, unlike the Reuter, which, as I
mentioned before, uses the sort of
electrical connections which deteriorate
after a few decades. The recommended
organ would, in both construction and
sound, resemble the instruments of the
Baroque Period: 1600-1750. Since many of
the organs are still playable after three
centuries, we may hope that, with proper
maintenance, the recommended new
organ could last that long--a far better
record than the Reuter, virtually
unuseable after less than a third of a
century. The only drawback is money:
such a well-constructed organ, especially
built for our Chapel, would require
thousands of hours from highly skilled
craftsmen; the materials would be of the
finest- real woods and special alloys of
pure metals. The fee would reflect both
this craftsmanship and these materials:
it would be about $170,000.
Unless one is from the U.S.
Department of Defense, it is always easy
to object to the expenditure of such sums.
One could object that the new organ
would not be played by St. Mary's, gjcls,^
since there are no organ students at St.
Mary's (there is, I must hasten to add, a
very fine organ teacher, Mrs. Sharon
Reed). And it is possible to object that the
St. Mary's students and alumnae have no
interest in organ music: they talk loudly
during the organ pieces played during
Tuesday-night Chapel and alumnae
events. It would be, after all, quite
expensive to pay $170,000 to provide
background for gossip and reunions.
Such objections are probably
shortsighted. They Ignore the fact that
people other than the St. Mary's girls
would hear the organ: it would be used at
weddings and funerals; it would be used
as a recital instrument by outside players
as well as by Profs. Quinn (of the
Religion Department), Reed, and
myself. (I know of no other small school,
aside from the music conservatories,,
which can boast of so many organists on
its staff.) Then, too, such objections are
pessimistic. With a good organ, St.
Mary's would perhaps attract organ
students. And we may hope that, with
music played which is worth listening to,
the St. Mary's girls would begin to attend
to it: they would then find themselves
developing their skills as listeners-one of
the most pleasurable things that can
befall a creature with ofirs. And then,
probably even more important, they
would perhaps begin to experience that
(Continued on Page 4)
CAREER
CORNER
ON CHOOSING A MAJOR
How does one go about
choosing a major? For seniors
at St. Mary’s this question
becomes extremely important
as soon as an application to a
senior college sits waiting to
be completed. College is
expensive, both in terms of
money and time, and the
choice of a major can be a
costly one if made hastily or
thoughtlessly. There is
abundant help available at St.
Mary’s in the guidance office
in lower Smedes. The trick is
to set aside some time on a
regular basis - an hour a week
or so - to do some exploring
and to gain enough
information about yourself,
the majors, being considered,
and the world of work.
The first step often is to
assess one’s interests. Several
tools are available to help with
self assessment in an
organized objective way. One
is the Educational Interest
Survey which will inventory
the kinds of activity one likes
and key those interests to
various academic majors.
The Self Directed Search is
another' such instrument;
Others are available varying
in the time and effort needed
to use them. Another step is to
ascertain that the maj(M-s of
interest are available at the
college or university desired.
The Four Year College Data
Service Book lists majors
alphabetically and under each
major, a list by states of
institutions which offer the
major.
Once one narrows the
majors and institutions of
interest down to a
manageable size, it is wise to
explore what careers related
to those choices are available.
Reality testing often becomes
a great influence at this point.
In the Occupational Outlook
Handbook, one can fine up to
date, brief descriptions of the
nature of the work, working
conditions; places of
employment, training, other
qualifications and
advancement, the
employment outlook,
earnings, and related
occupations. The table of
contents of this book readily
serves as a means of
expanding one’s choices,
pinpointing areas of
occupations, or identifying job
titles. It also contains a file
number which will refer one to
additional information in a
given field.
The choice of a college
major is a vital decision. It
should be made carefully,
based on sound information
about oneself, the educational
opportunities available, and
the outlook from the world of
work. Most women today will
join the work force for at least
part of their lives. A majority
will spend 27.6 or more years
in the labor force, according
to Broadening Career Options
for Women by Caryl Smith, et
al. The same source states
that today 42 percent of the
labor force is women and
projMts that there will be 52
million women workers by
1990. In 1980 50 percent of all
married women were working
or looking for work. If one is to
spend niore than a fourth of
her life in the working world,
it makes sense to begin
(Continued on Page 4)