24 SHOPPING DAYS
’TIL CHRISTMAS
Belles
OF SAINT MARY’S
EXAMS START
DECEMBER 13
Vol. V, No. 6
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
November 28, 1941
Life at Saint Mary’s Goes to Press
I^achmaninoff Draws
I^ecord Audience
Auditorium and Stage Filled
at Civic Music Concert on
November 24
The composer, Beethoven; the
the Sonata in F minor; the
performer, Sergei Rachmaninoff;
'''hat more interesting combination
one have? The Apassionata
Avithout doubt the highlight of
hachmaninoff’s concert in Memorial
:^"ditorium on last Monday night,
^rorti the sinister opening notes to
he crashing close, one felt in it not
the soul of the composer hut
also that of the artist.
Rachmaninoff opened his concert
'yhh an Organ Prelude and Fugue
d minor by Bach. This was fol-
°'ved by the Apassionata and two
'''orks by Schubert. These, the Im-
P^'^nipiu in A flat minor and The
^aut, were melodic and spontane-
two characteristics found so
®Ren in Schubert’s music.
SECOND HALF LIGHTER
After intermission Rachmaninoff
played one of Chopin’s exquisite noc-
''J’Ues, the Nocturne in D flat major.
two mazurkas, merry Polish
dar- - - — •
''cos, also written by Chopin.
There followed three Avorks by
^ohmaninoff himself. Humoresque,
o.isies, and Oriental Sketch. These
ch
^■'ming, picturesque numbers dis-
h^'^yed his brilliance as a composer
Well as an artist. Many are often
prone to associate the name of
^l^^hmaninoff with his preludes
one;
-j actually, he has composed
„A^y other works for both the piano
orchestra.
u program was concluded with
jol del Petrarca, A flat ma
ll Hungarian Rhapsody No.
'j Py Liszt. As encores he jdayed
ohaikowsky’s Triskaen Ilerean
Ids
"Oii,
^Ot.
own Prelude in C sharp
Pre:
The
Rachmaninoff concert was
thg^dod before a capacity audience
aiifi ^^*od the siiacious auditori
'ai ovorU„..,„.i A..,., n * '■
rium
onto the stage. The
bef ® poise and complete composure
audience, in spite of the
of having to perform with
tna,] ^ds listeners on the stage,
an,]T deep impression u])on the
big However, from the time
of fingers touched the keys
*be p h'*"'o in the oj)ening bars of
oad Fugue until the im-
lui1„ 'A oonclusion of his own Pre-
IS OWl
'delh.f ^ Idluirp Minor, everything
koai,/ except the exquisite
T "f the music.
Miss Haig Presents
Recital December 9
Wm Give the Second Faculty
Recital in Auditorium
Miss Mary Ruth Haig will pre
sent the second faculty recital in
Saint Mary’s Auditorium on Tues
day, December 9, at 8:15 o’clock.
Her program is as follows :
Tavo Sonatas Scarlatti
C Minor
C Major
Organ Choral Prelude Bach-Busoni
“AAvake, the A'oice commands.”
Organ Fugue in G Minor,
Bach-Samaroff
Sonata in E flat Major, Opus 27,
I Beethoven
Andante—Allegro
Allegro molto e AUA’ace
Adagio con espressione
Allegro viA’ace
Prelude in C Major Prokofleff
Fairy Tale in B flat Minor. Medtner
La Soiree dans Grenade Dehussy
Ballade in G Minor Chopin
Nocturne in E flat Major,
Opus 55, No. 2 Chopin
Scherzo in B Minor Chopm
An interesting fact about the Or
gan Choral Prelude by Bach-Busoni
is that it is based on the melody of
the hymn that Ave sing during Ad
vent, “AAvake, aAvake.”
Beethoven’s Sonata, made up of
four movements, is like a fantasy,
not so formal as most sonatas. or
those Avho are not familiar Avith this
music, a pause comes between the
first and second, and the second and
third movements, but not betAveen
the third and fourth.
Of interest to the student bo(^ is
the fact that Medtner, a living Rus-
ban composer and B*'!—"
are very close friends. Medtner is
indebted to iS
diiciiig his Fairy Tales «
there are about tAventy) m this
iomtry. Medtner, during the las
few years, has made several concert
ours in this countrv at Ariiich he
Syed his Fairy Tales. Although an
excellent composer, Medtner is
the iiianist one Avould expect. Hi
onlv recent vears his compositions
haii appeared on concert programs.
Vlthough a French composer, De-
1 Av in his La Soiree dans Grenade
Il'Tc «W of «'-c bj ,con.p«.i»B
,1- !! ! ra//on. Bv the time he Avas
0.diteeii' he had published his works
,u„l gained quite a reputation.
BOOK ABOUT LIFE IN SAINT MARY’S
SCHOOL WRITTEN BY ALUMNA
Ava Hamilton Singer
Thrills Student Body
Lecturer and Photographer
Presents Vivid Natural-color
Pictures of Africa
books for the belles
Miss Nell Battle Leivis and Five
Other Alumnae Write on A Cen
tury of Life at Saint Mary’s
Last Aveek Mrs. Ava Hamilton
Singer gave an interesting and enter
taining lecture. Dawn Over Africa,
which Avas illustrated _ by beautiful
natural - colored moA^ing pictures.
Mrs. Singer is Avell qualified by her
experience to speak, for she braved
four years in the African wilds alone
in an effort to learn about the Afri
can tribes and their customs.
In 1936 Mrs. Singer started from
Capetown into French Equatorial
Africa and reached Morocco in 1940.
During lier four yoars traveling sne
had many exciting adA'entures. _ She
said that her strangest experience
Avas the time when her car dropped
into the Belgian Congo, and her only
really frightening experience occur
red when she and her car were sur
rounded by a herd of elephants on a
lonely road after dark !
The highlight of her performance
was her natural-color photography.
Her pictures of daAvn, rivers, the
glowing volcanic lava, the lions, ele
phants, giraffes, and birds in their
natural habitats, the hideous big
lipped natives, the pygmies, the liv
ing conditions and festivities of the
natives vividly portrayed the sur
roundings in which an African ex
plorer lives and studies.
Life at Saint Mary’s is the title
of a book Avliich Avas Avritten by for
mer Saint Mary’s students. It Avill
he ready for distribution at the Cen
tennial in May by the University of
North Carolina press. Only five
hundred copies Avill be sold, at $2.50
per copy. The book deals Avith the
groAA^h of the school and will con
tain all the important historical
events. It is primarily an account
of human interest: “memoirs of
alumna) Avill be delA^ed into; the
thoughts, doings, and habits of each
generation will be set forth for us
and future Saint Mary’s girls to
enjoy and cherish.”
The first chapter, 1842-1860,
which is necessarily research, is
written by Katharine Drane Perry,
the author of the Student Prize-
Winning Essay at the Seventy-Fifth
anniversary.
Just in case you have a moment
to spare here at school, or during
the holidays, here are some of the
best sellers you may enioy, or your
family and friends may like them_ as
Christmas presents. Top ranking
book in the field of fiction is The
Keys of the Kingdom by _ A. J.
Cronin, a novel about a priest by
the author of The Citadel. Leading
the list of non-fiction books is Wil
liam L. Shirer’s Berlin Diary. He
is the CBS commentator, and his
book is well worth your time. But
don’t start it before exams. You
Avon’t put it doAvn until you have
read the last page. _
For all the Jalna fans, and their
name is legion, Mazo De La Roche
has brought the Whiteoaks up to the
retreat from Dunkirk in Wakefield’s
Course. You may have read it se-
(See P. 3)
TWO OTHER ‘LOCAL’ AUTHORS
Emilie Smedes Holmes and Mrs.
Lizzie W. Montgomery are the au
thors of the second chapter, 1860-
1885, and are well qualified for their
work. Mrs. Montgomery is known
for her book. Saint Mary’s of Olden
Days. Mrs. Holmes stayed at Saint
Mary’s from the age of ten until she
was a young lady.
The third chapter, 1885-1900, is
Avritten by the former Alice Duggar,
now Mrs. Walter Grimes, who was
teacher of mugic here for several
years, and who is also a poetess.
Nell Battle Lewis, author of the
fourth chapter, 1900-1915, is knoAvn
to all Saint Mary’s girls. Those who
have heard her speak are looking
forAvard to her account of school life.
The author of the next chapter,
1915-1930, Jane Toy Coolidge, se
cured her information by Avriting to
alumna) of this period and asking
that they send her their most vivid
memory of Saint Mary’s days.
Brooke Allan, the author of the
final chapter, 1930-1942, is noAV on
the faculty of Saint Katherine’s
School, Richmond, Virginia. Her
chapter is very impersonal, but
brings the story up-to-date, giving a
picture of a modern Saint Mary’s.
The folloAving paragraph is a com
ment from a member of the staff of
the University Press:
“The manuscript seems to me an
admirable ])iece of Avork. It is not
merely good of its kind, hut good
Avithout qualification.”