I Sixty-Ninth Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN en Opinions Are Free UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS ruth Will Prevail" STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO 2-3241 ditorials trinted in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. Ant Em pasis on ,I TALENT, COURAGE: )AY, APRIL 19; 1959 NIGHT EDITOR: PETER DAWSON The Artist's Role Reflects His Stage I IT TAKES an individual of courage as well as talent to face the world today with his music. For with each succeeding decade, the problems of the. aspiring, young, frightfully naive composer of music grow more and more com- plex and almost overpowering. Discussing the problems of the creative mood, ohe person, Prof. Ross Lee Finney, composer in residence at the University, noted that a number of startling changes have taken place in the past thirty years or so which have had a great effect upon the composer, and have, so to speak, 'awoken' him. The first may aptly be called the One World Idea. Because of the SOONER OR LATER some young composer will tape the noises of a satellite being aunched, utilize it in an overpowering sym- honic work, and become a national hero. The contemporary version of the Overture of 812 should set a cultural landmark, showing hat science and the arts can be combined in he modern world. This should boost the crea- ive role; art will have arrived, gaining prom- nence through association. For jalready, science has arrived. Until Russia hot the Sputnik intp orbit, scientists were trange out-of-it creatures, addicted to Buck Zogerp/fever and doing all sorts of things of o practical value. Suddenly, they became ac- epted, respected and revered. As the nation ost its complacency, scientists gained their lace. BUT TEE ARTIST is still looking. ie may have had a respected role in other cultures, r other times, but when art became art for rt's sake ,it could not fit in with a practical cation whose first question is "what's it good .or?" ." - To a certain extent, the question is being nswered. The powers in Washington, one of he few major capitals of the world lacking an pera house and able to support only one egitimate theatre, are beginning to regard the irts as a potent weapon in the international truggle. Concert and jazz musicians are sent swinging round the world. Students are exchanged, a ultural agreement is signed with Russia and he Vice-President of the United, States pre- aar s to fly to Moscow to open an exhibit. At last, a nation, which except for depression ra projects, never followed the European ractice of officially supporting the arts, now inds practical political value in these "im- ractical" luxuries. BUT THE right step is being taken for the wrong reason. Even when -art, especially iterature, has a dialectic purpose, it essentially loes not serve practicality but simply a large portion of man's nature. This provides its own justification. INTENSITY so often appears to be a quality only of other people's lives, our own seem humdrum. What others see as a frantic pattern of living is, to the scurrying, only the same old routine. What the observer thinks is ex- citing is, to the participant, merely harassing, nerve racking and tiring. Thus, in times of the nuclear umbrellas of terror and the danger of ;the world vanishing in the most dramatic event imagined but not still comprehended, men still savor the pause before a curtain rises and the outburst of applause when it falls on an exciting produc- tion. However, there often are not many applaud- ing, and the art museums are not exactly filled with throngs. Appreciation of beer, baseball and broads still is more prevalent than that for Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. And besides fighting the "apathy of the masses," the artist, has additional struggles within the "cultural" world. The increased cost of doing anything, whether producing a play, giving a concert, or holding an exhibition tends to limit experi- mentation and channel work into already ac- cepted grooves. But, each artist who manages to make his mark represents a number of those who tried and couldn't. The important thing is t)4at de- spite the high mortality rate, the obstacles and frustrations, there are still those willing to try. ALTHOUGH the artist may never become fully accepted in the society for the right reasons, his mere existence indicates that this is still society of humans. Once those things that re- flect the emotions and reveal something im- practical no longer flourish, the society is a skeleton. The place of the artist in it is a measure of the society itself. This nation falls short. -MICHAEL KRAFT Editorial Director POINTED TOE--This second place photo in the Union Creative Arts Festival photography competition, was taken by Dave Giltrow, '60E. JAZZ: Experience Heightens Listeners' Enjoyment rapidity of communication and the undergone a complete change in attitude toward her neighbors, especially in the area of the arts. The modern composer is now in direct contact with the current of contemporary thought in music- He realizes that he is not just writing music to please a small or- chestra in his home town which has no chance of ever being heard elsewhere; on the contrary, he must strive to ibring out what is modern in his music, since it will affect an international audience. * * * ANOTHER CHANGE in the past number of years which has be- wildered the young composer is the transition and change in instru- mental devices. From Ann Arbor to home, from, Chicago to Milan, music is being played over hi- fidelity and stereophonic recorders. The composer not only must try to achieve success orchestrally with, his composition, but must try for further success on record as well. The only answer to the musi- cian's problems, Prof. Finney not- ed, is that he find something posi- tive in what he can do and say; otherwise, he will be lost in the transition or fad. Even though the fad will superficially protect him, in many cases, from having to' make decisions, the avant-guard is always a negative force, and the composer must take a positive stand with his art. Adding another view to these same problems, a group of music composers in a graduate seminar in Burton Tower emphasized that the biggest problems of the young, modern composer, are finding a' place or studio in which to work, and having enough money to have time to do so. ONCE THIS is worked out, there is in addition the problem of per- formance. If a composer can find a symphonic group to play his piece over the radio, for instance, he himself must pay to have the parts copied, and will get no money for it in return. And if a composer is young, the graduates said, publishers look suspiciously 'at him. The younger he is, the more radical they think he is, and thus; the more reluctant they are to publish his work. At the University, a composer has the best chance of hearing his work performed if he writes cham- ber music; other than that, how- ever, the best way to hear one's work played, they said, is to win a prize at a national contest. There COMPOSER FINNEY ., . a positive stand in art OFFEE... BLACK By Richard Taub tor Panic' PRING is here and the weather is easy. So easy in fact, the time has come for many ople to stop doing any work. This is espe- ally true for the senior, who so frequently-, s concluded his plans for the coming year, d is only concerned about barely passing s courses. If he is a male, he may be still trying to cide whether or not he wants to go out and ce the hard cruel world, in short get a job, or continue his education, which is so much ore secure. Further, if he gets a job, the ances are pretty good that he will be drafted irly quickly. Of courie, he may decide to y to "get into" the six months plan, so that fulfills his obligation quickly,' before con- wing in some form of advanced schooling. The women have several choices too. Most them camle here to get husbands, and for ose who have succeeded they have two. oices. Are they going to quickly get married, tle down and begin vegetating? Those who will most likely never use their minds again. , on the other hand, do they want to do mnething with their lives? Some girls might if ey could find something to do and if their sbands would let them. Immediately cries reaction. What could be more useful than ising children and contributing fine citi- ns to society! This is all fine, but really with the mechanical advances in the kitchen and use, the woman has really been liberated' m house work, and after all, the children 11 only consume some small portion of the ne she spends in married life. In 'addition, ere has been a'marked national trend, mov- g the husband into the kitchen, further re- ving the mother's burden. So women have the choice of becoming getables, which unfortunately so many be- me, or doing something or other beyond their usework, and work with the family. REQUENTLY those who have not married have special problems. Especially those few Editorial Staff RICHARD TAUB, ,Editor CHAEL KRAFT JOHN WEIGHER itorial Director City Editor DAVID TARR: Associate Editor LE CANTOR..... ......... Personnel Director AN WILLOUGHBY .... Associate Editorial Director AN JONES ..................Sports Editor ATA JORGENSON ........ Associate City Editor [ZABETH ERSKINE ... Associate Personnel Director COLEMAN ............... Associate Sports Editor who are in no hurry. They have seen the girls about them (and the men too), in the slightly frenzied, sometimes almost hysterical game of musical chairs which increases in intensity as the end of the senior year approaches..They see their friends now "madly in love," with guys they would not have looked at as fresh- men and sophomores. Oh, of course, they have become more mature in their judgment - but, they've also discovered the limitations of their man-catching abilities and have set their sights considerably lower. And they drop still further as the conclusion of the senior year approaches. But, of course, we must be fair to many of these girls. After all, after graduation they must return to small towns, where there are few college graduates, and even fewer ell - gible men. So they have to do the best they can while they have thechance. So the' girls who are not so eager to get; married must stand by and watch all this, and even the most determined become somewhat. uneasy, as graduation day approaches. 1T'S NOT really the women's fault, of course, and we must be sympathetic - it is really to some extent the fault of the guys who are now planning their futures, and also want to, be secure themselves. Further, the women have -some serious prob- lems to cope with. What are those going to do' who don't get married? The variety of jobs open to them is not great. They may become school teachers, librarians or social workers- jobs which do offer some kind of intellectual challenge. But otherwise, they can only be sec- retaries or sales girls or something like that. The avenue to success for the women is con- siderably longer and harder than it is for men -and as a matter of fact, men tend to resent women in their sacrosanct domains. The married woman also faces a predica- ment: She must take some time out of outside activities, to raise her children well. Psycholo- gists claim that just being around is neces- sary to provide junior with the necessary feel- ings of security. And after that time, she has lost the ambition to be useful, and at any rate has become pretty stale. Society has not yet learned to cope with the problems created here by the highly technological society, and. the woman who has raised several children, and raised them well, while still following some outside interest, and following that well too, is rare indeed. Oh, well . . . women are pretty good con- sumers. And anyway, it's spring. New Books at the Library By RICHARD POLLINGER INCLUDED in almost everybook written about jazz is the anec- doteconcerning the stereotype "society matron" who approaches Louis. Armstrong and asks out of the side of her monocle, "Young man, just exactly what is jazz?" To which, Louis Armstrong beams back at her and answers, "Lady, if you don't feel it now, you'll never know." The point is that jazz is, to a degree, , esoteric, But this older, rather extreme view has been con- siderably modified more recently; the growth of this modification being sort of proportional to the level of cultural sophistication at.. tained by jazzmen. Today's jazz' musician tends to be college edu- cated (and all that that implies). He speaks in panel discussions and indeed does try to tell his audience "just exactly what is jazz." It is questonable, though, whether much of what he says ever pene- trates very deeply into anyone except other jazz musicians, who understood beforehand what it -was he was saying, and now find themselves not in the midst of a revelation but rather a re-inforce- ment. This leaves the rest of the jazz audience-those who do not practice the art -still somewhat confused. THE JAZZMAN usually argues that jazz is an art separate from other types of music and should be accordingly judged by separate (although vague) standards. Probably the most important is the "beat." Jazz must, in its own language, "swing," although the slight syncopations and varied sub- tlties of its character are too much for crude conventional musical manuscript to accurately notate. The jazzmen then points to the criterion of improvization, tied for first place with the criterion, of swing. It is through improvising that the jazz musician expresses his individuality. Behind him, the rhythm section provides the foun- dation - the constantly flowing, pulsating, swinging beat. Even if the soloist never plays a note, the music goes on. It is the harmonic pattern, the chord changes, that the soloist uses as his guide in im- provising. The song's melody is, for the most part, forgotten. The soloist improvises and now there is another composer. He manipulates certain stylized, phrases, altering them rhythmi- cally and melodically. Occasionally he invents a totally new melody; he plays variations on his new- born theme. He must have com- mand of his idiom and use it as a language. Like all creation, it is exhilarating work. * * * FOR A LISTENER to appreciate the musical complexities present, he must be acquainted with the jazz idiom, a difficult task, for it. is constantly and rapidly changing. He must get used to hearing the diatonic scale with additions of a flatted third. fifth and seventh. He But why does jazz appeal to so many listeners obviously not ac- quainted with the idiom? Several psychiatrists have offered a partial explanation: The history of jazz is associated with those factions of society which run contrary to the. American cultural values of prop- erness, control, restraint, etc. Therefore, it seems natural that some of the people who identify themselves with jazz should be members of the major American. protest groups: Intellectuals, Ne- groes, and Adolescents.' In this light, one sees why the jazzman cringes as one of his au- dience yells "go go go!" during a solo. One sees him cringe as the adolescent - still - in - college dons dark glasses and says somewhat hesitantly "real-cool-man." One sees him cringe when the intellec- tual reports: "Jazz? Why of course I enjoy jazz-some of my best friends are jazz." And the jazz musician shrinks away from his audience. The jazzman's need to express himself through his music is a powerful drive. And jazz is a me- dium which lends itself to deep and moving expression. The big glaring injustice is that few people listen-and of those, even fewer hear. TO REMEDY the situation, the Union contacted many depart- ments and students to see if there would be any interest in an all- campus festival. The results were phenomenal. Not only did departments such as speech, with two one-act plays, music, with concerts and forums, and architecture with their ex- hibits cooperate, but outside or- ganizations also contributed dis- plays like the Mathew Brady Civil War photographic collection and the Leonardo da Vinci working models. The festival certainly' was a tremendous success, if success can be measured by the numbers of people viewing the exhibits and at- tending the programs" and the manynfavorable comments heard. In the future, the Union plans to expand this cultural week into a creative and scientific arts fes- tival ,which will incorporate many things in, science and technology plus the fine arts. * *' * THE UNION is to be highly commended for its service to the entire University for encouraging this type of week when students can find out what is happening in the arts and it is to be hoped that in the future many more depart- ments will realize the value of participating in the festival. Possibly, for instance, the many departmental open houses includ- ing the well - attended Medical Center open house could be sched- uled during the Creative-Scientiflc Arts Festival, and even more out- side contributors might be con- tacted for their many travelling displays, to enhance the general picture. The Union has made an ex- cellent beginning. Now, with the planned future development; the week should become one of the most looked - forward - to at the University. i I I I I c LEONARDO'S PARACHUTE ... exhibited last week are about ten such opportunities each year. Nevertheless, the fact that there is still a vital, living desire to com- pose and, despite the unending maze of problems, a continual suc- cession of individuals who do so is optimistic in itself. A little idealism keeps those going whose art is really good. ON 'BROADWAY' AND OFF: Local Theatre Offers Varied Opportunities By JUDITH DONER Daily Staff writer LTHOUGH far from New York and the bright lights of Broad- way, Ann Arbor is still fortunate to, have theatre opportunities which. cause theatre enthusiasts in many larger cities to sit up and take notice. The Speech department's Play- bill series offers seven attractions during the regular school year-- five plays and two operas-which play for either three or four suc- cessive evenings. The Playbill pro- ductions are the top level of stu- dent-acted University theatre. In addition, such special events as MUSKET and Gilbert and Sul- livan productions offer variety as well as quality to to the local theatre bill of fare. On a more city-wide scope, theo- retically at least, the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre presents five plays.+ throughout the year, drawing heavily from University talent. Operating on a somewhat different scale than in former years, the Dramatic Arts Center works pri- marily in the area of children's drama, although the Center Work- shop does occasional things such as, the Ionesco play, "The Bald Soprano" which just closed its two 'performance run. The breakdown of the Center's adult theatre group in 1956 was and still is a definite loss to Ann Arbor dramatics. THERE RUNS a certain parallel between the Ann Arbor and New The main focus of this experi- mental theatre is on the Speech Department's Laboratory Bill, The Bill is a series of one-act plays ranging all the way from the Ionesco "Victims of Duty," staged last week "in the round" to such things as "Dr. Faustus" which will be performed early in May. Stu- dent directed as well as student acted, the plays are attended al- most solely by speech department' faculty and students. This is un- fortunate since it is 'experimental theatre which may eventually point the way to the "'new dramatic form" needed if the future of drama is to be as rich as its past has been. the Drama Season hits town. Bringing with it five top plays with top stars "direct from Broad- way" the Season begins early in May, playing six nights a week for five weeks. In past years this has not been as much of a student drawing card as it should have been. This is because at least one of the plays runs during the examination per- iod and another runs after school is officially over for most students. Realizing, however, that the Drama Season comes to Ann Arbor because of and not in spite of the efforts of the University, Season officials recently announced a new ticket policy. Students will be able to purchase tickets to any three shows of their choice at a reduced rate. It would, of course, be wonderful if the dates could be moved up so that all plays fell within the school year, but the Season is so tightly sandwiched in between the May Festival and Commencement that any rescheduling is too much to manage at the present time. All of the theatre opportunities offered in the area are directly provided by the University or ini- tiated with an eye to student pa- tronage. But many of these students are letting the theatre slide right by under a maze of books, activities and movie dates. Actually, a little culture has never hurt anyone yet, and in fact often opens up new vistas to those who see fit to in- dulge themselves. The play may be and often is just the thing. , :., . a