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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1982)
Music expresses anti-war message Original work cries a 'Lament' Composers Bach and Handel might have raised their eyebrows at the men tion of a nuclear war After all, self defense in their day meant muskets and cannons Weapons have changed since then, and some two hundred years later in a time where weapons are a lot more complicated, Bach and Handel's music resounded through the eaves of Beall Hall, highlighting a nuclear freeze benefit concert Sunday evening The Citizens Action for Lasting Secur ity and University music professor Robert Hurwitz gathered Eugene musicians to perform in the first-of-its-kind concert Members of the Eugene Symphony, a tered on the freeze issue The exhibits portrayed the effects of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dr Marian Miller came to support the issue along with her husband, also a physican Miller, 81, believes there is no such thing as "winning” a nuclear war and feels the idea of having limited nu clear war is ridiculous.“They’ll bomb the large cities first, where the majority of doctors are concentrated,” she says Michael Sheehan, 30, remembers the barrage of anti-war songs which came out during the Vietnam era "I think it's great that there is a cultural response to the freeze issue. ” It's not just the stereotyped "pro-ac 'Will the soldiers remember?' singer from the Eugene Opera, and local musicians and University music students took their positions on stage to greet an audience of nearly 300 people with some of the world’s finest chamber music " Outstanding!” "Super!” and ‘Mov ing!" were the adjectives which could be heard in the lobby to describe the con cert, where concert-goers viewed educational exhibits and paged through literature provided by CALS which cen tivist” who sees nuclear warfare as an impending threat, but "A large segment of society coming from all walks of life who see this to be a major issue," says Hurwitz Over the past decade, rock musicians have been actively opposing nuclear weaponry through benefit concerts. Last June 6, 82,000 people celebrated "Peace Sunday,” in Pasedena's Rose Bowl. It was the largest anti-nuclear I I University music professors Monte Tubb and Robert Hurwitz joined with members of the Eugene Symphony in a benefit concert for the nuclear freeze Sunday. concert to date. Classical music has been around cen turies longer than rock, and Sunday night’s benefit showed classical music can play a part too, says Hurwitz "If you are a dedicated musician, you have a world view of some kind,” he says. "If this view is threatened, music can be used to point to this as well as words ” 7 wanted Lament’ to remind us in a modest tone that people suffer and die because of wars,' Tubb explains Composer Monte Tubb, a university music professor, showed his dedication by writing a piece especially for the benefit. Titled "Lament,” the piece, which had its ‘ premier" performance Sunday, concerns a woman's bitter sweet recollection of her father who died in a war, says Tubb In the words to the song, the woman asks questions about her intimate rela tionship to death and war "Voices of sorrow remain, are the lessons in vain? Will the soldiers remember? Can the children forget? . " "I wanted Lament’ to remind us in a modest tone that people suffer and die because of wars," Tubb explains "And that the reasons, the actual reasons for waging battle are always remarkably silly." Earnings help to promote freeze Perhaps what goes on during a con cert might be an example for everyone, particularly for those interested in main taining peace, says Hurwitz. "A concert is a microcosm of an ideal world in a sense People are working toward something harmonious They com promise to produce a unified, beautiful sound "It is not the music that is political," Hurwitz says "But for the people who've supported the concert, the music itself was a present for their donation " Story by Mary Campbell Photos by Dave Kao and Dob Baker Forum lecture series stresses humanities By Joan Herman 04 #>• Emerald After lecturing day in and day out, it seems likely that most professors would spend their off hours engaged in some other activity But not so with the professors participating in the Forum Lecture Series, sponsored by the University’s Arts and Humanities Committee English professor Richard Stein, former chairman of the committee, says the free lectures, given by science and humanities faculty members at the Hilton Conference Center, strive to "translate specialized research into a new language "I've become convinced that creating a public audience gives researchers a new identity and impetus to look at their work in a different way, to feel the importance of their work, because often humanists feel nobody cares about what they do," he says "We see the lectures as a beginning of University-public cooperation, a way to help mend fences end to fulfill a function that I think the University has always had and should have ’’ Pam is Formerly called the Browsing Room Lectures, the series was revived last year — after a seven-year dormancy — by John Nicols, a history professor and committee member Stein says the response to last year's three lectures was "unbelieveable," with audiences averaging more than 200, mostly from the community In addition to the Forum Room Lectures, Stein says the committee's main achievement last year was Nicols creation of the Arts and Humanities Calendar With economic support from many sources. In cluding University Pres Paul Olum. the calendar ad vertised various papers, activities, seminars and lec tures because "many of our faculty members were not aware of what subjects others were working on until it was over," says Stein In fact, the original idea behind the year-old com mittee was to make faculty, students and the public aware of the various humanities related activities at the University The committee strives to do a lot for a little money by making better use of what is here at the University," says Stem To achieve its goats, the committee is working to obtain funding grants tor the creation of a Humanities Center that could bring in visiting lecturers and hold symposiums, says Stein He says the center also could offer a place for faculty, students and the public to explore humanities research "Businesses, professionals, and government leaders could explore Issues that are important to them," he says ' Humanities are an essential discipline for the public It is important that they ask and answer basic questions and that they deal with issues that the public is always trying to have dealt with, that they train leaders, " he says "They are at the heart of a university education and the kind of society we have " Fall terms lectures, which begin at 8 p m , include "Beowulf Monsters and Hero," by Stanley Greenfield, English professor. Saturday; "20th Century America and the Impact of War," by Allan Winkler, history professor, Nov 18, and "Lasers in Research and the Real World," by John Moseley, physics professor, Dec 9 rv^ntu, 11 1114
