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