“Victory at Sea”

This morning (Sunday, December 7, 2008), I suppose in honor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on this date 67 years ago (“A date that will live in infamy!”), Dubya-Hex-Hex-Hi, the classical-music radio station out of Rochester we listen to, was playing excerpts from Richard Rodgers’ “Victory at Sea” when I turned the radio on.
“Victory at Sea” was the most memorable piece we played in the Brandywine High School concert band.
And we really butchered it, of course.
Haven’t heard a high school concert band yet that doesn’t sound awful; reeds out of tune, horns imitating flatulence (especially the Sousaphones), and ill-timed cymbal crashes.
Cue clarinets (Janet Cline was first chair): “Beep-bee-bee-beep. Bee-beep. Bee-bee-beep. Bee-bee-bee-beep!”
The sound of Morse code radio-telegraph transmissions between ships communicating back then.
“Tyah-tyah-dot-da-dot, dot, dot. Dot-da-da-dyahhhhhhhh.......”
Up-and-down on the rolling sea.
“Dyat-da-da-dah; dyat-da-da-dah: da-da-dahhhhhhhh....... Boom-ba-boom-ba-boom-ba-boom-ba-boom-ba. Dyat-da-da-dah; dyat-da-da-dah: da-da-DAHHHHHHHH.......”
Old Diemer (“DEE-mrrr”) was trying to bring order out of chaos with his tiny plastic baton.
“Ya dropped your Sousaphone, Davis!”
“Hey, cut it out! Together everyone.......”
“Just put your chairs back on the platform, boys; and keep playing.”
“Let’s keep the trombone slides out of the flute section” (Anny Bither [“BYE-ther”] was lead flute).
“Careful where ya empty your drain-cocks, you French-horn players........”

I should add one fact.
Shortly after I started out at Springer I was named first-chair first sax.
By so doing, the guy who was first-chair first sax, a guy named “Sparks,” left in a huff. —This is eighth grade.
It was an attempt by Diemer to get Sparks to practice harder, but it failed.
I always felt kind of sheepish about that.
I couldn’t read music that well, my fingering was a mess, and I was getting by on my tone, which was only good because I was blowing super-hard reeds: #4 instead of #1 or #2.
Plus it was my sax. Others had cheap silver tinplate saxes rented from the school district, and they were awful. —Mine was a brass Selmer, the best at that time.
But then in my senior year I was replaced by a sophomore; Class of ‘64.
Suddenly I was first-chair second sax; still not very good at reading and fingering music, but picked to do solos because of my superior tone.
Nevertheless I lost interest, and essentially quit concert band.
I didn’t take my sax to college — I guess my parents sold it.
But I did take it to Sandy Hill.
Played a solo once on the Morning-Cheer radio broadcast, and blew reveille one morning.
Blew it as loud as I could; sloppiness didn’t matter, just volume.
“Where’s Toad?” all the campers yelled. Toad was the regular bugle-boy. (I forget “Toad’s” name.)

“Dubya-Hex-Hex-Hi” is WXXI-FM, 91.5, the classical-music radio-station in Rochester we listen to, publically supported.

“Diemer” is Mr. Wesley Diemer, our band-director. “Davis” is Paul Davis, Class of ‘62, a Sousaphone player.

“Brandywine” is Brandywine High School, north of Wilmington, DE; from where I graduated in 1962.

“Springer” is Springer Junior high-school, the junior high I attended. Our class was the third to complete high-school education in our area. Our school-district expanded because of the post-war baby-boom. First Springer was built, and then Brandywine Senior high. —At first Brandywine was grades 9 through 12, but switched to only 10 through 12 1961-‘62.

“Sandy Hill” is the religious boys camp in northeastern Maryland I worked at 1959-‘61. I was a camper there from 1954 through 1960. It was affiliated with the south-Jersey based “Morning-Cheer” radio ministry. The camp used a bugler to announce timed events, like dinner or flag-raising.