| |
| |
Caption: Book - Banks of the Boneyard (Charles Kiler)
This is a reduced-resolution page image for fast online browsing.
EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:
The University Band 101 Having taught himself to play nearly all the instruments in the band, Harding would put down his cornet when the band played "Stars and Stripes Forever" and pick up his piccolo to swell the shrill obligatto on the final chorus. Under the guidance of Harding the University band has developed into an organization of professional calibre made up of individuals of amateur standing. "I have always believed that a university band should be something more than a group of musicians ballyhooing around town or just marching as a militant unit; that it should be a band developed in keeping with the dignity of the university/' the bandmaster declared. Saying that the band always reflects the prestige of a university, Mr. Harding explained that he has attempted to bring the Illinois band to the same level as a symphony orchestra, and make it as pleasant to listen to as a symphony indoors. Believing that through a band the greatest music appreciation can be developed, Harding maintains that if persons will sit through heavy music in order to hear the lighter music they love, they will develop a taste for the heavier numbers. "That is the main reason I have always introduced some of the numbers from popular musical comedies as encores," he explained. On Feb. 20, 1880, Mr. Harding was born in Georgetown, 111. Following the death of his mother in his early childhood, he went to live with his maternal grandparents in Paris. Ten years later, Harding went to live with his paternal grandparents. Harding was married to Margaret Rogers, a former Paris schoolmate, on commencement day in 1913. The Hardings now live at 710 South Elm Street, Champaign. Their daughter, Jane Austin Harding, is attending school in Chicago. Through Mr. Harding's fast friendship with John Philip Sousa, the "March King" left his entire personal library of music and original manuscripts to the Illinois bands. Past president of the American Bandmasters' Association, Harding is the only college bandmaster to have held that position. He is also honorary president of the Illinois Bandmasters' Association, and has been awarded two honorary degrees of philosophy for his work, one from Davidson college, Davidson, N. C, and the other from Phillips university, Enid, Okla. Harding first met John Philip Sousa at a dinner given by President James of our University in 1906, when the great composer and bandmaster was here with his band. From this meeting grew the friendship that ended only with Sousa's death, and which without doubt was the reason Sousa left all of his library of band music to our band. 1 A s a compliment to Colonel Harding, the American Bandmasters Association met here in 1938, and at that time Miss Frances Myers,
| |
