CHORAL SINGING

Modified on Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:31 by Con — Categorized as: Events and Activities, Topic

CHORAL SINGING

A Stellar Chorus: Songs and Choirs of the College.

Familiar and delighted as we are with the Geelong College School Song, ‘Sic itur ad astra’, it is but the latest in a medley of College originated songs dating back to the early years of the last century. Nor is it the first College song to bear that title as there exists an earlier handwritten song sheet in the College Archives bearing the title with words and lyrics by Old Collegian, Ernest W. Johnston (1876-1948), though clearly never adopted as a formal school song.

Choral singing in the nineteenth century College was not as we imagine it today. While there were visiting singing and music teachers in the relatively small School of George Morrison’s day, and evidence of group singing performances at Speech Days, such as that of the 1867 ‘College Christy Minstrels’, it’s probable that the School did not support a sophisticated team of choristers, nor show much interest in locally created songs.

English and Scottish popular tunes and hymns were regular features of School events and functions. The College Archive holds a well-thumbed copy of the ‘Scottish Students Song Book’ published in 1891. Old Collegians also sang, both in solo and groups, at various events. Popular English rowing and Public School songs remained preferred among the parents, many of whom had attended British Public Schools. As yet, no evidence has been discovered of an official School Song from George Morrison’s era nor even a dedicated School Hymn. This all changed with the advent of the Twentieth Century. Towards the end of Norman Morrison’s Principalship, and amid Australia’s growing nationalism, came the first known College-dedicated music.

‘The College Toast’ was first presented at the dinner of the College Debating Society in 1909. Composed by the Vicar of All Saints Church, Reverend Alfred Wheeler (1865-1949), this song included lyrics by Old Collegian, Alan Fullarton Wilson (1857-1917), a poet and lyricist of considerable output, if not renown. An Australian version of ‘The Eton Boating Song’ with lyrics by Alfred Wheeler was also later published. Geelong College Principal, Norman Morrison, had a close relationship with All Saints and, presumably knew the Reverend Wheeler well, - one of that church’s bells is inscribed in Norman Morrison’s memory.

‘Jubilation: A School Song’ by the same pair followed in 1911 as a celebratory song for the College’s Jubilee, though it was marketed as a generic song for any school. ‘Jubilation’ was noted as ‘Suitable for Anniversaries and Other Special Occasions’. There is no clear evidence that either of these publications were adopted as an official school song.

The triumphant Edwardian styles of ‘Jubilation’ and ‘The College Toast’ faded from popularity with World War I and with them disappeared any notion of an official School Song. It was not until the late 1920s when Old Collegian, Kenneth McIntyre (1910-2004), who later became renowned for his theories on the Portuguese discovery of Southern Australia, joined with Rea Dickson (1894-1984) in writing the song ‘The School on the Hill’. ‘The School on the Hill’ was a reference to the College’s highly visible place atop the Newtown Hill and a popular phrase in the first three decades of the last century. It was also later used by the Rolland’s as the title for a small booklet of reproductions of pastel drawings by the internationally famed artist, Janet Cumbrae Stewart (1883-1960) in about 1939.

An Old Collegians' Choir, first established in 1921, appeared fairly regularly, particularly in the early 1930s. It is also around this period that organized choral singing as we now know it began to flourish with a College choir and ‘community singing’ a regular theme. From 1935, when the Glee Club was formed and presented its first production 'The Monastery', to 1937, when Rolland’s 'House of Music' was established, the College approach to music was thoroughly revolutionized. The year 1936, saw the first Director of Music, Roy Shepherd appointed. By 1938, when the first of the Glee Club's, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas resounded through the College, choral singing was firmly entenched within College activities. With it, came our first known image of students singing as a group.

‘The School on the Hill’ was the most long-lived of the early College songs and probably the first formal Geelong College School Song. The sheet music, emblazoned with the College’s newly minted Crest, was published by the School Council in 1929. Written in ‘march time’, it remained popular in the 1930s, but became less used in the growth decades after World War II. Written when memories of World War I and its catastrophic effect on the School were still strong, it included the lines ‘In Fields of Flanders scarr’d by war, the best and worthiest lie’. Possibly, it was the lyrics rather than just the music that led it to drift out of favour.

For many years, the College was effectively without a School Song. Though by no stretch of the imagination was the School without its own music. For example, the Warrinn theme song, ‘Cottage Pie’ sung to the tune of ‘Botany Bay’ continued to echo enthusiatically through various revues and assemblies, though perhaps with more gusto than skill. Football songs and Boat Club songs also appeared and at various times hymns became regularly repeated assembly items.

With the composition of the joyous ‘Sic itur ad astra’ by Paul Jarman in 2011 to celebrate the College Sesquicentenary, the College sealed this musical absence. The flowering of choral performance over the last few decades has lifted the College’s stellar chorus even further upwards.

Chorus from ‘The School on the Hill’

‘While the Green, White and Blue banner’s waving,
And Pegasus reigning supreme,
For the well-known sights you’ll be craving,
for the old happy days you will dream.
That you owe her a debt you’ll acknowledge,
and strive to repay what is due;
May you loyally stand by the College,
May you honour the Green, White and Blue.’