R.O.T.C. Band Adds to Spirit Gatherings
Title
R.O.T.C. Band Adds to Spirit Gatherings
Description
A celebration in the Daily Nebraskan of the NU band's history and its accomplishments
Creator
Daily Nebraskan
Source
University of Nebraska, Library Media Services, 38/1/2 Mfilm AP2 D355, Mar. 6, 1927 - Feb. 5, 1929
Date
1927, Mar. 15
Text
March 15, 1927
R. O. T. C. Band Adds to Spirit of Gatherings; Has Interesting History
It is a gala day during the football season. Streams of humanity flow towards the stadium. Cars full of laughing, shouting, singing students careen recklessly around corners, all headed for the game as though drawn by a common magnet.
Magnificent limousines – and some not so magnificent – in which the old grads ride, pull up sedately to the gate of the Nebraska Memorial Stadium. Co-eds in many-hued sweaters that rival the rainbow in brilliance swam down the walks toward the campus.
Here Comes the Band!
Suddenly there is a burst of music, and around the corner swings the R. O. T. C. band to the tune of “There’ll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight.” Straight ranks of blue-gray uniforms and shining instruments, in front, a drum major whose bearskin shako almost sweeps the sky, and row upon row of shining ruttons.
The music stops, and with a ruffle of drums, the band, seventy strong, marches proudly into the stadium, and to its time-honored seats in the front row, for what would a football game be without the band and its tuneful accompaniment to yells, and its famous old songs which have inspired gridiron warriors for over a half-century?
Quick States Interesting Facts
Time was, however, when there was no band as large as the one which exists now, according to Professor William T. Quick, the band’s present director, who has in his possession many interesting facts concerning the beginning of the present musical organization at the University of Nebraska.
“Way back in the past, when the University consisted of only a few buildings on campus, the band got its start. It had no uniforms, and of course no school credit was given for it. It must have been a sort of volunteer organization, which each member wearing his best Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes in lieu of a uniform.
Has Always Been a Band
“There has always been a band at the University,” said Mr. Quick, “and it has always been affiliated with the Military Department. Before it
(Continued on Page Four.)
March 15, 1927B
R. O. T. C. Band Adds to Spirit of Gatherings
(Continued from Page One.)
became known as the R. O. T. C. band, it was called the University Cadet Band.”
Professor Quick, who took over the band during the World War, is a Lincoln man. He went to school here and began his musical career at seventeen. When a young man, Mr. Quick was given the direction of the orchestra at the old Oliver theater, then own by Mayor Zehrung. He conducted the Oliver orchestra for twelve years.
He has played with Conway, Innes, Belsted, and other famous band men in America, and for three years conducted the Nebraska State Band.
S. A. T. C. Band During the War
“When I first came to the Univeristy,” said Mr. Quick, “there was a band then called the S. A. T. C. band. in camp here at school. The men were scattered all over the grounds in different barracks, and whenever music was needed for reviews, the captain would call out ‘All band men fall out,’ and the band would re-assemble for parade.”
“The war reduced the band so rapidly, that at the end of the first semester of 1918-19 there were only twelve men left in it. Peace was declared that semester, however, and during the second half of the year we re-organized the band, and it has been a large organization ever since then. It was made an official unit of the Military Department in 1919.”
Quick Started Orchestra
When Professor Quick first came to the University, he started up the then extinct University orchestra, which had been first organized by Mr. Menzendorf. Musicians have been coming to the University so fast since then, that last fall there was created a new musical organization, the Fine Arts band, which is open to both men and women. Besides that, Mr. Quick has a theater orchestra which plays for University dramatic productions.
The first band master was Fred Easterday. Some of the others who have conducted the band at various times are, C. B. Cornell, August Hagenow, Mortimer Wilson, G. C. Menzendorf, and Earl Lane. According to Mr. Quick, Mortimer Wilson is now a famous composer of music for motion pictures, while Earl Lane is a movie star.
Prominent Players
Some of the men who played in the band in the early ‘90’s are quite prominent now. Paul Clarke, Roscoe Pound, now Dean of Harvard Law School, and L. C. Oberlies were all drum majors in the band while they were in school. Although the band members may have looked funny in their little pancake military caps, they were quite the young men in University in those days.
It has been the practice of the Athletic Department to send the band on one football trip every year. The band has gone to Minnesota, Notre Dame, Drake and Kansas, when Nebraska played football at those places.
Schools Turning Out Good Musicians
“High schools are turning out so many musicians nowadays, and good ones, too, that there is hardly room for them all in the University orchestra and R. O. T. C. band any more,” said Mr. Quick, in explaining why the new Fine Arts band was created. “Good musicians didn’t used to be so common, but now they come to the University every year from high school all over the state.”
At the present time the band has a membership of about seventy. During the fall it plays for all the home games, and for all military reviews. When the football season ends, the band hibernates for the winter, rehearsing concert numbers in the Temple Theater building. IT usually gives two concerts a year, besides playing for the Varsity basketball games, and in the spring resumes outdoor drill and playing for the spring military reviews.
R. O. T. C. Band Adds to Spirit of Gatherings; Has Interesting History
It is a gala day during the football season. Streams of humanity flow towards the stadium. Cars full of laughing, shouting, singing students careen recklessly around corners, all headed for the game as though drawn by a common magnet.
Magnificent limousines – and some not so magnificent – in which the old grads ride, pull up sedately to the gate of the Nebraska Memorial Stadium. Co-eds in many-hued sweaters that rival the rainbow in brilliance swam down the walks toward the campus.
Here Comes the Band!
Suddenly there is a burst of music, and around the corner swings the R. O. T. C. band to the tune of “There’ll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight.” Straight ranks of blue-gray uniforms and shining instruments, in front, a drum major whose bearskin shako almost sweeps the sky, and row upon row of shining ruttons.
The music stops, and with a ruffle of drums, the band, seventy strong, marches proudly into the stadium, and to its time-honored seats in the front row, for what would a football game be without the band and its tuneful accompaniment to yells, and its famous old songs which have inspired gridiron warriors for over a half-century?
Quick States Interesting Facts
Time was, however, when there was no band as large as the one which exists now, according to Professor William T. Quick, the band’s present director, who has in his possession many interesting facts concerning the beginning of the present musical organization at the University of Nebraska.
“Way back in the past, when the University consisted of only a few buildings on campus, the band got its start. It had no uniforms, and of course no school credit was given for it. It must have been a sort of volunteer organization, which each member wearing his best Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes in lieu of a uniform.
Has Always Been a Band
“There has always been a band at the University,” said Mr. Quick, “and it has always been affiliated with the Military Department. Before it
(Continued on Page Four.)
March 15, 1927B
R. O. T. C. Band Adds to Spirit of Gatherings
(Continued from Page One.)
became known as the R. O. T. C. band, it was called the University Cadet Band.”
Professor Quick, who took over the band during the World War, is a Lincoln man. He went to school here and began his musical career at seventeen. When a young man, Mr. Quick was given the direction of the orchestra at the old Oliver theater, then own by Mayor Zehrung. He conducted the Oliver orchestra for twelve years.
He has played with Conway, Innes, Belsted, and other famous band men in America, and for three years conducted the Nebraska State Band.
S. A. T. C. Band During the War
“When I first came to the Univeristy,” said Mr. Quick, “there was a band then called the S. A. T. C. band. in camp here at school. The men were scattered all over the grounds in different barracks, and whenever music was needed for reviews, the captain would call out ‘All band men fall out,’ and the band would re-assemble for parade.”
“The war reduced the band so rapidly, that at the end of the first semester of 1918-19 there were only twelve men left in it. Peace was declared that semester, however, and during the second half of the year we re-organized the band, and it has been a large organization ever since then. It was made an official unit of the Military Department in 1919.”
Quick Started Orchestra
When Professor Quick first came to the University, he started up the then extinct University orchestra, which had been first organized by Mr. Menzendorf. Musicians have been coming to the University so fast since then, that last fall there was created a new musical organization, the Fine Arts band, which is open to both men and women. Besides that, Mr. Quick has a theater orchestra which plays for University dramatic productions.
The first band master was Fred Easterday. Some of the others who have conducted the band at various times are, C. B. Cornell, August Hagenow, Mortimer Wilson, G. C. Menzendorf, and Earl Lane. According to Mr. Quick, Mortimer Wilson is now a famous composer of music for motion pictures, while Earl Lane is a movie star.
Prominent Players
Some of the men who played in the band in the early ‘90’s are quite prominent now. Paul Clarke, Roscoe Pound, now Dean of Harvard Law School, and L. C. Oberlies were all drum majors in the band while they were in school. Although the band members may have looked funny in their little pancake military caps, they were quite the young men in University in those days.
It has been the practice of the Athletic Department to send the band on one football trip every year. The band has gone to Minnesota, Notre Dame, Drake and Kansas, when Nebraska played football at those places.
Schools Turning Out Good Musicians
“High schools are turning out so many musicians nowadays, and good ones, too, that there is hardly room for them all in the University orchestra and R. O. T. C. band any more,” said Mr. Quick, in explaining why the new Fine Arts band was created. “Good musicians didn’t used to be so common, but now they come to the University every year from high school all over the state.”
At the present time the band has a membership of about seventy. During the fall it plays for all the home games, and for all military reviews. When the football season ends, the band hibernates for the winter, rehearsing concert numbers in the Temple Theater building. IT usually gives two concerts a year, besides playing for the Varsity basketball games, and in the spring resumes outdoor drill and playing for the spring military reviews.
