A
PERSONAL INTERVIEW
Fine Arts dean discusses music
Bu Carotyn Drury
"It is of great concern to me as to how we are going to be able to reach that large portion of the student body who has never tasted a concert or a cultural event at the University."
Thomas Gorton, dean of the School of Fine Arts, sat back in his swivel chair taking another smoke from his pipe and wondering just how he could explain the ground for his concern. His interest was evident but it was manifested in a relaxed manner. He seemed to let the facts speak for themselves and the emotional impact be gained therein.
DEAN GORTON WANTS everyone to be aware of the arts so that they can have the opportunity to enrich their lives with this element of expression. His whole life has embodied a very "satisfying" force, music . . . and he would like this satisfaction to be revealed to all so that they may partake in the feeling inherent in music.
The man with the wavy, white hair and a wide smile has been dean at KU since 1950, when he came to Lawrence. At that time, he was director of the School of Music at Ohio University, Akron. He was previously head of the piano department at the University of Texas, Austin.
Piano is the Dean's favorite instrument, for he feels "it is so complete in itself." He senses a frustration in not having time to play the piano more often for personal enjoyment. The dean also regrets that he has little time for teaching. Despite his title of professor of piano in addition to that of dean of the School of Fine Arts, he does not do any private teaching regularly. Only in the summer when they're "short at times" does he find any valid excuse to teach.
OTHER INTERESTS suffering neglect in the face of this man's many interests include composition, in which he received his master's and doctor's at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, N.Y. It was while he was a student at Eastman that Gorton met his wife, also a pianist.
He, his wife and daughter, who was also graduated from Eastman with a master's, will be going to Europe this summer. His daughter, who is now married, is a violinist with the Baltimore Symphony. Small wonder that the three who have such similar interests should be going together on a trip to be long remembered, for Gorton has never been to Europe before.
Coed named
campus queen
Connie Myers, Newton junior, was recently named Campus Queen by "Sport" magazine from entrants from across the country.
Her name and photograph were submitted by Phil Dynan, sports publicity director. Miss Myers' picture appeared on the cover of a KU football program last fall.
Official Bulletin
Foreign Students: Please complete and mail the forms found on last pages of May issue of International Campus newsletter.
TODAY
Burglary and Larceny Seminar, Alh Day. Union.
Psychology Colloquium, 4 p.m.
Fred Haleen N. H. Ball Aud.
Heather McCarthy 7 p.m. Albert
Carillon Recital, 7 p.m. Albert
Senior Recital. 8 p.m. Doris Peterson.
Violin. Swashback Recital Hall.
Protestant Worship, 7 a.m. Wesley
Evangelism, Methodist Center.
Petry Reading Cancelled—sched-
ed by Allen Tate from
Bellen Tate is now cancelled.
Dean Gorton's interests have extended beyond the range of music, though. While a graduate student at Rochester, he wrote for the "Musical Quarterly" which was "in its days an important news magazine and critical review of performances." When asked to compare music and journalism as two outlets of creativity, the restrained musician answered, "I don't think it is creativity on the same plane. Even the music critic, for example, is feeding on others' creativity. He doesn't exhibit the creativity that the composer does." Furthermore, Gorton feels that the creativity in music is more of a subjective type than that in journalism.
THE DEAN HAS a high opinion of American music. Yes, he said, it definitely derives from European tradition. However, he continued, "There are certain characteristics which have been terrifically developed so that when you hear a work you can say, 'This is American,' and know that it is American."
These characteristics have evolved under the influence of jazz and manifest themselves as a "certain folk flavor, a certain freshness of vocabulary," said Gorton. Referring to the opera "Carry Nation," he remarked that the dramatic element has advanced to a greater degree in American than in European works. "The characters have been drawn in some depth, that
is, given perspective, not only in the libretto but also through the music. The usage of the barbershop quartet in saloon singing, of the chorus . . . in the hoedown singing, the folk dance part of the choreography . . . " all of these things have come to be a part of the mature American opera, Gorton feels.
"The rhythmic bounce and vitality . . . and the tart humor reflect the American way of life, the American spirit . . . which has been with us since the early days," said Dean Gorton. Recall the bounce in "Yankee Doodle" and the songs of Stephen Foster. There's a certain perkiness in those early-day American compositions that has continued to the present, said Gorton as he continued to unfold his thoughts about American composition.
"There is an American nostalgia, an American sentimentality . . .
Americans are not afraid to show their feelings," explained Gorton,
DID HE THINK that this "bounce" which reflected the "American way of life" in turn reflects a quickening of the pace of life? "Oh, I suppose that the pace gets faster . . . it does for me, anyhow," Gorton said. However, he didn't think that it had really advanced noticeably in the last 25 years. It's just an inherent trait in American life, a trait that must be contended with.
And Gorton reflects his belief in his manner of living for, despite his full agenda, he seems to have time for everyone . . . from the professor to the reporter from the Kansan.
Daily Kansan 7
Wednesday, May 25. 1966
TOTAL
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4th EDITION
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