Word: davisons
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...Davison, in fact, recalls one of his most gratifying teaching experiences from his work with the Annex chorus. "My interest," he says," has always been in the student that couldn't, but wanted to. I remember there were once two sisters who had indescribable delight at being permitted to take part in chorus rehearsals and I didn't see how it was possible to keep them out of the Club. The only trouble was, of course, both were monotones and each had her own note...
Hardly any ex-Glee Club member who sang under Davison can forget his manner of conducting. In his pamphlet "The Reformation of the Glee Club" published in 1922, Frederick Lewis Allen '12 described a typical Davisonian rehearsal: "As you slip into a seat at the rear of the room, you hear, cutting through the deep, swelling tones of the chorus, Davison's sharp voice: 'Now's your chance! That's it! Good! First rate! This is a bad place; look out for it! That's the way, basses! Eyes! Eyes...
...undoubtedly this very enthusiasm as a conductor which inspired Davison's book "Choral Conducting" which appeared in 1940. "Zeal for fine music," wrote Davison, "depends not at all upon education, musical or otherwise. It grows out of an experience of the satisfaction that springs only from the association with the highest manifestations of musical...
Then in 1935 Davison chose his longtime assistant, G. Wallace Woodworth '24, to succeed him as the Club's conductor. The two had met in 1920 when Woodworth, a freshman, tried out unsuccessfully as a singer for the Club and was taken on as an accompanist. The retirement, however, by no means ended Davison's musical career...
...course, now taught with recordings of opera, orchestral and choral works, is perhaps one of the most pleasant to sit through. For example, Davison describes Schumann's meeting with Johannes Brahms in this fashion: "'Guten Morgen, I am glad to know you. Won't you come in?' The two moved into the living room where the visitor's eyes immediately rested on the piano. Schumann hastened to ask, 'Won't you please play something of your own composition...