My high school teacher, Mrs. Merle Mc Corkle,
was fond of Rogers and Hammerstein musicals. Actually, of almost all musicals, so we often sang medleys from many of them. It is surprising how often I find
myself humming some of the tunes or singing some of the lyrics, if I can
remember them, that is. After all, it’s been over 50 years since I was in her
chorus.
According to
the calendar, the first day of spring was March 20, a day I’m particularly fond
of, not only because it was my birthday, but because spring is my favorite time
of year. What’s not to like when all the daffodils are in bloom? But I’m
getting off track here. The song that has been running through my head lately
is “It Might as Well Be Spring” from the musical State Fair. It’s a song more
about restlessness and wanting to be in love than spring, but perhaps just
the word ‘spring’ in the refrain was what brought it to mind and voice in the
last few days. From there my mind wandered to some of the other show tunes and once again I felt a deep appreciation for what Mrs. McCorkle meant
to me. The number of students in the Lanier sophomore class that year was one
and a half times the population of the town from which our family had recently moved,
the number of students in the chorus almost that of the junior high I’d
attended. Needless to say, I’d never seen a play on Broadway, nor heard most of
the music.
Some critics said that ‘Mrs. Mac’ taught us music
that was too mature for us, but I don’t think these detractors ever realized
what a gift the exposure we had in her class was to many of us. We sang music
from all but forgotten musicals such as The
Desert Song by Romberg (which made its debut in 1926,) along with other classics including H. M. S. Pinafore, Oklahoma,
South Pacific, Sound of Music, and Showboat. But it wasn’t all show tunes.
We came to know Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and many others whose names I may have
forgotten to attribute to their compositions, but not their soul-uplifting
music. And last, but not least, were the rousing patriotic songs. The closing
number of the concert each year was a stirring arrangement of "The Battle Hymn
of the Republic," during which we former students eagerly went on stage to once
again be part of her chorus.
