{"id":33542,"date":"2014-09-25T11:07:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T15:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=33542"},"modified":"2022-09-28T10:39:16","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T14:39:16","slug":"wright-state-launches-major-wwi-project-with-concert-of-music-from-the-great-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2014\/09\/25\/wright-state-launches-major-wwi-project-with-concert-of-music-from-the-great-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State launches major WWI project with concert of music from the Great War"},"content":{"rendered":"

Music lovers and history enthusiasts can learn more about World War I and culture during the wartime at a concert kicking off an ambitious yearlong commemoration of the start of the Great War.<\/span><\/p>\n

The concert, \u201cWhile Your Hearts Are Yearning: Popular Songs of the Great War,\u201d begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, in Schuster Hall in the Creative Arts Center on Wright State University\u2019s campus. The concert is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n

The performance is the first in a series called \u201cA Long, Long Way: Echoes of the Great War.\u201d The project is organized by Wright State\u2019s Ohio Center of Excellence in Collaborative Education, Leadership and Innovation in the Arts (CELIA)<\/a> and three faculty members who spent the 2014 Spring Semester developing \u201cA Long, Long Way\u201d while serving as CELIA Fellows.<\/p>\n

\"While<\/a>

Wright State\u2019s history, music faculty and student vocalists are collaborating on \u201cWhile Your Hearts Are Yearning: Popular Songs of the Great War,\u201d the first program in CELIA\u2019s yearlong commemoration of the start of World War I.<\/p><\/div>\n

Focused on the intersection of the war and the arts, the project will present music, poetry, exhibits and film designed to inspire understanding of WWI. It involves faculty, staff and students from the College of Liberal Arts<\/a> and others in the Miami Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Your Hearts Are Yearning,\u201d which is organized by Christopher Oldstone-Moore, Ph.D., senior lecturer in history and a CELIA Fellow, will feature 12 songs from the WWI era.<\/p>\n

Selected by Oldstone-Moore, the tunes were sung from the warfront and home front, representing the different dimensions of the war experience, ranging from patriotic hope, fearful sadness, sardonic bitterness and sober relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope people cry, I hope people laugh, and I hope people realize that it was a trauma that changed everybody,\u201d Oldstone-Moore said. \u201cYou can\u2019t think about the world the same\u201d after the war.<\/p>\n

Listening to the songs people sang during World War I is an informative and powerful way to learn about people\u2019s experiences during the conflict, he said. During the period, people regularly sang together and many knew how to play an instrument.<\/p>\n

Singing was \u201cone of the primary ways in which people expressed themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think we can really understand World War I if we cannot sing and listen to the songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concert will include both popular songs from the war \u2014 like \u201cIt\u2019s a Long Way to Tipperary,\u201d \u201cYour King and Country Want You,\u201d \u201cGoodbye Broadway, Hello France\u201d \u2014 and lesser-known tunes, including \u201ctrench\u201d songs \u2014 \u201cThe Lousy Lance-Corporal,\u201d \u201cMademoiselle from Armentieres,\u201d \u201cFar, Far from Ypres.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many published songs were patriotic or written to soothe people at home, especially those composed later in the war. American patriotic songs, like \u201cWhen You Come Back\u201d by George M. Cohan, are often upbeat and uplifting.<\/p>\n

The concert\u2019s name comes from a line in \u201cKeep the Home Fires Burning,\u201d a popular song written to bolster the feelings of people at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe song captures the feeling of a terrible, never-ending war, but also that there will be an end, a silver lining,\u201d Oldstone-Moore said.<\/p>\n

Trench songs were sung by soldiers often while they marched or did chores. Many were spontaneous, their lyrics changed often and were distributed through primitive trench journals published exclusively for soldiers. \u201cIt\u2019s true folk music,\u201d Oldstone-Moore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe songs were often sarcastic, bawdy, lewd and angry, which is an expression of the life of a soldier,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re taking off their frustrations of being on the front.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concert will feature Wright State student singers, including the Collegiate Chorale. The vocalists are coached by music faculty Kimberly Buczek, Peter Keates, Ginger Minneman and Kim Warrick, with faculty member Steve Aldredge accompanying on piano.<\/p>\n

\"CELIA<\/a>

Clockwise from left, Wright State faculty members Paul Lockhart, Christopher Oldstone-Moore, Barry Milligan and Dennis Loranger collaborated with CELIA to organize \u201cA Long, Long Way: Echoes of the Great War.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Kristin Sobolik, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said she has been impressed with how CELIA has collaborated across disciplines on important topics of interest to faculty, students and the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cCELIA’s focus this year on the commemoration of the advent of WWI is very timely and involves participation both within Wright State and the broader community,\u201d she said. \u201cThe integrative programming is exceptional and is exactly how these important topics should be analyzed, reconstructed and deconstructed. Once again, CELIA is taking the lead in these interdisciplinary inquiry zones.”<\/p>\n

Organizing a concert based on a major historical event is natural for Oldstone-Moore, who has been involved with music and history throughout his life. He plays piano and violin and has sung in the Springfield Symphony Chorus, Springfield Chorale Arts and his church choir.<\/p>\n

He also has incorporated music into his classes when possible and has organized a workshop for schoolteachers on using popular songs to teach American history.<\/p>\n

So when CELIA began discussing WWI, Oldstone-Moore said, the concept for \u201cWhile Your Hearts Are Yearning\u201d was obvious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorld War I is ideal because it\u2019s a contained event and there\u2019s truly an outburst of song,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is something that people just needed to sing about and they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

More programs in \u201cA Long, Long Way\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"CELIA<\/a>In addition to \u201cWhile Your Hearts Are Yearning,\u201d \u201cA Long, Long Way\u201d features other major events in 2014\u201315:<\/p>\n