[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    HARVARD BAND'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY

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                          HON. SAM COPPERSMITH

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 1994

  Mr. COPPERSMITH. Mr. Speaker, tonight, the Harvard University band 
begins to celebrate its 75th anniversary. As a former member and 
manager of the band, I rise to salute the college band that the New 
Yorker magazine called the best in the business.
  The Harvard band started performing in 1919, when two undergraduates, 
Fred Reynolds and Paul McElroy--both class of 1920--decided to replace 
the university's banjo club with a real marching band for football 
games. From that ragged beginning, the Harvard University band quickly 
earned its well-deserved reputation for innovation, quick wit, and 
first-rate music.
  In 1932, the Harvard band first marched into words and pictures on 
the field, a practice now used by bands around the Nation. The band 
also pioneered its characteristic scramble style marching, where 
instead of military marching, the band members sprint from one 
formation to the next on cue.
  Musically, the Harvard band premiered famous medleys of college fight 
songs written by Leroy Anderson, class of 1929, the renowned composer 
who got his start as the student conductor of the band. The band also 
premiered works by Gustav Holst, Aaron Copeland, Leonard Bernstein, 
Sergei Prokofiev, and P.D.Q. Bach.
  This weekend, alumni of the Harvard band will join current members 
for a joint half-time show at the Harvard-Cornell football game. I 
regret I have to leave my clarinet in the closet due to our late 
session, but I salute from the floor of this House 75 remarkable years 
of musical accomplishment, collegiate camaraderie, and humor by the 
Harvard University band.

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