When Linfield music faculty and students occupied the splendid, purpose-built and sound-isolated spaces of the Vivian A. Bull Music Center in August, they realized a dream from as early as 1872 when leaders of McMinnville College first contemplated musical instruction

Henberg, Marvin

English

DigitalCommons@Linfield

Linfield Magazine Volume 3 Number 2 Fall 2006 Article 6 Fall 2006 This Dream Dates Back to 1872 Marvin Henberg Linfield College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine Recommended Citation Henberg, Marvin (2006) "This Dream Dates Back to 1872," Linfield Magazine: Vol. 3 : No. 2 , Article 6. Available at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine/vol3/iss2/6 This article is brought to you for free via open access, courtesy of DigitalCommons@Linfield. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@linfield.edu. 8   -   L I N F I E L D  M A G A Z I N EThe Department of Musicboasts approximately 50 stu-dents enrolled as majors and 50minors. Yet each year hundredsof non-majors – and somecommunity members – takemusic classes, participate in avariety of ensembles and pres-ent nearly 50 performances,ranging from major concerts tointimate recitals to the choir’sannual spring break tour. For acomplete listing of Linfieldmusic groups, go tohttp://www.linfield.edu/music/ensemble.php. Click onhttp://www.linfield.edu/music/events.php for a schedule ofmusic events.When Linfield music faculty andstudents occupied the splendid, pur-pose-built and sound-isolated spacesof the Vivian A. Bull Music Center inAugust, they realized a dream from asearly as 1872 when leaders ofMcMinnville College first contem-plated musical instruction.  Earlier college music facilitiessufficed, but only thanks to ingenuityamong music faculty members andforbearance among their colleagues.Music instruction, begun in 1883 onthe second floor of Pioneer Hall, wasmoved in 1907 when Music Hall waserected as a temporary building onthe site now occupied by WhitmanHall.  Linfield musicians subsequent-ly shared the hall with, among others,the departments of Latin, Greek,German, English, art and education.   In 1947 a surplus theatre fromthe Portland Air Base was moved tothe site now occupied by MurdockHall.  Music joined journalism andradio communications, speech andtheatre in this new home. First called the Fine ArtsBuilding, the facility was re-namedFrerichs Hall in 1957. With itsnamesake faculty removed, MusicHall was renamed Colonial Hall.  In early 1965, Colonial Hallended its temporary lifespan ofalmost 60 years. It was deliberatelyburned as practice for fire depart-ments statewide.  No one watchingthis planned conflagration couldperceive, as we do today, an omi-nous foreshadowing of 1969. OnDec. 16 of that year, Frerichs Hall wasreduced to ashes in an early morningblaze sparked by an overheated chim-ney.  Once again, Linfield musiciansbecame itinerants seemingly destinedfor temporary abodes.  The programmoved briefly to Memorial Hall toawait renovation of Renshaw Hall.Opened in 1967 and designedexpressly for art, Renshaw could bemodified to house musicians, but notto favor them. Accordingly, in the new facilityhonoring President Emerita VivianA. Bull, adjectives such as “purpose-built” and “sound-isolated” are musicto everyone’s ears.– Marvin HenbergProfessor of PhilosophyHail, trombones and LisztIn 1965, Colonial Hall ended its lifespan of almost 60 years when it was deliberately burned as practice for fire departmentsstatewide. Just three years later, fire destroyed Frerichs Hall, moving the music department to Renshaw Hall. Marv Henberg, professorof philosophy, and Barbara Seidman, interim dean of faculty, are preparing an illustrated book for Linfield’s Sesquicentennial titledInspired Pragmatism: An Illustrated History of Linfield College, which will include historical sketches such as this.This dream dates back to 187250,50 and 50As the music department movedinto its new digs in the Vivian A.BullMusic Center, musicians carried withthem more than just instruments,sheet music and tuning forks. Theyalso brought many memories ofRenshaw Hall. Originally designed for visualartists, Renshaw opened its doors tomusicians in 1969 after Frerichs Hallburned to the ground. Renshaw’s hub was the mainoffice, run by Donna Root, secretaryfor both music and art. Most days, fac-ulty and students crowded the 10x13foot office to make copies, use thephone or talk with Root.The building’s most prominentarchitectural element, the art gallery,featured a two-story ceiling and fourskylights. When a second floor wasadded above the gallery to accommo-date rehearsals, rain or hail stormscould drown out the choir.Musicians and artists alike learnedto accept Renshaw’s notoriously thinwalls, according to Jill Timmons, pro-fessor of music, whose office was locat-ed next to that of the late Marion vanDyk for years. One day, Timmons prac-ticed a particularly difficult work byFranz Liszt.“I must have made more repeti-tions than usual,” said Timmons,“because through the wall I heard hisvoice announce confidently, ‘You’ll getit!’ It was a joke we shared for years andone of my fondest Linfield memories.”Practice proved challenging forstudents as well. When a trombone orsaxophonist arrived to practice in thetrailer next door that had 1/8-inchpaneling and no insulation, everyoneelse would flee from the noise.Some Renshaw memories aretangible. Plaster busts of GiuseppeVerdi and Robert Schumann in hang-man nooses, hung by music historystudents in 1981, now grace a shelf inTimmons’ new office. – Laura DavisVivian A. Bull Music Center fast facts: 14,000 square feet, six faculty studio offices, a music library, 10 soundproof practice rooms, theWoolley Rehearsal Room, the 98-seat Delkin Recital Hall, a seminar room, lobby area with fireplace and instrument storage space. F A L L  2 0 0 6 -   9

This Dream Dates Back to 1872

Name not available

https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1235&amp;context=linfield_magazine

This Dream Dates Back to 1872

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@Linfield

Name not available