Music for the day

In 1893, Emory published its first yearbook, the Zodiac. Professor of Music Steve Everett was inspired by that book, which contained the first photograph of the Emory Glee Club, in his composition of the fanfare "Zodiacal MEmory," one of two pieces of music commissioned to honor the Inauguration of Emory's eighteenth president, William M. Chace.

According to Everett, the two-and-a-half-minute "Zodiacal MEmory," performed by the Atlanta Brassworks just prior to President Chace's Inaugural address, combines both Emory history and celestial phenomenon. "I started thinking about the idea of the zodiac . . . and in the dictionary [I found] a thing called zodiacal light, which is a glow of light you see in the west at sunset and in the east in the morning," Everett says. "So I thought that was . . . a moment of what this fanfare was about--the change [in] light. . . . And then I like the word memory, because if you take off the `m,' you get Emory."

Professor of Music John Anthony Lennon composed the other commissioned work, which was performed by the University Chorus just before the investiture of President Chace. "It's an a cappella choral piece about four minutes in length," says Lennon. "It's set to the Emory motto, which is Cor Prudentis Possidebit Scientiam ["The prudent heart will possess knowledge"]. . . . I wouldn't say it's incidental music, but it's not concert art music, either. It's supposed to be something a broad audience would enjoy. It's a positive piece."--J.D.T.


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