Sarah Diky
Valentines to some,
a New Year to others
Can’t get away with it.
I won’t even try. I might not
be able to forgive myself.
Surely I have to say something
about the upcoming holiday, although
the thought of it almost makes me sick.
_ Deep breath — OK — Valentine’s
Day.
Yep, that’s the one.
But I’m not going to yak about it
for long. It’s three days before V-day.
Are those roses ordered? Those choco
lates hidden?
Or more uniquely, are the ears
prepped to hear a sweet melody?
That’s right. For a sweeter
Valentine’s Day, “Sweetheart Ser
enades” will be offered by quartets of
the Lincolnaire Chapter of Sweet
Adelines International from Saturday
to Monday.
Each serenade includes two love
songs sung in four-part harmony, a
box of chocolates and a card. All this
for $25.1 must say, this gift would be
more entertaining than just roses and
chocolate.
Beth Karre, project coordinator,
said the Sweet Adelines had offered
the serenades for six years.
Quartets will
sing during the
day and evening
at places of busi
ness, homes,
restaurants,
nursing homes
and hospitals.
“The serenad
ing quartets get
as much joy out
of singing the
valentine songs as the recipients,
Karre said.
“It’s a great way to create a
memory for someone you love."
OK, enough about romance.
This weekend UNL students and
faculty are celebrating the Chinese
New Year. According to Chris Babb,
head resident or the International House,
the Chinese celebrate their new year for
a week with feasts and fireworks. In
China the official New Year started on
Tuesday, Babb said.
“It’s kind of like a Mardi Gras,” Babb
said. _
Three student groups have the same
thing in mind. The Nebraska University
Malaysian Student Organization, Inter
national House and University Program
Council will put on their own show Fri
day night in the Nebraska Union.
Starting at 9 p.m the public can join
the celebration in the union with
storytelling and dancing. A special event
will take place outside of Selleck Resi
dence Hail after 9 p.m., Babb said.
Sounds like something electrifying!!
These activities are free and open to
the public.
Duey is a senior news-editorial major and
the Arts & Entertainment editor.
Composer creates music from heart and mind
By Paula Lavigne ____ — -—
Senior Reporter . . -j-—. a——— - 1! ~ MteiSL «■ N 9' */ z~
_ Like creating a work of art or
S' I I a literary masterpiece, compos
l ■ y ing music is a project of the cre
WT ative mind. This process of put
■ ting notes to paper is a talent with
which Randall Snyder is very
familiar.
Snyder, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln
music theory and composition professor, has
been composing music for almost two decades.
Several UNL faculty members and students
have performed Snyder’s works in the past. One
of his works will be featured at the University
Orchestra concert Friday.
“It’s a relationship that I refer to as mutually
altruistic,” he said, “in that it’s good for me and
it’s good for them.”
Snyder said he felt good about being able to
write for the professional university players. He
said he had written for “almost everybody” in
the university’s music department.
He also has written for the Nebraska Brass
Quintet, the Bachman Trio and the Nebraska
Music Teachers Association. He has written a
harp trio for a group in Redlands, California, he
said.
Some of Snyder’s creations have more of a
personal touch to them. He wrote a piece for
oboe professor William McMullen and his wife
for their wedding present.
“It beats having to buy a gift,” he laughed,
“but on the other hand you can give something
that’s one of a kind.”
In the past 16 years, Snyder has composed a
catalog of about 150 pieces. He said his talents
came from a wide variety of inspirations.
There s not one way that I do it, he said.
“One way is to sit down on a piano and start
playing around and you find something. You
write it down and say ‘Hmm, what’s the best
way to use that idea?”’
Snyder said he liked to use the reverse ap
proach to this theory.
“I think first if I want to write an orchestra
piece or a sonata,” he said. “I think of how long
it’s supposed to be. Then I draw a sketch of how
it’s supposed to look, and then I go to the pi
ano.”
Like a “snowball rolling down a hill” is how
Snyder described these creative processes. As
one composes more, it is useful to use these
plans, he said.
Words inspire Snyder’s notes as well.
“I’m often inspired by literature, either
through settings of songs to poetry or taking the
form a writer uses,” he said.
Although he is inspired by written works,
Snyder said composing wasn’t a verbal process.
“It’s a process that is not easily subjected to
verbal analysis,” he said. “The fact that I might
say one thing and the next day write a piece
completely different makes it difficult to make
a generalization.”
Snyder also writes pieces generated from
emotions. One such piece was written honor
ing his sister who died of cancer. He said the
music was helpful for him in dealing with her
death.
“Another thing about composing is that it can
be very therapeutic,” he said. “If you have prob
lems or just difficulty in your life, composing
sometimes helps by taking your mind off those
things or by providing a vehicle by which you
can expedite your problems.”
He said this could be applied to any com
plex art form. Snyder said composing music was
similar to writing or painting.
“Painting a picture, being a novelist, they’re
all the same,” he said. In any type of creative
endeavor, Snyder said, the artistic mind can take
over.
“And I suppose, as science at a higher level,
Einstein could say two plus two equals five,”
he said. •
“The theory of relativity makes little sense,"
he said. “And most artists are working at the
same level."
Composers are different in their trade because
their art is more interpretive than others. He said
there was a risk in a musician interpreting a
piece, while an artist could create a painting and
be done with it.
Snyder uses his theories when teaching stu
dents how to compose.
“I try to provide a creative environment for
students to operate," he said. “I’m not one who
is particularly interested in the style of their
writing as long as they believe in the work
James Mehsltng/DN
ethic."
He said composing must be done on a daily
basis in order to improve.
“If you want to run in a marathon race, you
train,” he said. “You don’t just arrive on the day
of the race and run 26 miles. You won’t make
it. You must run every single day.”
Aside from appearing in the University Or
chestra concert tonight, a Snyder composition
will appear as a flute solo at the Korean Music
Concert on Feb. 26.
