Photograph of Guy Lombardo's band at the University of Virginia Final Dances. Charlottesville, 1941.

Good Old Songs (2)

For many years a fixture at New Year's Eve celebrations, Guy Lombardo is unforgettably linked with the melody "Auld Lang Syne" (better known to Hoos as "The Good Old Song"). Lombardo's association with the song dates back to a 1930 Easters dance in Memorial Gymnasium, when students sang their lyrics to his band's rendition of the piece. By the time Lombardo left, he'd grown so attached to the song and the University that not only did he promise to return to play for graduation that year but he also adopted the "The Good Old Song" as his signature melody.

Thompson, Randall. The Testament of Freedom: A Setting of Four Passages from the Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Boston: E.C. Schirmer Music Co., 1944. From the Books of John Lloyd Newcomb, Second President of the University of Virginia.

Chairman of the Music Department Randall Thompson wrote The Testament of Freedom to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth. Using Jefferson's own writings, Thompson affirmed the concepts of life and liberty during the height of World War II. The piece premiered on April 13, 1943, sung by the Glee Club under the direction of Stephen Tuttle, with the composer at the piano. CBS broadcast the performance, and the Office of War Information taped the program for troops overseas.

Photograph of Duke Ellington by Ed Roseberry. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1961.

Courtesy of Ed Roseberry

During the struggles surrounding desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s, the University nonetheless was host to African-American performers. Chuck Berry, Ike Turner, Dizzy Gillespie, Erroll Garner, Bud Powell, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Platters, and many others appeared on stage, despite Senator Harry Byrd's Massive Resistance movement. Although the graduate schools had admitted African-American students since 1950, desegregation in the undergraduate schools of the University did not occur until 1968.