Almost one hundred years ago, Ervin Drake, an alumnus of the original Townsend Harris, composed a piano manuscript that would become just as important in Founders’ Days and graduations as the Star-Spangled Banner itself: the THHS Alma Mater. In the years between Drake’s 1935 graduation and the 1984 reopening of THHS, Drake became a notable American songwriter, whose songs were famously covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Barbara Streisand. And just as Drake’s “It Was a Very Good Year” sounds different in Sinatra’s version when compared to the original Kingston Trio version (or Elvis’s “I Believe” sounds different from Streisand’s version), the THHS Alma Mater has been rearranged over the years.
For this year’s Founders’ Day, a new arrangement of the Alma Mater was performed by the Symphony Orchestra and chorus. This arrangement was composed by the new band director, Thomas LaRocca.
When writing the new arrangement, Mr. LaRocca said he aimed to create “an homage to the music of [the 1930’s],” which was when the original piano manuscript was written by Drake. He also arranged the piece so that strings and bands can perform the Alma Mater each independently or combined as one group.
However, Mr. LaRocca generally kept the Alma Mater as the slow, reflective piece it was the hallmark of the arrangement composed by former band director Kevin Heathwood.
Before Mr. Heathwood’s arrangement, the Alma Mater was notably different from the song students hear today. According to Mr. Heathwood, when he first started working at Townsend Harris High School in 2018, it “was arranged in a way that made it sound like a pop tune. It had a drum set playing a back beat with the concert band, and the tempo was moderately quick.” Below is a version of the “moderately quick” version performed in 2017. Though there may have been different arrangements in the past, the earliest version on YouTube appears to be from the 2007 Commencement Ceremony, where retired English teachers Judy Biener and Debra Michlewitz led the community in singing the version of the song Mr. Heathwood referenced.
After reflecting back on his own Alma Mater at Indiana University, Mr. Heathwood wanted to change the Townsend Harris Alma Mater. “My Alma Mater… always stirred nostalgic emotions and memories. Alma Maters are supposed to be slow and reflective,” he said in an interview with The Classic.
This inspired Mr. Heathwood to look back at the original piano manuscript. In fall of 2018, Mr. Heathwood adapted the score for band and orchestra to become the melody it is today.
According to Mr. Heathwood, “many alumni did not like the new version and said it was too slow,” so he composed an upbeat fight song, “Victory,” using Richard Rodgers’ melody from “Guadalcanal March.” He said that schools typically have both an alma mater and a fight song, and since THHS lacked a fight song, he created one, arranging it for band and later orchestra, with lyrics written with help from members of the Class of 2019 that celebrate the school’s traditions.
Librarian Katherine Yan, who is a THHS graduate, recalls playing the original Alma Mater in the concert band. Ms. Yan said praised recent version of the song but has reservations about the changes over the years. “All the pieces have been beautiful, but I am nostalgic about the one I used to play, that I heard at my graduation, and my Founders’ Days, and that I played multiple times in band,” she said.
Physical education teacher, coach, and alumna Lauren Caiaccia said she also appreciates “any rendition of that beautiful celebration of this wonderful institution” but prefers “a lively, peppier, sing-along version of our Alma Mater.” As a result, she said she was surprised as a teacher to hear a slower version of the song she remembered from her days at THHS when it was located on Parsons Boulevard. “That’s my feeling,” she said. “I love the Townsend Harris Alma Mater. I love Townsend Harris.”
No matter the variation in arrangements, many Harrisites praised the song and its history. New chorus director Christopher Morrison, who prepared his chorus class to perform the Alma Mater at this year’s Founders’ Day, said that “The Alma Mater, in its entirety, is really a celebration of all that togetherness that you get at a school. Townsend Harris is a really special place, and I think that the song just reminds students [of] the people and the connections that you make.”
Tristan Lyner, a junior who has performed both Mr. Heathwood’s and Mr. LaRocca’s arrangements, said he believes that the Alma Mater represents the school community. “The thing that I love about Townsend is the sense of community, and I think to have a song that represents our school… it creates something that bonds us all together,” said Tristan.
Mr. LaRocca noted that the Alma Mater also represents the rich cultural value within the song. In his interview with The Classic, he said that “this is something that culturally goes back, you know, almost 100 years now with the music. So for that to last and to continue to be a thing, I think speaks to the long history and tradition of the school.”
“It is a beautiful song that reflects on the past and celebrates whatever the future may hold,” Mr. Heathwood said.
