AUTUMN, 1942 VIRGINIA NELSON, Orchid Princess Photo by Link-Tiffany IT SOOTHES THE SAVAGE BREAST by Maxine Hedges "ROLL out the barrel" the men sang as they strolled among the people on the busy streets of Oslo. The people looked up and smiled. Some of them began humming or whistling, and soon the parliament building was filled with those audacious Germans who were only building a wall of warfare with an international symbol music. The citizens of Norway paused in their daily routine, only to smile in friendly recognition at the sound of a familiar song and to welcome the singing strangers, hardly suspecting that music had become a vital weapon of modern war. In the Soviet-Finnish War, Finland used and honored her non-combatant ally Finlandia, by Sibelius. This was the voice of Finland that spoke to the world and received sympathy for Finland. In New York the audience rose and remained standing their homage to Finland. England found, early in the siege of Britain, that the ill effects of bombing were beginning to be a menace, as the morale of the people was needed to withstand the daily onslaught. The military heads realised that the country must not only be fortified from the outside, but inside as well. Soon nine professional singers were employed to "Keep England Singing." When the Nazi invasion of Warsaw began, the music of Chopin was played for twenty-four hours a day, interspersed with news broadcasts. A wonderful antidote for the bombs of the Nazis on Poland. The last piece played to the Polish people before the Germans took over was Revolutionary Etude. Germany, realising Chopin's subtle power in his music, forbade playing of the music, punishable by death. This same thing was done to Czechoslavakia with Santona being used in place of Chopin. In countries controlled by the Nazis, the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony are a signal of hope for the oppressed. They are whistled by Frenchmen, Belgians, and Dutch. They are scrawled on the streets and buildings in conquered lands and can be heard by their people on short wave from Great Britain. They act as a medium for keeping up the fighting spirit. Much of modern war is fought by radio, where the idea of destroying morale is emphasized. Many of these tactics are carried on by Britain and Germany. The British with their matter-of-factness strive for accuracy. To get the attention of German short-wave listeners, they often play a few bars from Ich Hatt'Einen Kameraden, German army song of mourning. They then read the list of German captives, soldiers and sailors. This news helps to dampen morale. One of the first duties of the Morale Branch of the U. S. Army General Staff was to complete a book with songs in it Continued on page 46 17