Fenno Follansbee Heath, Jr.

Laura Stanfield Prichard CC '90

2010-12-24T13:17:00.003-05:00

It just started snowing in Boston, so it's time for Fenno's winter music. Our favorite is Fenno "Winter Prayer," which I first encountered at eighteen in a handwritten version on a snowy afternoon in the Glee Club room - Miriam Pelikan (Pittenger) ('89) and Karen Daehnick (Poirier) ('90), sitting on either side of me, remarking that it sounded a little like Britten to them (we'd just sung his "Festival Te Deum" in Battell). It was the first piece of Fenno's in which I could really hear his training with Paul Hindemith (all those fourths!) and feel a sense of repose and serenity in a CT winter (I certainly never felt a sense of response during my own studies!). Now "Winter Prayer" is my favorite of his works, although I'll always remember Tom Porter ('90) singing "Fern Hill" and see Fenno's "whip" gesture during the downbeat rests in the four-spirituals-by-Fenno-Heath (that's the way the Princeton and Harvard Glee Clubs used to announce our second half set).

It's Christmas Eve, so I'm off to conduct Fenno's "The Lamb" at First Parish Arlington, where I was first welcomed by Graham and Liz (Hopkins) Stevens ('90 and '91) and later worked with Jonathan (Markowitz) and Rebecca (Benefiel) Bijur ('01?), who we met singing. My only good memories of Yale are of food and music, and that's a lot, thanks to Maggie Brooks, to the Glee Club, and to Fenno.

Red beans and ricely yours,

Laura Stanfield Prichard CC '90

Central European "Bringing down the Wall" Tour, Co-Manager, '90

Chamber Singers Director, '90

Founding Pitch, Untapped Potential (now called Out of the Blue)

Freshman Chorus Accompanist & Chamber Singers member, '86-87

YGC, Battell, YSM Lab Choruses, Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Calhoun Dramat, YPMB, YAC

231 Bingham Road, Carlisle, MA 01741

978.369.7329 laura@prichard.net

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2010-11-14T10:12:00.002-05:00

My Olympic Game! My Olympic Game was written for the 1984 Los Angeles Games by Arthur Hamilton and William Goldstein. It was performed by the Yale Glee Club on NBC's Olympic special.

2010-11-14T10:01:00.000-05:00

Under the direction of Sherri A. Matthews, this is the 2004-2005 Godwin High School Madrigals ensemble from Richmond, Virginia singing the epic "General William Booth Enters Into Heaven." Based on the poem by Vachel Lindsay Composed by Fenno Heath

2010-11-13T08:58:00.000-05:00

Rehearsal before the memorial service! Alleluia, Randall Thompson

2010-11-13T08:22:00.001-05:00

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Alleluia is a piece for unaccompanied SATB chorus by Randall Thompson. Composed over the first five days of July in 1940, it was given its world premiere on July 8 of that year at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood under the direction of G. Wallace Woodworth.

The work was written on a commission from Serge Koussevitzky, director of the Tanglewood Festival. Koussevitzky wanted a "fanfare" for voices to be performed at the opening exercises of the new Berkshire Music Center, and he asked Thompson to contribute such a piece. Instead of the joyous work expected of him, the composer produced a quiet and introspective piece. Thompson was inspired by the war in Europe, and the recent fall of France; given these events, he felt that to write a festive piece would be inappropriate.

The text of the work is simple; it consists of the word "Alleluia" repeated over and over again. The only other word in the text is "Amen", which is used once at the end. The end also divides the choir into seven parts.

Thompson once wrote that the Alleluia is

a very sad piece. The word "Alleluia" has so many possible interpretations. The music in my particular Alleluia cannot be made to sound joyous. It is a slow, sad piece, and...here it is comparable to the Book of Job, where it is written, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

The piece has become Thompson's most popular work, and is frequently performed today.

Mother of Men

2010-11-13T08:14:00.002-05:00

A Peaceful and Beautiful Place in the Lovely Grove Street Cemetery at Yale

2010-11-11T17:54:00.000-05:00

Do Not Stand By My Grave and Weep. I Am Not There. I Do Not Sleep.

2010-10-01T19:58:00.000-04:00

Dec. 5th, 2009. One year.

2009-12-05T10:02:00.002-05:00

Pride, joy and song

2009-09-17T04:18:00.000-04:00

As a Glee Clubber for 3 years and the co-Manager of the 1977 European Summer Tour, I spent a lot of time with Fenno. I treasure the memories and will always remember him with great affection.

One moment sticks in my mind, though. During my senior year the Glee Club’s major performance was J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion. Fenno had a special way with Bach; at a time when choruses and orchestras around the world were reducing their forces in performances of Baroque music, he seemed to relish showing what he could do with 72 singers in Bach’s masterpieces.

No championship football team ever practiced harder than we did on the St. John Passion. At first, his insistence on precision, on phrasing, on repeating certain small bits of music over and over again until we had it right, seemed over-the-top, unnecessary. But Fenno knew better.

One night, maybe 3 weeks before the performance, everything came together in a rehearsal the memory of which still makes my skin tingle. All those hours of rehearsing, Fenno’s insistence on doing things right, suddenly came together in an extraordinary sound, the likes of which I had never heard.

We would be ready.

To this day, 30+ years later, I am as proud of that performance in Woolsey Hall as of any event in my life. It was not just good, it was extraordinary. I have listened to every commercially available recording of the St. John Passion, and I can say that no other chorus matches the sound, the intensity, that Fenno conjured forth.

At times it sounded like a choir of angels; at others it sounded like singers at war. In one short burst, when Bach’s chorus was mocking Jesus, we sounded so diabolical that you could easily envision the Biblical scene.

The piece ends on a quiet note. Many of us were almost in tears because of the emotion we felt, the joy and pride we took in the performance we had just completed. Fenno lowered his arm, and for a split second there was absolute silence in Woolsey Hall. And then pandemonium.

Although I have done many things since, I do not believe I have ever felt quite as proud, quite as fulfilled, as I did standing on the stage in Woolsey Hall that night. For that pride and sense of fulfillment, for those wonderful memories, I thank you, Fenno, and I give thanks that I had the opportunity to know you.

And now, Fenno, please remember one thing: Beethoven is sensitive about being told he is off-key.

Craig Alan Wilson ‘78

Update

2009-07-26T21:41:00.004-04:00

Just writing to let you all know that the Heath children are thrilled to report that our mom, CAROL, as you all know (!), is spending a wonderful summer at her summer home in New Hampshire....the place where generations of her family have lived long, happy lives, farming and making music.....She has been picking four leafed clovers galore (literally!), making catnip toys galore (for sale in Peggy's Farmer's Market tent....), spending lots of time with her children, and also in Peggy's pick your own flower garden (www.songgardenflowerfarm.blogspot.com), and enjoying long, leisurely days in the countryside. She has internet there, high on a hillside, and in the woods, so you can write to her at carol.heath@wcres.org We are all still humbled by the outpouring of love for our father. Thank you one and all for the kind words in the last several months. They have buoyed us through the turbulant times and now the seas have calmed and the light is starting to shine again.

Steven J. White, '81 Manager, 1981 Glee Club

2009-06-04T21:21:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,

There is only one thing I truly regret about the otherwise very positive decision I made after leaving Yale to become Sabbath-observant. It has become very difficult to stay in touch with the YGCA and the YAC, because so much of the alumnus activity occurs (understandably) on Saturdays. So those who know me from Yale haven't seen me much, I haven't made many Singing Dinners, and I just couldn't manage to get to New Haven for the memorial service. But no one should mistake that for not caring, and I'd like to share just a few thoughts about Fenno with everyone.

To start, Fenno played the single most important role in making music important in my life. I'm sure that's not a novel idea, but since everyone's story is different, I'll share mine. When I came to Yale, I was a decently experienced choral singer, and was a fairly talented cantor (prayer leader) for a teenager. Still, I don't know that I was really a musician, and I do know that I had fairly little contact with the broad canon of choral music, so much of it Christian in orientation. (OK, I could teach the pronunciation of Chichester Psalms. There are compensations.) Under Fenno's tutelage, I became a musician, a singer, and comfortable with music from a broad range of cultures, languages and traditions.

Fenno really took me under his wing. He gave me a semester of tutorial in choral conducting – with me an engineering major! – and using Brahms' Requiem as a launch pad taught me a great deal about what makes choral music – and any other music – really work. He filled in the details (around so much already learned in rehearsals) about how to get a group of singers to do what you want. Most important, he taught me, and all of us, how to work hard at what you want, but also how to live life to the fullest, and to love what you do with your life.

I share many of the memories that others have shared. One I didn't see was about Fenno's eating habits (at least in the 1980s): I never met someone who salted his prime rib before eating it until I saw Fenno do that at Mory's at the officer dinner in the fall of 1980. But to me, that was part and parcel of Fenno – a man who, as conventional and traditional as he was sometimes, marched to the beat of his own drummer. It was hard not to be bound up in that enthusiasm.

I haven't done much choral singing lately, and the posts that I have read about the joy of participating is making me reconsider doing some more this fall. My main musical contributions these days is as a lay cantor in synagogue. Most of my fellow congregants consider me fairly capable at that, and while Fenno obviously didn't teach me the prayers and melodies, he played a part in this as well. I learned from
Fenno how to combine my musicianship with my religious service in a way that did not compromise the integrity of either one, but rather allowed them to work synergistically together. That is a gift which, in my view, is truly priceless.

Carol, Sarah, Lucy, Peggy, Terry and families: I don't pretend to miss your husband, father and grandfather as much as you do. But he had an enormous influence on me and many, many others, and we miss him, too.

May Fenno's memory be for blessing, and may his soul be bound in eternal life.

Yours in friendship,
Steven J. White, '81
Manager, 1981 Glee

Click on the arrow on the videos below to view them...

2009-04-02T20:13:00.003-04:00

Rehearsal of the Alleluia for Fenno's Service 3/28/09

2009-04-01T20:30:00.002-04:00

Yale Glee Club Singing Dinner 3/28/09

2009-03-29T22:06:00.004-04:00

Yale Alumni Chorus @ the Singing Dinner/Lawn Club New Haven, CT on the night of Fenno's Memorial Service 3/28/09

2009-03-29T21:22:00.006-04:00

2009-03-09T19:56:00.001-04:00

Mark Fittipaldi, ' 72

2009-02-07T09:19:00.001-05:00

On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 12:09 PM, Mark Fittipaldi

Dear Fenno: My thoughts are with you, Carol and your whole family. I hope you realize that during your time in this world you truly made a difference, not only through the music that you so brilliantly conducted and composed, but also by enabling the many true and lasting friendships that came about between and among the members of the Yale Glee Club over which you presided for so many wonderful years. Thank you for your friendship as well, and for your leadership and inspiration, which I can assure you will not be forgotten as long as any of us who were fortunate enough to know and sing with you are around.

Sincerely,

Mark Fittipaldi, ' 72

The World Wide Web is amazing. Just found this post from 'alto artist' on HER blog. Incredible reading about her memories of Fenno at Yale

2009-02-06T20:05:00.002-05:00

Sunday, December 07, 2008
758. "Let the short-lived hours speed, running smoothely, quickly by."
My 21st birthday, many years ago, was a strange day. I was a junior at Yale, and the entire East Coast had just suffered a freak early-April blizzard. I remember trudging through piles of snow in the morning to get to my my painting studio, and then clumsily tipping over a jar of turpentine on the bench where I sat in front of my canvas. I was wearing layers and layers of clothing (the studio, maybe to make us feel more like real starving artists, wasn't heated), so barely noticed at first. But turpentine is evil. It seeped through all the fabric and suddenly, an hour later, the skin on my left leg was in agonizing pain. I left the studio and made it back across town in blinding snow to my dorm, where I stood under a shower for many minutes in hopes that cool water would ease my distress. It didn't. I then hiked over to the undergrad health services building, where I joined a long line of sniffling students with hacking coughs. I gave up after an hour and instead headed to a local pharmacy, where I bought every kind of aloe and salve I could find, slathered it on my thigh, and went back to my room for a fitful nap.

That evening, leg wrapped in a bandage, I limped over to the Yale Glee Club office where 80 people sang "Happy Birthday" and then voted me in as their next manager. I heard their voices and forgot all the pain. (And my leg ended up being just fine.) Thus began a year, culminating in a tour of Europe with the group, my first time overseas, that would teach me how to start being an adult--and that music was as necessary as breathing to live life fully.

I remembered this moment in the wake of great sadness: Fenno F. Heath, Jr., conductor of the Glee Club during my tenure, and anyone else's who was lucky to be a member between the years of 1953 and 1992, passed away peacefully last Friday at 6:12 pm at the age of 81. I never before realized how much his philosophy was similar to that of the rabbis at my synagogue: give music freely, and it will repair the world. So much of my spiritual life--chanting Torah, helping lead services--as well as my work life, has its origin in what I learned from Fenno: work hard and be good at what you do. And do it with your whole heart. I'm pretty sure the voice I often hear in my head when chanting ("Don't go flat!") is his.

Forty years' worth of Glee Club members have been sharing our memories, and I added a few of my own:

----
I loved how Fenno would begin "'Neath the Elms." Just a little flick of the wrist in our direction--"Go!" As if to say: I gave you all the tools, and now it's your job. Don't worry, I'll help. But you lucky people get to do most of it.

Singing, since Yale, has remained my biggest hobby--in 25 years I've never been without an opportunity to raise my voice in the company of others, and owe much of this addiction to my Glee Club experience. I've had some terrific conductors, but can honestly say that none came close to Fenno for the passion and drive to excellence he managed to instill in us all, always with good humor and the reminder that this was, above all, fun. From Fenno I learned that a well-lived life must have two often-overlapping parts: singing, and everything else.

I spent an hour last Friday afternoon reading the beautiful words everyone has shared and then, as usual, went to Friday evening services at my synagogue. I belong to a congregation where prayer is always in the form of music--they subscribe completely to Fenno's exhortation that there's too much talking going on. But as I walked in, a little after 6:00 pm, my heart was heavy with the loss I knew this world would soon bear, and I wondered how I could sing of the joy that the Sabbath brings. Then I heard everyone's voices in harmony around me, and realized that if I learned one thing from Fenno it was that when given the chance to sing, take it. The outcome would always be good and healing. I bet Fenno was standing in front of the heavenly choir at that very moment and telling them the same thing.

Posted by alto artist at 12:54 PM
Labels: death, Judaism, music, visiting old places

2 comments:

Regina Clare Jane said...

aa, this was a beautiful tribute to your conductor, Mr. Heath- thank you. It was nice hearing a little of your history, too. :)

And... I am sorry for your loss, my friend...
8:04 PM
alto artist said...

Thank you so very much. It's amazing how one person can have such an effect on one's life--and how we often don't fully understand until years later.

--aa.

-Noah Lawrence SY '09 Posted by YALE GLEE CLUB BLOG (yalegleeclub.blogspot.com)

2009-02-06T19:53:00.001-05:00

Monday, December 8, 2008
In memory of Fenno Heath, 1926-2008
Fenno Heath, legendary conductor of the Yale Glee Club from 1953-1992, passed away on December 5. His family has set up a website with many more wonderful stories and memories of him.

On hearing the sad news of Fenno’s passing, I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts, tell a couple of stories of Fenno, and hopefully honor him a little bit, as best as anyone can. For new Glee Clubbers: Fenno Heath was our conductor from the 1950s through the 1990s. If any one person could embody the Yale Glee Club, Fenno would be he. He made the courageous leap to bring women into the group; he brought the group on numerous tours abroad, including to China (I believe the group's first China tour ever); he arranged and even composed for the group extensively (hence the Fenno Heath Award for new Yale songs); and most importantly, he did it all with a spirit of genuine, hardy big-heartedness.

I can't claim to have any Glee Club memories from before 2005, but in my time in the Glee Club, we did get the lucky chance to sing under Fenno's baton twice. The first time was my sophomore year, when Fenno came to hear a rehearsal for the Commencement concert, and, at the end, conduct us in "'Neath the Elms." He had a special motion for asking more from the basses: he put his left hand down low, and mimed a very, very strong grip. Later, this motion was jokingly known in the bass and tenor sections as the "more guts, men!" motion; but in all seriousness, what Fenno showed us that day is that if you do something, you should take it seriously, and do it with fortitude, and courage – that fun, joy and togetherness are to be found not in spite of those qualities, but because of them.

The other time we sung under Fenno was my freshman year, at the 145th anniversary alumni reunion (these reunions come once every five years, and they're amazing; the 150th is in 2010-11). We had a concert with the pre-1969 men's alumni chorus, followed by the post-1969 mixed alumni chorus, and then the current Glee Club, in Woolsey Hall. At the very end, all the groups sang a set of songs together, with Fenno conducting: the current Glee Club on stage, and all the alumni in the first floor seats, filling nearly to the back of Woolsey.

Our first song was "We Meet Again Tonight, Friends" -- which, prior to 1969, had been called, "We Meet Again Tonight, Boys." It was Fenno who originally took a stand and changed the name of the song, knowing that making all different kinds of people (in this case, women in particular) at home in the Glee Club would be impossible if any traces of the old patriarchy remained. Just so, when Fenno conducted us my freshman year, he showed that same blend of courage and kindness. Before he raised his baton, he smiled, and said, "Now, remember ... friends." We all laughed, and he laughed too – and then we launched into singing; and we truly were friends, united by mirth, by song, and by the wisdom of Fenno Heath.

We all can continue to honor Fenno by infusing our singing -- and every action of our lives -- with these values. Every concert, and every small act we do, will be a chance to keep Fenno's good character alive, and to make him proud.

-Noah Lawrence SY '09
Posted by YALE GLEE CLUB BLOG

Mini Movie Time!

2009-02-06T19:35:00.002-05:00

ooooooooo, so beautiful and just leaves you hanging.......his triple ppps were.....well, there are no words to describe.

Mini Movies!!! From Rita Helfand. Thank you, Rita!

2009-02-06T19:24:00.003-05:00

Dad adored and looked forward to his YAC experience each year during his retirement from the YGC. All of the Heaths enjoyed attending, including various grandchildren.
Long Live the YGC AND the YAC!

Fenno at Milton Academy with YAC '03

2009-02-06T18:46:00.003-05:00

Just sent to us by Rita Helfand!!!
Wonderful mini video of Fenno conducting the YAC at Milton Academy circa 2003ish.
oooooooooo it leaves you HANGING, just WISHING for more! Thank you so much, Rita!

David Barnett '78

2009-02-06T17:21:00.001-05:00

12/05/08

Fenno:

You have always been my most favorite choral conductor, the perfect blend of person, musician and teacher, who always welcomed every singer of any level of ability as a friend. I originally came from the instrumental side of the music world, and when I took your choral conducting class you used to call me the 'band director' until I took your teachings to heart. The Glee Club sound has inspired some of my own work. I only sang in the Glee Club in my Senior year, but the ever expanding Glee Club world (Associates, YAC, etc.) has grown to be the main way I connect to Yale. It has truly been a pleasure.

David Barnett '78

Susan (Louise) Williams '86

2009-02-06T17:19:00.001-05:00

Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008, 9:29 PM

Dear Fenno and family,

I have just been reading the postings on the blog and am overwhelmed. Fenno was
such a big part of so many of our lives at Yale, and I just can't imagine
the place without him. I am so grateful for the day I got up the courage to go
put my name on the audition list at Hendrie Hall - and that I was blessed with
such a common name. I might not have made the Glee Club had I not been the
third Susan Williams to try out. My time in the Glee Club is one of my fondest
memories of Yale. Fenno, you were a mentor and a friend and I will miss you. And
yes, we are all sorry about the time a group of us talked our way into some
museum in some Midwestern town by promising to sing in front of the I-max screen
and you told us we should not advertise ourselves as the Yale Glee Club unless
all of us were there. Peace and love.

Susan (Louise) Williams '86

Lewis Girdler, '61

2009-02-06T17:16:00.000-05:00

Fri, 5 Dec 2008

Composer, conductor, teacher (with the greatest of teacher's gifts, as others have noted, the ability to know every one of us as individuals and recall us decades later without the slightest hesitation), colleague, friend, husband and father-- there's also Fenno the arranger. At a Whiff reunion some years back, three alums took the stage to announce that in the car on the way, they had found that Fenno's arrangement of "September Song" worked even with one part missing. They proceeded to knock us all out by showing how very true that was. By way of explanation, their spokesman observed, "Well, it's Fenno". No more needed to be said.
Now the heavenly choirs are pulling up their socks, clearing their throats, and getting ready to sing as they've never sung before. Fenno and family, I hope you are feeling the love and the gratitude just pouring in.

Lewis Girdler, '61

Elizabeth Michaud Class of 1977

2009-02-06T17:12:00.000-05:00

12/05/08

I'm so saddened to hear this news. Many of my happiest memories of Yale are of rehearsing and singing in the Glee Club under Fenno. He set high musical standards and always did it with great charm, warmth, and humor. He brought out our best, gave us wonderful musical experiences, and made everyone in the Glee Club feel both welcomed and essential. Everyone who sang under Fenno will miss him very much. My thoughts are with Fenno, Carol, and their family as shepherd Fenno toward his next great journey.

Elizabeth Michaud
Class of 1977

Lisa K. Catapano-Friedman '73

2009-02-06T17:09:00.000-05:00

12/5/08

It is unimaginable to me that I will not have another opportunity to tease Fenno by counting the number of Fenno's citations of Robert Shaw during a rehearsal. I think the greatest number of citations was somewhere around 20. Fenno is a fixture of choral singing for me--the person who made choral singing an important, permanent piece of my life. My life would have been very different---and much less rich---without him.

Lisa K. Catapano-Friedman '73

From Bill Holding. Sent to us back on Dec. 3rd. We read this letter to Fenno, Bill.

2009-02-05T14:40:00.001-05:00

Dear Fenno,

Judy and I are sitting here in the sunshine and thinking about the
inestimable value and significance of your life; what you have given
all of us in your orbit in appreciating and making music that is
distinctly “Fenno” – challenging, sophisticated and cutting-edge; and so beautiful. You’ve given it to us, multiplied exponentially as we take it with enthusiasm to the various places of our lives.

I’ll always remember the boost you gave me in conducting “Unity” in
Milton and later lowering the boom on “Freedom” until I patched it up into more-or-less singable shape; or responding to a new piece with “That’s unfortunate – sounds like Michel Legrand.” (for me, a towering compliment!)

We’ve just completed a recording of four pieces and hoped you’d be the first to hear it outside the participants. I’ve unabashedly used the piquant sevenths and ninths learned from the master.

With healing love to you and your wonderful family,

Bill

From: Warren Rothman posted back on Dec. 5th. We read this letter to Fenno, Warren.

2009-02-05T14:17:00.002-05:00

"Fenno. The definition…of a great conductor, a great teacher, and a great man, kind and good."

Dear Fenno,

You, Carol, and your loving family are in the hearts of all who were blessed to know you and to sing under your direction.

Filled with love and joy for music, you imparted these qualities to us. Unfailingly gracious, generous, and noble in the face of the challenges involved, you inspired us to reach for some transcendent goal that we did not know we could reach until we had done it.

Your masterpieces of composition, so many arrangements of great insight and profound respect for the material at hand---singing these with you made the experience all the more personal. Your ingenious conducting technique - an elegant ballet that swept delighted choristers up and into the many sound worlds that you created, filled with magic and crackling with electrical sparks.

Oh, Fenno! To once again be singing with you, to feel the entire chorus rising to meet the demands of your gestures and directions. To feel once again the surging power of those FFF sections, and the instant swoops to PPP, all riding as it were on the wings of song. But really on the wings of your technique and musical knowledge. And your brilliant wit.

What a gift, dearest Fenno, what a gift you have been to all who know you.

With deepest love and admiration,

Warren H Rothman, ‘65

SLOTs gather before Fenno's Memorial Service for His Family and the Residents of Whitney Center on Jan. 24th

2009-02-01T17:59:00.004-05:00

SLOT sang the Whiffenpoof song and Steal Away at Dad's service and it was incredibly touching for all................A group of students from the current year's Yale Glee Club sang, under Jeff's beautiful direction, and between these two groups, there was not a dry eye in the Heath family. Thank you.

From Dwight Townsend: Thurs., Dec. 11, 2008

2009-01-31T17:09:00.000-05:00

We have lost a great one, haven't we? Although he was small in stature, in every other way a man can be "measured", he was a giant: in talent; in the respect - even awe, all of us who sang under his precise, strict and almost minimalist direction had for him; in the reputation he so richly deserved as a composer and choral arranger not only at Yale but throughout the world of music; and in the friendships he maintained with his gentleman (and woman) songsters following their graduation.

The worst thing about growing old is not the feelings of pain or discomfort all of us experience every morning somewhere. Nor is the realization that we somehow have not realized our full potential as a father, a husband, a friend, or as a participant in our chosen profession. It is the awful truth that often we have not "tilled the fields of friendship" and have come to realize too late that what would have been extraordinary and fulfilling times of common experience and dialogue can never be recaptured.

While I caught glimpses of Fenno and had short conversations with him at alumnae functions and at his "retirement party", the occasion I most remember that puts a smile on my face and in my heart was the dinner party several years ago at fellow Whiff's (Ash Gulliver) lovely Connecticut home with Bill and Judy Holding and Fenno and Carol in attendance. After a fine meal, we spent perhaps three hours just talking about our shared adventures at Yale midst the singing of many of "the old songs" (Judy and Carol substituting as first tenors). Fenno, as usual, looked at least twenty years younger than his biological age although we were all aware that he had just gone through some tough times health-wise. I kept in touch via e-mails with Carol after that wonderful night (apparently Fenno had little use for computers), but as the years passed, the correspondence just faded away. I so regret my inattention to that "untilled field". Now it is too late to make amends, but it will never be too late to exclaim to all that my choral director, my traveling companion on all those Yale Glee Club trips, and ultimately, my friend, Fenno Heath, was, indeed , a true giant!!!

From Dwight Townsend: Tues., Dec. 02, 2008 to Carol Heath.

2009-01-31T17:07:00.000-05:00

I have just been forwarded an e-mail from Linus Travers commenting on the awful news about Fenno. He was a great part of my Yale experience: a non pariel musician and leader who was admired by all. Being a Whiff was an honor, but nothing could compare to being a part of the glee club doing one of his magnificent arrangements. I can still feel the frisson, as if it was yesterday, singing "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight". My heart goes out to both of you. with much affection and warm memories. Froggy dwight@redfrog.biz

Remembering My Favorite Conductor

2009-01-23T09:07:00.000-05:00

I was a member of the YGC for a year during my sophomore year. But my contact with Mr. Heath extended beyond that time. I often attended events where the YGC sang a special number and Mr. Heath conducted the Club. Also I often ran into him at the Battell Chapel Sunday services. It seemed he usually attended Sunday services alone almost every Sunday.

Several years ago, the YGC came to Seoul, Korea on a concert tour and I attended the concert - to find that there was a new conductor. So after the concert I approached him and asked about Mr. Heath, to which he replied that Mr. Heath had retired, to my chagrin.

I will miss Mr. Heath's enthusiastic conducting style and, especially "I'm gonna ride the chariot in the morning, Lord."

God bless you all.

Rev. Ted Kim

Good News Community Church

Seoul, Korea

Yale Class of 84

Fenno and Carol visiting Quinby, one of their granddaughters, at Bard.

2009-01-22T19:49:00.001-05:00

He sure looked great in hot pink!
And they sure look happy. It's fun getting pictures of Mom and Dad
from grandchildren and friends these days.
Pics I've never seen before. Quinby, I LOVE this one! Thanks for
sending it! ~Aunt Peggy

From The Heaths

2009-01-22T19:37:00.001-05:00

I am writing to you all with love and gratitude from the entire
Heath family. Thank you for sending your stories to this blog. We
read every letter and we feel humbled and grateful to you for your
taking part in this blog. We visit the blog often, as it helps us to
feel connected to our Dad and grandfather through YOU and your
incredible stories and outpourings of emotion. Thank you so very
much. We are all feeling many swirling emotions tonight ..... it is a
huge loss ...There is an emptiness that surrounds us all........but
your words comfort us, and our mother, no end. Dad, "Poppy", Fenno
would be so humbled. I know he would be so humbled by your letters.

Please continue to write, it you feel so moved, as we find a great
refuge in this blog and we will surely read your letters in a timely
fashion.

Sincerely,

Peggy Heath Ogilvy,
UVM '80 (but Dad let me sing in the YGC of 1980 when I did my
independent study senior year in New Haven! )
Fun Fact: Dad let all four of his children be in the YGC, so we know
exactly what a Fenno Heath rehearsal was like!

The Privilege

2009-01-19T22:51:00.001-05:00

I had the great privilege of singing for Fenno for three years, 1960 – 1963, in the YGC. Yes, singing FOR him. As much as singing under his direction pleased, satisfied and gratified me, it was for him that I sang and it was to please him that I worked at it as I did.

Further, it was THROUGH him that I sang. When I sang for him, I always had the feeling that my voice and those of the men singing with me went THROUGH Fenno and that it was he who molded, shaped, modified the sound before it went beyond him to the audience. He played the glee club instrument as much as he directed us. I have sung under the direction of great choral directors, but none was the equal of Fenno Heath.

I learned of Fenno’s death from the program for the YGC’s recent holiday tour. As moving as their music was, it was not their voices that moved me to tears during that performance. It was the loss of a man who was important in my life in ways that I may never understand. Heaven’s chorus will forever sound better.

Dick Moser

Y ‘63

From John Kenneth Adams

2009-01-18T19:35:00.001-05:00

Dear Heath Family,

Just recently I thought about Fenno, and today the Yale Alumni Magazine informs he passed away in December. I came to Yale by a rather circuitous route as a music undergraduate in 1956. Actually I have already finished college at the University of Kansas City, but Yale said I needed alot more music courses, so it took three years to get a Masters in piano performance. I needed money so I jumped at the chance to audition as accompanist for the Yale Alumni Glee Club, one of Fenno's many groups. I played Chopin brilliantly, but I sight read rather poorly. I well remember when a page was late being turned, and Fenno said.."you should have known what's coming!!". Another student got the job. A few weeks later he jumped ship, and Fenno said the job was mine. So I played for them for three years, and learned alot about working with community people from New Haven. When the Spring Concert came up, Fenno said he had a really difficult accompaniment for me...."Miranda" by Richard Hageman. I had actually played it for soprano soloists back in KC, so I felt confident. I did work on it like a dog, and at the first rehearsal the choir applauded. The next season I played for a fine soprano named Joan Brainard on the annual Spring Recital at Woolsey Hall. Fenno was impressed and offered me a solo on the next concert. So from a shaky start I made alot of progress with Fenno. I saw him over the years and he always remembered me, and always mentioned "Miranda". He was always a gentleman, with alot of patience. I remember him with great affection and respect.

John Kenneth Adams
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
University of South Carolina
Columbia

Fenno

2009-01-15T23:22:00.001-05:00

Dear Heath family,

I have often discussed my bright college years with my family and friends. When asked what I most cherish about Yale, two things always come first to mind: the wonderful people and the music.

As a stressed out student who had arrived at Yale, academically unprepared, and still reeling from a traumatic death in my family, I found solace in singing. Fenno did not accept me as a freshman, because I couldn't read music. Instead, he guided me into a course where I learned to do so, and assisted me in finding a voice teacher. When I did get in, the Glee Club was a shining highlight of my time at Yale. Fenno had more of an influence on me than any other adult with whom I had contact in my four years in New Haven. Thirty years later, I can't recall the names of 90% of my professors, or even name all of the classes I took, but when the Glee Club performed the Randall Thompson Alleluia in Seattle earlier this month and invited all of the alums to perform it with them, I was able to recall most of my part without the benefit of a rehearsal. The memory of standing in that Hendrie Hall rehearsal room with Mark Dollhopf booming in my right ear, is still enough to bring a smile to my face.

Fenno's legacy, of course, includes his choral arrangements and musical accomplishments. He took a generation of kids with varying amounts of talent and taught us to create beautiful music. He showed us that we could create something far beyond our expectations. But for me, the most memorable thing about Fenno was the way he shared the joy of music with all of us. I feel honored to have known him.

Lenore McGown Defliese '77

From John Stewart

2009-01-13T00:27:00.001-05:00

Dear Carol,
The older I got and get, the more I appreciate Fenno, especially after I started doing it myself. He had not only the musical gifts of urging a group to sing musically, beyond issues of intonation and ensemble and into wonderful dynamics, articulation and shaping of phrase, but he had the charm and the steel to inspire and compel us to do it! And I remain so influenced by his high standards of voicings and harmony in my own writing. He said to me once after the Whiffs of ?? beautifully sang his arrangement of "Berkeley Square" - "and it's easy!", which it wasn't, entirely, it just worked so well....

And I will always be grateful when as a prelude to my arrival here, he invited me to direct the YGC European tour of 1990, which prepared me better than anything else could for returning to choral music after an absence of 25 years spent singing.

The spring concert of the Washington University Concert Choir (on April 17, plug....) will be dedicated to Fenno. We'll do "The Greatest of these is Love", one of my favorites, and "Lonesome Valley" and one other.

Fondly and faithfully,

John

John Stewart
Director of Vocal Activities
Department of Music
Washington University
St. Louis MO

Fenno-isms from Litchfield County Choral Union rehearsals

2009-01-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

"In this group I'm hearing pockets of no sound."

"That sounded like amateur night in Dixie."

--- O`Neil Patricia

--- poneil2@mindspring.com

--- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.

From David (& True) Tang Charlotte, NC

2009-01-04T19:11:00.000-05:00

Carol -

Although I carry him with me every day and with every note, I will see the world a little bit differently, now that it is without him.
He was, perhaps more than any other, my musical father, brother and friend.
I will always treasure your presence at our wedding and his music.
Know that my thoughts and prayers turn to you often and that both I and mine are with you as you put on the mantle of his absence.

Always,

David (& True) Tang
Charlotte, NC

From Steve "The Whistler" Herbst, UGC '78, Penn '67

2009-01-04T19:10:00.001-05:00

Hello,

It was a great pleasure to receive autographed sheet music of and to perform "Fern Hill" and/or the debut of "Poem In October" for Fenno. You may not be aware but Bruce Montgomery of Penn passed away in June much to the great dismay of all Penn Glee Club alumni -- so I can well appreciate how Yalies are feeling now. In any event, I just wanted to extend my condolences and share my sentiments.

Sincerely,

Steve "The Whistler" Herbst, UGC '78, Penn '67

From Mitchell Hammond

2009-01-04T19:07:00.001-05:00

Dear Heath family,

Please accept my condolences for the passing of a wonderful family member
and friend. Thank you too for sponsoring a way for us to reflect on
Fenno's contribution to so many families of blood, song, and spirit.

I shared some of the moments that other posters have recounted. As class
of '90 I remember the commissioning of Fenno's portrait and the picture of
it with three "back row altos" (who were every bit the menace Karen
Sherman implied). Fenno knew how to draw the best from us with his unique
brand of coaxing, wheedling, and faux-berating. I say "faux" because it
seemed in rehearsal, as passionate as he was, Fenno was incapable of
really getting angry, no matter what slings and arrows he faced: sopranos
with flying knitting needles; basses blundering headlong into the start of
"Chariot;" tenors wandering off key into outer space or, in my case,
bleating out the yodel; altos muttering in the back row. This was
especially true on Sunday mornings when the "choir for hire" stumbled into
Battell Chapel (or BATTell, as Fenno pronounced it), bleary-eyed, looking
miserable and sounding even worse. He would let us know all at once that
we were a sorry lot and that he cared about us immensely. And then he
would dust us off and propel us forward to musical offerings such as "A
Winter Prayer," and Randall Thompson's incomparable "Alleluia."

I must also say that Fenno could not have been Fenno without Georgia
Whitney, in her office perch at the back of Hendrie 201, or Carol, "Mrs.
Fenno," in her perch in the front row of the first balcony. Both of you
were so much more than that--thank you. Fenno was a blessing and his music
and memory will remain so.

Mitchell Hammond

From BOB (MISSING) LINK

2009-01-04T19:06:00.001-05:00

Dear Carol and Heath Family,

I never served in the Glee Club under Fenno; Barty was our leader when I was there. But in the early fifties I found myself taking the long walk from Elm Street to Freshman Commons with Sam Carter (I've decided it was Sam Carter, not Sam Babbitt). I asked him, "How is Fenno filling the shoes of The Master?" Matter-of-factly and without hesitation he replied, "Oh, he's better." I know you've heard this before, but this is for the record. (Nevertheless, I treasure my time under Barty.)

Last time the SLOTs sang at Essex Meadows, I accepted the pleasant task of hawking our CD, ultimately selling twelve, which Kem thought was pretty good. It seemed to be going rather quietly until I posted an ad in the elevators, after which it picked up.

With great affection and admiration,

BOB (MISSING) LINK

From Tenney Walsh 1/4/09

2009-01-04T16:58:00.000-05:00

dear carol,
i wanted to express my heartfelt condolences on Fenno's passing!
I first met Fenno in 1972 or thereabouts when I was 9 and was picked to sing in a children's choir to sing the Saint Matthew Passion with the Yale Glee Club and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra..I was attending St,Thomas Day School in New Haven at the time....I rehearsed at Hendrie Hall with the glee club and it was a formative experience for me as a child singing with Yalies under Fenno's wonderful direction.....it was with great pride and nerves that I auditionned several years later for Fenno my Freshman year at yale to join the Freshman chorus and then the Glee Club and was grateful to be chosen......I was always inspired by Fenno's enthusiasm and energetic direction....he was always in the moment...i particularly enjoyed singing his song cycle "Fern Hill "set to the poems of Dylan Thomas: "now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs"...that music was haunting and beautiful and daring! Even 25 years later I still remember how moved I was when singing those pieces...all my best to you and your family...I don't think Terry would remember me but I attended Hammonassett school my Freshman year when he was a sophomore....all the best,,,

tenney walsh..taos, new mexico

Love, Frederica von Stade Gorman 1/4/09

2009-01-04T16:53:00.001-05:00

Please forgive such a late note to say how sorry I am to hear about your Dad. He was a bright shining light to so many of us and blessed us all with this presence, knowledge, wit and joy of making music. I am so grateful that I had the chance to know him a little in my life. I send love and prayers to you and all of your family. love, FLicka von Stade Gorman

From Jim Symington 1/2/09

2009-01-02T22:19:00.001-05:00

Master of the vocal sound
With deft aplomb and manner winning
Fenno made our world go round
With the touch to keep it spinning
--Jim Symington

Fenno's Birthday Today 12/30/08

2008-12-30T18:10:00.003-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe....

XXX

From Derek Ludwin- received on Fenno's Birthday today: 12/30/08

2008-12-30T18:07:00.000-05:00

Dear Carol,

I was so sorry to hear the news about Fenno.

We were fortunate enough to join the Glee Club just in time to enjoy a year of song with Fenno. It was a whirlwind year, capped by the "Hail and Farewell" concert, and we all quickly came to understand how much Fenno meant to the YGC and the broader community. In the years that followed, I continued to have the pleasure of Fenno's company -- he introduced me to Welsh rarebit at Mory's -- and of singing his new compositions, including his wonderful Sanctus. Fenno has left a legacy of music that few can match: he inspired us to sing, and to love both the making of music and the music itself, and we will continue to remember him every time we sing.

Please know that you and entire Heath family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Very sincerely yours,
Derek

Derek Ludwin

Michael Dziuban JE '08 YGC President '07-'08

2008-12-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

Dear Heath Family,

I want to express my sorrow at Fenno's passing and wish you my best in
this difficult time. I did not know Fenno personally, but as a recent
graduate of the Glee Club I know that his legacy of choral music as
both an artistic and a humanistic endeavor continues to shape the
group in beautiful ways. In the spirit of Glee, I hope that your days
will be filled with fond memories from Fenno's life as a husband,
father, conductor, mentor, and friend.

Sincerely,
Michael Dziuban
JE '08
YGC President '07-'08

Remembering Fenno

2008-12-20T15:07:00.001-05:00

Has anyone ever had a more expressive sweep of the arm than Fenno, as he
brought us together in song?

When I was back for my ^25h reunion a few years ago, the highpoint was
singing for Fenno once again on the stage of Woolsey Hall. Fenno fully
embodied the ideal of *Yale Music *– the wonderful mix of tradition,
challenge, reflection, and exuberance that *Yale* represents at its
best, along with the joy and inspiration of *Music*.

Looking back, I appreciate more than ever Fenno's extraordinary ability
to turn the output of a bunch of largely untrained voices into music –
not just a series of notes, but music. As an undergraduate, I would
sometimes be concerned that we didn't have all the notes quite right, or
that our pianissimos weren't quite as soft as they could have been. But
I later sang in groups where the precision may have been greater, but
where we didn't make half the music that we made in Fenno's hands.

Along with so many others, I rejoice in the memory of Fenno's uplifted
arm, and of the warmth, friendship, and delight embodied in that
gesture. My life was made a bit brighter, and my Yale experience made
more meaningful, by Fenno Heath.

Alec Murphy, '77

Fenno's obituary in the New York Times

2008-12-20T14:08:00.001-05:00

HEATH--Fenno Follansbee, Jr. 81, beloved husband and father, passed away peacefully December 5, 2008 at his home in Hamden, CT following a long illness. He was born in Hampton, VA on December 30, 1926 to the late Fenno F. and Dorothy Jones Heath. Professor Heath was the Director of the Yale Glee Club from 1953-1992, a longtime conductor of the Litchfield County Choral Union and of the University Glee Club of New Haven, CT. Widely respected as a composer, teacher and choral conductor, Professor Heath was a mentor to generations of young singers, and was active as a composer, guest lecturer and conductor long into his retirement years. Raised in Hampton, Virginia, he graduated from Newport News High School and attended Loomis School before entering Yale University. His college career was interrupted by service in the U.S. Army during WWII. He graduated from Yale with the Class of 1950 during which he conducted the Apollo Glee Club and sang with the Yale Glee Club, the Spizzwinks and the Whiffenpoofs. At the Yale School of Music he received his Mus.B. in 1951 and Mus.M. in 1952 as a student of Quincy Porter and Paul Hindemith. He remained at Yale to pursue a lifetime in music, eventually becoming the first Marshall Bartholomew Professor of Choral Conducting. Through the many tours he led nationally and worldwide he helped to bring international recognition to the Yale Glee Club. Yale's new Alumni Chorus (YAC) is a direct outgrowth of Mr. Heath's success in creating a life-long love of song in his former singers. Over the years, he has received numerous commissions for choral compositions and has received many awards including the Yale Medal, the Sanford Medal, The Yale Glee Club Medal, the University Glee Club of New York City Medal, the Mory's Cup, and the Vernon Prize for composition. Among his works are the score for the play "John Brown's Body", a Mass for Chorus with Brass, and collections of choral arrangements of traditional spirituals. Major works were written for four Presidents of Yale. Texts were chosen by each President and set to music by Fenno Heath. They were sung by the Yale Glee Club at the inaugurations of Presidents Kingman Brewster, A. Bartlett Giamatti, Benno Schmidt and Richard Levin. He is survived by his wife, Carol Quimby Heath of Hamden, CT, his children and extended family: Sarah Heath and Franz Douskey of Hamden, CT, Lucy (Heath) and Robert McLellan of Lebanon, NH, Marguerite Heath Ogilvy and Daniel Hertzler of Windsor, VT, and Fenno F. and Paris (Stamos) Heath III of Woodbridge, CT, and six grandchildren: Heather, Sedgwick and Benjamin Ogilvy, Max Heath, and Quinby and Eliza McLellan. Beecher & Bennett, 2300 Whitney Ave., Hamden, will handle Memorial Services to be announced at a later date. Contributions in memory of Fenno may be sent to the North Congregational Church, P.O. Box 307, New Hartford, CT 06057. To send a condolence see obits at beecherandbennett.com

From Jim Symington

2008-12-18T22:10:00.002-05:00

Dearest Carol,
T'was Yethpl made our world go round!
Sing Hallelulia!
With love, tears, and endless gratitude,
Jim and Sylvia Symington

**************

In Memorium

2008-12-16T19:34:00.001-05:00

He was singularly magnificent, a patrician musical influence, and a Yalie to the core. He will be missed.

Mark Powell
American Radio Chamber Choir

Condolences

2008-12-16T16:35:00.000-05:00

Terry, I am sending a copy of this by hard mail to your mom’s address. Thanks for setting up this website. I have attached a couple of your dad’s pictures from when he was with us, though you may still have them around the house.

Dear Carol,

When I read of Fenno’s death, I pulled the 1949 Pasquaney Annual from the shelf. I did not have to look up on any database what his years were. It was his second summer as a counsellor, still four years before I was born. Yet I have felt his presence powerfully because it has endured at Pasquaney in the over half century since Fenno was here. The cheerful picture of him with his fellow counsellors, so many of them singers, made me realize how they must have enjoyed being together. I know they formed a quartet in at least one of those years. Fenno directed Yale musicians to Pasquaney long after he left. He was succeeded by Fred Pittman. Fred told me a few years ago that Fenno and Marshall Bartholomew (Mr. Barty) sat him down in the Yale Glee Club office in 1951 and told Fred what he was about to do with his summer: serve on the Pasquaney council. Fred has recently endowed a scholarship for campers from the Deep South, so Fenno is quite directly responsible for that legacy. As recently as the 1980s Fenno was recommending protégés to direct music at Pasquaney. One of them, Jono Babbitt, was a dorm counsellor with me. I also knew Fenno’s name from my own singing. I don’t think I sang in any glee club in high school, college, or beyond without singing something by both Mr. Barty and by Fenno. It is no wonder that Yale was favorite college at camp for many years, with Marshall Bartholomew, Fenno Heath, and Duke Henning as a core. We are all grateful that Fenno’s impress on Pasquaney will remain part of us forever.

With warm wishes,

Vin Broderick,

Director

From Caroline Murphy '83 - Tasteful Modulations

2008-12-16T14:31:00.002-05:00

Dear Members of the Heath family,

I have been so moved by the many postings to Fenno's blog, and wanted to include a little tribute of my own. I will both attach it and paste it into this message. My heart goes out to each and all of you!

Love,
Caroline Murphy

Tasteful Modulations

During these past couple of weeks, as the news about Fenno has unfolded, I have taken part in four different choral performances. Each event has felt like my own personal tribute to Fenno; along with many others who have contributed to this blog, I imagine that nothing would please Fenno more than to know how many of us have continued to raise our voices in song.

In the nearly 30 years since I joined the Yale Glee Club, choral singing has been one of the few constants in my life, keeping me afloat through a variety of life changes and feeding my soul. It is hard to imagine any of it without Fenno’s influence.

I had done very little singing before college, so my two years in the Glee Club opened up a whole new world to me. What a revelation it was to sing Bach’s B Minor Mass in the spring of my senior year! Last Friday, as Fenno was breathing his last, I was in the middle of a dress rehearsal with the Yale Camerata for another of Bach’s great works, the Christmas Oratorio. I found myself instinctively marking a few last fugal entrances with brackets and recalling that it was Fenno who had first taught me to do that when we sang the B Minor Mass. What I remember especially is the larger purpose those brackets served. It was not enough just to learn your own line and sing it competently. Fenno always encouraged us to get inside the music, to see how the different parts fit together, to breathe life into the whole and give it our all in the way that he did.

Fenno ended up having a further, quite unexpected but profound influence on my life. Shortly after I had moved back to New Haven in the fall of 1987, we ran into each other in the street, and he invited me to sing in the Battell Chapel Choir. Before I knew it, I found myself back in the Glee Club Room, rehearsing during lunchtime on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Out of those years in the Battell Choir – which gave me my first substantive church experience – came, eventually, a call to ordained ministry.

It has also been a joy to get to know the Heath family: Terry during my Glee Club years and, in later years, Carol and the Heath sisters. Some of my fondest memories from the late ‘80s and ‘90s are of singing with Sarah (and Lucy, while she was still in New Haven) in a very informal women’s singing group called the “Sweet Alkalines.” Fenno was as enthusiastic about our ragtag little ensemble as he was about any other musical endeavor, even writing a few arrangements for us.

My favorite “Fenno-ism” was one he used in reference to his own compositions. Often, toward the end of a piece, he threw in a shift to a higher key. With a twinkle in his eye, Fenno always referred to these shifts as “tasteful modulations.” The twinkle let us in on an open secret: these signature modulations of his were really a strategy to ramp up the energy and dramatic impact of the music. In the hands of a lesser musician, they might have seemed like a mere ploy, but with Fenno they worked. Always. And they were indeed tasteful.

Perhaps one way to look at the events of these past couple of weeks is as the modulation of a song – the tasteful modulation of Fenno’s life song – into a different key. The song continues in a slightly higher key, shimmering just a little more brightly. I picture him telling us all about it even now, with a twinkle in his eye.

Caroline Murphy '83

His presence will be missed, and his memory lives in our hearts.

2008-12-14T19:21:00.001-05:00

To all those who were with Fenno in these latter years, thank you. It comforts us to know that he was cared for the way he cared for all of us for so many years.

His presence will be missed, and his memory lives in our hearts.

Tim Geisler
YGC '92

Rest well, Fenno!

2008-12-14T17:35:00.001-05:00

I was not a Glee Club member, but the first male choir I ever heard in my life (I am from Panama) was the Yale Glee Club under the direction of Fenno Heath the first year I arrived in New Haven as a student. The glorious sound still echoes in my mind. Rest well, Fenno! The sound of your music will live on forever!

Newton G. Osborne

"A Winter Prayer"

2008-12-14T17:33:00.000-05:00

At the time Fenno set the poem, "A Winter Prayer," he and I were singing
together in the choir of the United Church-on-the-Green in New Haven. Fenno
dedicated the piece to the choir of United Church, and I believe we gave the
piece its world's premier in the winter of 1957. Carla and I were married
in United Church by Dr. Winston in 1958, and we continued to sing there
until we relocated to Simsbury, CT, in 1960. Thus, "A Winter Prayer" is
special to us. Its author, composer and location have all played
significant roles in our lives.

Dick Wilde 56E

Fenno's Obituary is in the New York Times Today, Sun. Dec. 14

2008-12-14T09:14:00.001-05:00

Thank you, Fenno

2008-12-14T08:53:00.001-05:00

I can hardly remember the names of any of my Yale professors. But I have very strong memories of Fenno, vivid ones, as if they were yesterday. Fenno provided a haven of civility and beauty, which all of us return to when we think of him, or remember the music we made together. We are all forever fortunate to have spent so much wonderful time together. – Dave Berck, ‘86

Keep in the Middle of the Road - From Bob Eggers, Whiff '73

2008-12-12T13:19:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday afternoon, my a cappella group offered a song/prayer at our afternoon concert to accompany Fenno on his journey to the next world. The Tibetans have a teaching about passage and I think in our Western tradition we find a similar thinking. We offered our song before an audience of some 60 folks and I told them of Fenno's passing. Several people reacted profoundly in recognition.

My guys have not known the pleasure of singing under Fenno's direction, but they sang as never before. We were all joined as one.

Bob Eggers
Whiffenppofs of 1973, Pitchpipe of Blue of a Kind, fan and student.

From George Gelinas, D.M.D.

2008-12-11T21:55:00.001-05:00

Dear Carol,
We just received word of Fenno's passing. As a friend and his dentist, I would like to express my sincere sympathy to you and yours. He was one of my favorite people and undoubtedly one of Yale's greatest contributions to mankind.
My best wishes go out to you and the children with hopes that future days will be healing and happy!
George Gelinas, D.M.D.

From Alaska

2008-12-11T21:31:00.000-05:00

To the Heath Family --

As a graduate student in choral conducting at the School of Music, my
life at Yale was filled with what seemed like an endless array of
rehearsals and performances. However, with one notable exception,
none were with the Glee Club. (As a conducting major, I was required
to sing with the Yale Camerata, a group whose rehearsals conflicted
with YGC on Tuesdays. My church choir job was on Wednesdays.)

Fortunately, I did take a few classes from Fenno and later was given
the opportunity to conduct the Freshman Chorus (every Monday and
Thursday!). There was a small room set aside as the YFC office in 201
Hendrie so with that as my professional home for two years, I was
really never far away from his influence or the attentive eyes of
Glee Club conductors–including Fenno's–who gazed down from the walls.
The presence of those portraits was a reminder to me of the small,
but important role that my singers and I played in the long tradition
of the Yale choral art.

It was a remarkable learning experience. And I shall always be
grateful to him for giving me the position -- my first conducting job
– and then letting me make it my own. Occasionally he would ask,
"How's it going?" but really never interfered. He offered advice when
asked and, like the portraits, was always watching. A smile and a
gentle nod after a concert was all I needed to know that the Frosh
and I were on the right path.

My last year at Yale was his last year. For his final concert, Fenno
and the Glee Club graciously opened their close-knit ranks to allow
outsiders from the Yale community to participate in a performance of
the Brahms Requiem–my one moment as a Glee Clubber. What a special
memory that is for me.

Next month my own group here in Anchorage will begin work on the
Brahms and, as we rehearse, I will remind my singers of where I came
from, of the man who helped shape me and how honored I was to be in
that sphere.

Grant Cochran
MM '90, MMA '92, DMA '97
conductor, Anchorage Concert Chorus
Anchorage, Alaska

John T Hanold 1964

2008-12-10T20:35:00.001-05:00

The finest legacy of Fenno is his pursuit of excellence, which has been ingrained in generations of Yale singers and, through performance of his arrangements and compositions, in generations past and to come of choral singers everywhere. On occasion he was demanding, arrogant, uncompromising, disgusted and impatient, but the chorus generally improved as a result – and when we walked on stage in white tie and tails we knew we were prepared by the best and could move the souls of our audiences. From the opening dissonances of his setting of Donne’s “Wilt Thou Forgive” to the closing chords of his “General William Booth Enters Into Heaven” there was no doubt these were distinctive Heath creations, with his “tasteful modulations.” Another Fenno trait that comes to mind: though, as a bass, I long felt he favored tenors like himself, but over time it was clear he wrote good things for us – and you never wanted to sharp or flat a Heath piece, because he used every note every singer could provide.

For spine-tingling moments I recall, during the YGC’s 1963 European Tour, singing Bruckner’s “Christus Factus Est” on the stairs to the crypt of Bruckner’s own church in Austria. I have sung it many times since, but have never forgotten what 70 singers in sync with each other can do in the right space! Fenno prepared us, conducted us, and inspired us.

He contributed, as did Marshall Bartholomew and others before him, to a Yale tradition possibly unique in collegiate choral music: a core repertoire of Yale songs that have stayed in repertoire across generations. As freshmen, we were expected to learn a body of songs and to be able to sing them anytime, anywhere – which we often did, with enthusiasm, and still do in bars and train stations and public spaces all over the world. At Yale Singing Dinners graduates from the 1930’s through the current year can share a common heritage – many of us without referring to printed music because the legacy is intact and ingrained. This made the Yale Glee Club Associates a realistic link across the years and ensured the Yale Alumni Chorus would be a success from the start. Wherever Yale choral singing is heard, Fenno Heath is in the air and our hearts.

John T Hanold 1964

62 Prospect St

Turners Falls MA 01376-1305

2008-12-10T19:35:00.000-05:00

Dear Fenno and family,

I was one of the fortunate sixty to accompany Fenno on the YGC's first
World Tour in 1965. How was I to know that that trip would set off a
life-long wanderlust, including living overseas for a dozen years? And
during that time, I was able to host three YGC singers when they
visited Hong Kong during the second World Tour.

Easily the artistic highlight of my life was the evening in Calcutta
when we sang Thomas Vittoria's Ave Maria--all of us first tenors
stretching for the high A# in the intonation, triple piano, before
settling back into the comfort of the basses and baritones behind us:
Gratia Plena indeed. And then the amazing moment happened. As we
reached the Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Fenno, who (in my memory, at
least) always conducted so precisely, who always surrounded himself
with our voices by standing close within our semi-circle, who always
had his head slightly cocked, listening, listening, who spread his
arms no wider than his shoulders when he wanted a good strong forte----
I write through tears now----suddenly took three long strides back,
his arms outstretched to their full extent and his hands shaking with
the impatience and encouragement of the deepest moment, his head
raised, and his face beaming. And out poured, rolled, soared the
Sancta Maria, mater dei. I think we were shocked, released, overcome.
I dared not look to see how many of us had been plunged into tears,
but I felt Ralph's hands clutching at my back for support. We sang, it
seemed, without having to breathe, and the sound was so pure and
effortless it seemed we had become the prayer itself.
At the end, when the seven-fold amen decayed into silence, Fenno bowed
on our behalf, and not one person in the Indian audience of some
thousands intruded on the prayer by applauding. We faced each other,
we and the audience, for minutes, it seemed, before we acquiesced and
continued with the concert.

That morning, on a guided tour, we passed a corpse in the street. I
was so distressed that, by the time we reached Bombay several days
later, I kept poor Dr. Joe up all night caring for me.

But the evening of that morning--the concert. On one day, then, I
learned some sense of the depth and height I might be capable of. The
day became the model for my artistic life, the last test, and the
deepest memory.
Thanks for that, Fenno. Thanks for that.

Peter Stambler, '66

Ed Wolff and Fenno

2008-12-10T15:16:00.001-05:00

About Fenno

One afternoon in New Haven sixty-one years ago (in the fall of 1947), I dropped in for a haircut at the barber shop next to George and Harry’s on Wall Street. In the chair, already being served, was Fenno Heath. We knew each other, slightly.

The result of that chance meeting was an agreement to merge our vocal groups--Fenno’s being the well-established quartet, the Yale Blues, and mine being the remnants of the Elm Street Eight--into a revived and upgraded Elm Street Eight. This was the beginning of a long and wonderful friendship with a fellow who has been my mentor and musical soul-brother ever since.

Though I had the beginnings of a personal vocal arranging style, the next year was an education for me, as I learned many tricks of the trade from the songs Fenno wrote or arranged, including “Boogie Man” and “Over the Rainbow.”

Thanks again to Fenno, we made an alliance with Carol’s group at Smith College, the “Smithereens.” Over the months, we wore deep tracks in Highway 10 between New Haven and Northampton, and sang several joint arrangements, calling ourselves the “Sweet Sixteen.” I especially remember Fenno’s arrangement of “Heat Wave” and how much fun it was to sing.

As we all know, anyone who influences an activity that is above-all in enjoyment is, at the same time, changing all your life for the better. An “above-all” for me is music; Fenno helped me achieve that.

And I was rewarded in another important way: I was asked to be an usher in Fenno’s and Carol’s wedding!

Since those times, I have spent the intervening decades arranging and composing, with various efforts sung by many groups, from the Whiffs to the Kingsingers, the Belgian Radio Choir, and the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and the Colorado group Wally Collins and I organized, the New Wizard Oil Combination. And there were the medleys of Gershwin and Cole Porter for the Yale Glee Club--the latter, of course, at Fenno’s gracious invitation. I treasure the recordings of those medleys, done under Fenno’s direction.

And all of the above goes back to that chance encounter in the barber shop!

I am sure that there will be remembrances from the members of SLOT. I have never been a full-time member of SLOT, but I am aware of the leadership and training Fenno gave the SLOT guys, and how much that has meant to SLOT in terms of vocal quality and enjoyment, and in their efforts to record all the many Whiffenpoof songs that had not yet been put on record. Whenever you hear SLOT, you will be the beneficiary of Fenno’s leadership.

Shamefully, I have gotten near the end of this essay without having already saluted Fenno for his 37-year leadership of the Yale Glee Club and for his many compositions. (I recall especially his setting of William Blake poems.)

To say that with Fenno’s passing, there is an end of an era--that is an egregious understatement. Fondly remembered and sorely missed. That’s Fenno.

Ed Wolff, Boulder, Colorado, December 8, 2008

Our deepest sympathy

2008-12-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

Dear Carol and family,

We were so sorry to hear of Fenno’s death. Please know that his memory lives on in so very many people and that his passion for music continues to inspire generations of singers, conductors, instrumentalists, and on and on.

We will be thinking of you all during this season and wishing you peace.

Love,

Vince Edwards and Rodney Ayers

MM ’93 and MM/MAR ‘93

Vince Edwards

Director of Music

St. Paul's on the Green

60 East Avenue

Norwalk, CT 06851

Tel: (203) 847-2806

Fax: (203) 847-5818

edwards@stpaulsnorwalk.org

www.stpaulsnorwalk.org

Fenno Heath Blog

2008-12-10T11:25:00.001-05:00

Moshe Gai, Professor of Physics

A few years back while I was watching a program on Public Television
about the Nazi's favorite marching tunes, to my great surprise I
recognized the Yale song "Bright College Years". I immediately called
Fenno at Cornish, NH, alas I did not realize it was almost midnight.
Fenno answered the phone and politely he said: Moshe it must be
something urgent for you to call so late. Embarrassed as I was, I
asked Fenno about the Nazi's favorite melody. Fenno patiently
explained to me that Yale came first. In 1835 a certain German
musician came to Yale and he imported with him some of the favorite
German tunes. Words were added and thus became "Bright College
Years". Fenno told me the difficulty they had during a concert tour
in Europe (in the 50's or 60's?) when the Yale Glee Club got booed
singing "Bright College Years". We had to stop singing our song at
the end of the concert, said Fenno, lest we will be harmed by the
audience.

This wonderful Fenno story is etched in my mind and it reminds me the
wonderful and loving gentleman and a scholar that Fenno was. As Lucy
had witnessed, as a student of musics I was a total failure. But the
Heath family still accepted me and I consider myself lucky to have
shared life with such a wonderful giant, his loving wife Carol and
his family.

Moshe Gai
Professor of Physics

A Fenno Heath Ending

2008-12-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

10th December 2008

Dear Carol and family,

Music has always played an essential part in my life, since I sneaked into my parish's children's choir a year early, throughout junior and senior high school, and, most importantly, at Yale, where, after a concert by the Whiffs during my first weekend on campus in the fall of '68, I knew "what I wanted to be when I grew up" (the group of '71 must have spent days finding my nickname)!

Then I heard Fenno directing a YGC concert! The power, precision, and nuances that Fenno drew from the (still all-male) group through a wide range of styles and eras was the proof for me that music was the most profound way for me to feel and express emotion. Fenno's passion was contagious! His elegance, humor, glowering glance when we didn't give him the attention or effort he demanded for Musicdissolving into a pleased smile or, when we were really "in harmony" with him and the piece being performed, a face uplifted, eyes shut, in a moment of ecstasy (and, yes, sometimes with tears)is something none of us will forget.

As "bursary boy" in the Glee Club office for 3 years, I often heard Fenno in his office spending uncounted hours working on compositions and arrangements. As part of the Alley Cat mafia (Fred Weber, Charlie Gates, Mark Fulford) putting together the 1970 SATB YGC European Tourboy, did Fenno have his arranging work cut out for him!I spent more time than usual in the office and witnessed his commitment to making the transition to a mixed chorus a success. Having such a limited number of women to choose from for the needed voices, it was an especially difficult task. But, the tour produced some miracles (for me, it was Vespers in Westminster Abbey with the Randall Thompson(?) Alleluja coming to a climax just as the sun finally broke through the rose window of the Abbey). Who of us can forget the Beethoven Ninth with Stokowski at Carnegie Hall (weeks of rehearsal with Fenno, then a rehearsal with Stokowski in Hendri Hall where I reached absolute nirvana for nearly five timeless minutesand understood why a real musician like Fenno could devote his entire life to such a passion)?

After graduation I became very ill with Crohn's disease, but, 10 years later, during my doctoral studies at UNC/Chapel Hill, I discovered a men's singing group, the Pitchforks, next door at Duke U., founded by Yalies, former Morse Dean Ben Ward and Dr. Frank Block, and found that I was still a 1^st Tenor (who knew all the repertoire, since it all came from the Yale groupsI did put my foot down, 'tho, when someone suggested singing the Whiffenpoof song!).

Nearly 10 years later I found here in Paris a men's chorus (directed my first year by David Hogan, a gifted composer and tenor soloist at the American Episcopal Cathedralwe lost him in the crash of TWA 800 at the end of our first U.S. tour in '96). That fantastic all-male sound, combined with David's, and now John Dawkins' uncompromising search for excellence, knowing that his singers can deliver, reminds me so much of Fenno's passion. I brought out my well-used Yale Songbook for both David and John to peruse. If David chose his own arrangement of Biebl's Ave Maria, John's interpretation of Shenandoah (with much coaching from me, requested or not, to achieve Fenno-style endless, "make them strain to listen" fade-outsor, in gloriously bombastic music, the "blast their socks off longer than anyone thinks possible" YGC ending) brought me back to that uncompromising search for excellenceand it's rewardsthat Fenno instilled in methe gift of a lifetime!

Fenno touched so many people's lives and gave so many the most precious gift, the means to express one's passion. He will be sorely missed but will remain with us forever.

With my deepest condolences,

Gantcho Anthony Gavriloff TC '72; Past Secy. Gen., Yale Club of France 1987-2001

Freshman Glee Club, Yale Alley Cats, Yale Glee Club, Whiffs ("Havetrunwill") '72

P.S.: I egged on YGC Co-Presidents Bob Bonds and Ellen Marshall (among others) to do something to freshen up the paint in the Glee Club room. I certainly did not expect the colors chosen by Bob, I believe, but we worked 'til 2:00 a.m. two nights in a row to finish what we could. Years later, after the room had been completely repainted, I admit to being relieved that the "Super Fenno" purple door had been left intactperhaps Bob Bonds has a photo.

The Top 12 Pieces Fenno Felt Everyone Should Know

2008-12-10T10:34:00.002-05:00

Fenno's Top Twelve Pieces that he felt everyone should know:

1. Adagio for Strings (Barber)
2. Air for the G String (Bach)
3. Dona Nobis Pacem (Bach)
4. Nimrod Variation (Elgar)
5. Mathis der Maler 1st Movement (Hindemith)
6. O Magnum Mysterium (Lauridsen)
7. Nanie (Brahms)
8. Short Ride on a Fast Machine (Adams)
9. Symphony #1 3rd movement (Schostakowitsch)
10. Things Ain't What They Used To Be (M. Ellington)
11. The Folks Who Live On The Hill
12. L'il Darlin' (Hefti)

He revered Paul Hindemith and Bach. John Rutter. From Bach to John Adams...Rob McConnell, Diana Krall, The King's Singers, and Mel Torme.

From Evan Smith

2008-12-10T10:23:00.001-05:00

I give you this one thought to keep -
I am with you still - I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not think of me as gone -
I am with you still - in each new dawn.

May your Heart always carry a joyful song.
Remember that you are Blessed -
each day by the Love that lives all around you.

(Native American)

Fondly
Evan Smith

Notes from My Music Students- Grade 5

2008-12-10T09:08:00.004-05:00

Dear Mrs. Ogilvy,

"I'm sorry about the mishap. I bet you right now your Dad is dancing in Heaven."

"I'm sorry for your sadness, but it will get better along the "Road that is Calling". (reference to our favorite Heath family round, The Road is Calling)

"I know your heart is broken into half notes, so I hope your heart will go back to a whole note soon."

~Peggy Heath Ogilvy

Stephen Campbell, '67

2008-12-10T08:31:00.001-05:00

Though sadly I did not sing at Yale, I have vivid memories of Fenno's conducting. I think the first time I saw him in action - the first time I heard the Glee Club - was during the Christmas holidays of our freshman year. The Glee Club was touring and did a concert in
Baltimore. I went with my family. It was only the second time they had experienced Yale - the first being when they delivered me to Phelps Gate in September. Needless to say, the concert was breathtaking. None of us had ever heard choral singing like that. I was so proud of being
a Yale Man. Years later, when I finally did start singing, I think it was partly because of the memory of watching Fenno and hearing the Yale Glee Club.

Fenno's love of singing was infectious, and it is one infection that I decline to cure.

2008-12-09T19:43:00.000-05:00

I’m marveling at the many people Fenno helped blossom and introduced to music. I've sung constantly before and after Yale, in both amateur and professional choirs. For years I would listen to one particular piece of music, the Ave Maria by Josquin and I somehow it would always effect me deeply. It seemed almost as though I knew it….It turns out I did. Fenno taught us when I was a sophomore…There it was on the Yale Glee Club recording of 1978. Fenno's love of singing was infectious, and it is one infection that I decline to cure.

Paul Erling tenor '81

From Peggy's Colleague at Woodstock Elementary School

2008-12-09T19:27:00.001-05:00

Hi Peggy,

I just want to let you know I have goose bumps from your father's blog. What a wonderful legacy. We all miss you, but know you're in the right place. Don't rush things, take all the time you need. You have a lot to process and and can't do it over. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Fondly,

Martha G.

Peter Thomas '90

2008-12-09T19:23:00.002-05:00

Dear Fenno,

Thank you for all the beautiful music. I sang off and on with YGC during college, 1986-90 along with such wonderful singers as Tom Porter, Mitchell Hammond, Eric Banks, Laura Stanfield, Dawn Ellis and many more. I carried the love of singing instilled in YGC along with me to many stages of life since then.

Now my three year old daughter Mariana is growing up singing, inventing melodies and verses to narrate all the activities going on with and around her.
My wife Diana is expecting another baby soon, whom Mariana has already named "Fred". Recently they were in church together; when the anthem ended Mariana turned towards Diana's midriff and called out "Hey Fred, that was Music!" She wants to make sure her sibling won't miss out on the most important things in life. Thanks for making sure those of us who passed under your baton didn't miss out either.

With lasting admiration,

Peter Thomas
Yale '90
Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Biology & Cognitive Science
Case Western Reserve University // Department of Mathematics

Paul Promadhat YGC '90

2008-12-09T19:22:00.001-05:00

Over the years I've had the opportunity to sing with some of the world's great conductors, orchestras, and soloists. I've experienced many moments of sublime musical beauty. This year I'm singing 7 concerts with the NY Philharmonic. Without Fenno and the YGC none of this would have happened. Thank-you Fenno, I'll miss you. I'll be digging through my old photos and newer digital pics and sending what I find.

Paul Promadhat YGC '90

Murray Wheeler '62

2008-12-09T19:21:00.001-05:00

Hey, Carol - I am truly sorry for your loss, really a loss to all singers who so enjoy and are challenged by Fenno's immense contribution to choral singing. His awesome legacy will live on forever to those who are up to interpreting it. Sincerely, Murray Wheeler '62

Bonnie /Jackson /Kestner, TD '74

2008-12-09T19:20:00.001-05:00

To the Family of Fenno Heath,

I am sorry to hear of Fenno's passing. He contributed much to the lives of many students, and I cherish fond memories of my short time singing with the Yale Glee Club in the fall of 1970. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Sincerely,

Bonnie /Jackson /Kestner, TD '74

4 pictures from the 1965 World Tour

2008-12-09T19:09:00.008-05:00

These four pictures show:

The spontaneous audience that materialized when we sang from the steps of the museum inside the Kremlin. I think Fenno decided to make these impromptu concerts when it became clear our formal concerts were for invited audiences only.

Fenno beaming at the Taj Mahal.

The band that greeted us at a grassy airport in the Philippines.

Fenno conducting from atop his chair between courses at the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant in Aberdeen, Hong Kong.

Cheers,

Peter Stambler '66

Heaven almost seems enviable now with Bartholomew, Henning & Heath strutting the boards.

2008-12-09T17:49:00.000-05:00

Dear Fenno -
I was very saddened (and shocked) to hear of your death on Saturday last. I've been out of the loop lately, and had no idea of the tenor of your condition. I had so hoped to see you, emotionally refreshed and ready to lead the S.L.O.T.S. for another glorious rehearsal in the Woolsey Hall rotunda, next spring. I think we're all going to be a little off-key for awhile.
I've known you all my life (and have uncounted memories of you, mostly in song), but I wanted to remind you of something that came to mind when I first heard of your condition last Wednesday (from my sister, Morgan). The evening of the day Dad died (1/15/90), you came over to 223 Bradley St. (w/ Lou Hemingway) and sat down with Mom to immediately start composing the music program for his memorial service. It was such a comfort and joy to have you so immediately involved in what was Dad's greatest joy in life, singing, and you so help to keep things from missing the beat. Dad loved you, as do we all. Heaven almost seems enviable now with Bartholomew, Henning & Heath strutting the boards.
My love to you, Carol & family.

Cameron Henning

From Bill Rhangos '53

2008-12-09T17:39:00.001-05:00

So sorry to hear of Fenno`s demise. I was class of `53 and Popo of the Whiffs that year. I remember trying to learn the bass part to September Song that he arranged for our group. That's the highest note that this 2nd bass ever had to sing. He was a great guy and a truly gifted musician.

Love to the family,

Bill Rhangos '53

Fenno was one of the greatest influences on my life

2008-12-09T17:37:00.000-05:00

Fenno was one of the greatest influences on my life. We were not close personally, but I learned so much from him. I began singing in the Apollo Glee Club and then graduated to the Yale Glee Club in my sophomore year, as I recall. I sang baritone and served under Fenno as rehearsal accompanist. He would come into rehearsal, put an open score on the piano and tell me to play the parts, not the vocal reduction. Thanks to his patience and steadiness, I learned how to do it. And what an exacting director he was! He insisted that we memorize virtually everything, so that, in concert, we would watch him and respond fully to every nuance he sought to draw forth. He insisted on clear and precise diction: I well remember a woman classics major from Radcliffe who said of a concert we did in Boston's Symphony Hall, "I understood every word, especially the Latin." Fenno's spirit was an inspiration to Yale men and women for generations, a true blessing.

M. Andrew Johnston, Yale College 1968

Bright College Years

2008-12-09T14:03:00.001-05:00

To Carol and Family,

My condolences and thoughts are with you. Here's a note I posted to the blog last week, I think during the time when there were some technical difficulties, so it never made it on. Maybe it will work now.

Fenno,

I guess I always elongated the "o" in your name, being a gal from Roanoke, VA ("Row-Noke"), but at least that gave you a chance to wax poetic about your roots in Newport News. It was an honor and a privilege to sing with you, one I surely didn't deserve on account of my voice, but hopefully I made up for any deficiencies there with attention and good cheer. I'll never forget the wonderful times we had together and the people we students became under your tutelage -- first freezing together in the Midwest Winter Tour, then basking in sunny southern France and Italy during the summer European Tour. To this day I don't know how a bunch of college kids could presume to give an impromptu concert in St. Peter's, but it seemed to make perfect sense at the time.

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to you, Fenno. Not only for the musical gifts you so freely offered us, but for the incredible community you helped to build –- we can see it now unfolding on these pages. The YGC experience transcends the years, but there two constants: Yale and Fenno.

Bright college years, indeed. Godspeed, my friend.

Anne Hamner Rosales '84

From Peter Bonoff '67

2008-12-09T13:15:00.001-05:00

The Fenno Heath Master Class and Fenno's rekindling of the love of his music at Yale in the Woolsey Hall Jamboree on reunion Saturdays that Jeff Brenzel organized and emceed was for so many of us an unforgettable high point of reunions for about 15 years.
Now, fortunately, Mark Dollhopf carries on this extraordinary, proud tradition with his dynamic energy, musical talents, style and grace.
Jeff Brenzel continues to blend tradition and innovation with his characteristic combination of diligence and inspiration as Dean of Admissions---and Yale music (as well as Yale School of Music) are leading beneficiaries of his mission.
Thanks, Jeff and Mark for all you do for Yale.

Fenno, you've done it again! We owe you more gratitude than mere words can express in this space for your labors of love. They have inspired labors of love for music and for Yale in countless admirers around the world. Godspeed and God bless!
Peter Bonoff

Fenno

2008-12-09T10:39:00.001-05:00

Hello to the Heath Family,

Please accept my condolences. Fenno’s passing is indeed a sad moment but his legacy is one of joy. I sang under his direction for three years in the YGC at Yale, ‘followed in his musical footsteps’ in both the Spizzwinks(?) and the Whiffs. Fenno’s commitment to choral music, his extraordinary musicianship, his ‘magical hands’, his striving for perfection (and his wry smile and tolerance when we goofed), are memories that I will treasure. More importantly, his music will be performed for generations to come.

Yours truly,

Stewart Cole, Yale 1960

From Pete Arnold '58

2008-12-09T10:36:00.001-05:00

At a recent gathering of singing groups I was taunted into singing "Eddie my Love" at Battell Chapel. The presentation received a standing ovation from the less learned audience. Walking down the aisle after the program was finished I saw Fenno and Carol toward the back of the hall...Fenno arose as I approached, reached out his hand to shake mine and quoth..."My, my, you certainly have great control of your falsetto". I have wondered, ever since, what he thought of my singing voice, but I packed the memory away as a compliment that I MAY have deserved, having retained my "falsetto" into my 70th year. I enjoyed every minute with Fenno, a genius, who took a bunch of rookie singers and created magic moments of music...

pete arnold, Y '58

Rusty (Popo) Post

2008-12-09T05:40:00.001-05:00

It was the spring of 1957 and 13 of us had just been selected as the Whiffenpoofs of 1958. 11 of us were members of the Yale Glee Club but that didn't include Fritz Kinzel, (our Pitchpipe) or me (the Popo). How wonderfully ironic. Fritz and I were strongly in support of the Yale Glee Club and didn't want to be the reason why 11 seniors withdraw just because the two of us weren't members of it. The problem was that Fenno rightfully had some modest requirements for joining the glee club: you had to be able to sing. So even though we were now the leaders of the world-famous Whiffenpoofs, we had to try out for the world-famous Glee Club.

Fenno loved it. I mean, we were friends, but he had the power and savored every moment of it. He gave us the try-out and then with a twinkle in his eyes, he ruled. "Okay you guys. You can sing...barely. You're in."

As much as we loved being Whiffenpoofs, we loved being part of Fenno Heath's Glee Club, one of the finest men's choral group as there was in the world. How lucky can we be?

And now, we no longer have Fenno but we do have memories. The Whiffenpoofs of 1958 were a superb group but no more so than the Yale Glee Club of 1958 both in song and in friendship and for an entire year, we traveled together across this country and in Eastern Europe. In the case of the 1958 Whiffs, we were all the luckier because we've kept making memories. We 13 are all over 70 years old, all still alive, all still standing, and all still singing. Earlier this year, we enjoyed our 50th reunion at Yale and hoped that Fenno would be able to come join us but it wasn't meant to be.

I can now tell a Fenno secret: one day he told me that the Whiffs of 1958 were Fenno's favorite Whiffenpoof group.

Rusty (Popo) Post

From Ellen Rothberg

2008-12-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

Dear Carol and the Heath clan,

First my sincere condolences as you make this sad passage- Be comforted by the generous outpouring of support -And while words can not make up for your loss, hopefully you will feel the love coming across these pages and draw comfort from all who knew and loved Fenno.
I first met Fenno when I came to Hendrie to audition as a new graduate student.Having just spent several years working and singing in some terribly stuffy chorus in Boston and thinking I was a serious singer I wasn't sure about having to learn the "Football medley" But the prospect of a trip to Europe the following summer convinced me otherwise. Little did I know how lucky I was to be offered the chance to work with Fenno, experience the pure delight and enthusiasm of his music making, his genius of composition and best of all the camaraderie, spirit and history of the YGC. Whether it was singing Boola Boola, Shenandoah or Randal Thompson we all shared in Fenno's great commitment to making us reach beyond ourselves and experience the music.

While I moved on from New Haven memories of the Glee Club , the trips, and the friends I made remain with me to this day. They truly defined my experience at Yale .

All our lives were blessed for knowing him and his spirit will shine forever in our hearts

Ellen Rothberg, EPH '78
West Hartford, CT

From the Henning Sibs

2008-12-08T17:40:00.001-05:00

Wonderful Heaths All,
I am so sad about your Fenno, but keep reminding myself that it best for him. I loved so many of his nostalgic stories, as the years flew by. He talked about my brother Bill (Cam wasn't born yet) and I sitting on the stairs, listening to all the great music coming from the living room. Needless to say, it was way past our bedtime but how could we possibly stay in bed with all the glorious sounds downstairs? (And nobody told us to go back to bed!).
More recently, what a gift to have been a part of the March Singing Weekend, organized by Linus, and run by Fenno. He often talked about the importance of rehearsals, emphasizing that they were where the true joy of learning took place and thus true singing occurred. I had to skip a couple performances in order to attend to Mum..... I love rehearsing and don't like performing, so....Then I got a great dose of chastisement from Fenno, he loving every minute of it....."But Fenno!!!...You JUST SAID ......!!!!!"
After being a part of that group...what a privilege!!!....it makes me smile whenever I hear or read a reference to Robert Shaw.....So often, F. uttered "Robert Shaw says....." that we loved trying to keep count of how often he made that reference.
So as I ramble on, I thank you for being "you" (What a family!) and all the joy that brought (and will continue to bring to us, in memories and in song) to all Hennings, for many decades past and to come.
So much love from the Henning sibs,
Morgan, Bill and Cam

"Fenno Who?"

2008-12-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

No one ever asked, "Fenno who?" He was the first one-name major figure in my life, beating the one-named sports stars of recent vintage by decades.

His generosity—so many accounts of what he gave to us are on this web site. When in 1996 classmate Alex Gunn and I asked if he would be willing to lead a March weekend choral festival in Boston, his "yes" came out before the echo of our question faded. And what a job he did with us, usually with a new composition tucked under his arm, until 2004, when the weekend's strenuous nature forced him to pass his baton to Jeff Douma. Needless to say, the Festival Fenno began lives on. Next March we'll feature at least one of his works.

Another instance: a decade or so ago the men's chorus with which I had been singing seemed to have leveled off in its musical development and showmanship. Was it us? Had we gone about as far as our talents could take us, or had we outgrown the director who had led us for five years. I invited Fenno to Boston to lead part of a rehearsal, to take us through several songs—"Motherless Child," as I recall, and a couple of others. In ten minutes, Fenno had drawn out of us sounds we had never made before. We made music that night that some of us thought we were incapable of—and we hired a new director three months later.

Last Friday the a cappella group spun out of that chorus ended a well-attended concert with Fenno's arrangement of "September Song" in his honor. A couple of us had trouble getting through its lyrics.

With incalculable gratitude,

Linus Travers '58

From Karen Sherman

2008-12-08T17:17:00.004-05:00

Dearest Heaths:

I don't know that you'll want to post these pictures to the blog (though you can if you want), but I thought you'd like to see one way three of us demonstrated our love for Fenno when we came back for the Glee Club 145th in 2006.

(Left to right: Stephanie Golob '87, Karen Sherman '88, and Rachel Monfredo '87.)

We (together with Liz Miller '88) called ourselves the Back Row Altos because we were all altos who sat in the back row during rehearsals...and because we were regularly reprimanded by Fenno (in his usual "I love you; now shut up" kind of way) for talking when we should have been singing. I wish I could now say that I regret not singing more and talking less, but I have such fond memories of those days (including those reprimands) that I just can't!

Lots of love and continued good wishes,

Karen

From Lisa Bradner

2008-12-08T17:10:00.001-05:00

I’ve said it before and I will say it again that Fenno Heath, you made my Yale experience what it was. Your leadership, humor, talent, passion and compassion touched me deeply as did your adult guidance and leadership in a time when we all thought we were grownups---but were very far from it. Fenno in your office at Hendrie Hall you were a beacon of sanity, humor and perspective I sorely needed.

So many people have written about the experience of singing that it’s hard to say more other than it brought the happiest, most meaningful experiences of my college career (Robert Shaw and the War Requiem being one of not THE defining experience). Fenno, you always gave 150% (at least) to every rehearsal and performance inspiring us to sit up straighter and do more. My sister always said you could have been a dancer because your lyricism and physical movement conducting was a beautiful art to watch. I’d have paid money to see you in a leotard and tights! J

Many of my best friends from college (and the ones I treasure most seeing now) came from Glee Club and from the hours we spent on tour buses laughing and joking and generally I’m sure, driving Fenno nuts. The common experience we shared of singing under one of the all time greatest choral conductors bonded us for life. I remember at the 20th (heaven help us!) reunion standing on stage with Liddy Manson who looked around and said, “This is what’s different about Yale—everybody sings!” She was so right and everyone sings in large part because Fenno Heath taught them how, and celebrated singing and kept many of the songs and traditions alive.

As many have already said the only problem with singing for Fenno is it ruins you for the experience of singing with anyone else. To this day I can’t hear Randall Thompson’s Alleluia without welling up in tears, Fenno and family you have given so many of us the gift of a lifetime. The only thing we can do to repay it is to sing and to share that joy of singing with everyone we know. So, fol de rol de rol, rol, rol—we love you and we thank you for everything you’ve given us all.

Lisa Bradner y’87

"Fen-no, Fen-no, Fen-no, Heath"

2008-12-08T17:02:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I thought about Fenno and sang the Gloria from his Mass, 2 beautiful settings of A.E Housman poems ("When I Was One and Twenty" and "Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now"), and a Dutch carol ("Er is Eeen Kindeke") that he arranged while on sabbatical in Holland in 1965-6. He had a most wonderful gift, and I am so fortunate to have shared the beauty of his music and the grace of his conducting.

I smiled over the weekend as I remembered how hard we tried to please and entertain Fenno. Most of us parted our hair in the middle just before coming on stage for one of our Christmas tour concerts, and the three upper parts droned "Fen-no, Fen-no, Fen-no, Heath" during the Switzer Boy yodel while the basses sang "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf." Perhaps these traditions have continued.

Brothers and sisters, sing on.

Greg Hayden, '68

From Rick Peiser

2008-12-08T17:01:00.000-05:00

How fond are the memories of my Yale which was Fenno’s Yale. From my first Glee Club tour as a sophomore to South America, to accompanying the Glee Club in Sander’s Auditorium and playing through the bar of silence in the Hallelujah Chorus – 2 times!, to Fenno’s perfect arrangement for the Alley Cats of “Is this a lovely way to spend the evening?” to countless reunions and visits to Yale, Fenno was the constant , the nucleus around which so many other parts of my life at Yale and in music thereafter revolved. To have had such a profound impact on so many young lives, and to be an integral part of so many happy memories, is truly the essence of a life well-lived. Fenno, I will miss you.

Rick Peiser

Cambridge, MA

From Dr. Kristie Foell

2008-12-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

I do indeed have a Fenno story to share! During my one and only year in the Glee Club, as a Yale senior, Fenno accompanied me on the piano for Reger's "Es blueht ein Roeslein' rosenrot" at a service at Battell Chapel. I don't really remember how this came about, as Fenno was not obligated to play at the church (as far as I know); but I had just returned from studying abroad in Germany and fancied myself quite the lieder expert, so maybe I asked him!

I'll never forget that, after we finished the song, Fenno spontaneously jumped up from the piano and gave me a big hug! That's how happy he was to make music, and how happy he made others with his music-making. He will be missed

Dr. Kristie Foell, Bowling Green State University
Assoc. Prof. of German

From Dick Wilde, 56E

2008-12-08T16:39:00.000-05:00

Dear Carol,

It is with great sadness that Carla and I hear of Fenno’s illness and passing. As you know, our association over many years has been very important to us. In 2005 I wrote a letter of appreciation to Fenno, and he graciously wrote back to me saying that it was the best letter he had ever received. That made my day! If you are so inclined, I thought you might like to share that letter with your family at this time. Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

With love,

Carla and Dick Wilde

Enclosure: Letter to Fenno dated 28 February 2005

Dear Fenno,

I have just turned 71 years old, and it is time for me to acknowledge what you, the Yale Glee Club, singing at Yale and our subsequent experiences together have meant to me over my lifetime.

As a youngster growing up in WWII, I decided early on to become an aeronautical engineer. However, in 1948, my dad, who was a chemical company VP in North Haven, received two tickets to the Yale broadcast of “Songs From New England Colleges.” We sat in Hendrie Hall (my first time there), and the Yale glee Club of 1948 stood on risers against the west wall. I had never heard such powerful, precise and moving singing in my life. I decided right there, that I would try for Yale and for the glee club, even though it meant giving up aeronautical engineering for mechanical engineering. While I didn’t know it at the time, you must have been singing to me in that group. Do you remember that broadcast?

I entered Yale with the class of 1955 in the fall of 1951 and tried out for the Freshman Glee Club. I didn’t make it, but Fred Pratt welcomed me into the Freshman Chorus. Meanwhile, my love of sacred music led me to the Battell Chapel Choir and Luther Noss. I was one of only two freshmen in the choir, and I loved that group. In the five years I sang there, I heard the finest organ liturgical music played on the brand new Holtkamp organ, sang wonderful sacred music, and heard legendary preachers, including Paul Tillich, the Niehbur brothers, Bill Coffin, Harry Emerson Fosdick and others. That was the beginning of a nearly continuous run of church choir singing that I am still enjoying.

I tried out for the varsity club in sophomore year, but didn’t make it. That year, Fred Pratt took a fellowship in Europe. Meanwhile, I was having great academic problems with math, which affected my whole engineering program, and at the end of that year I flunked out. However, Dean Robley told me to work for a year and take night school courses, which I did. Working in New Haven, I was available to Luther Noss for the chapel choir, and he allowed me to sing and to get paid. This was particularly important to me because my dad was having severe financial problems. I was on my own from that time on, including future college expenses. I returned to Yale the following autumn with the class of 1956, paying for that year with my earnings from my year of outside work and working in the medical school as a machinist. Soon after my return, we heard that Fred Pratt had died of leukemia. I cut Saturday classes and joined a group of Yale friends to sing at his service in Memorial Church at Harvard. On the bus trip up, I learned Randall Thompson’s Alleluia, which I have never forgotten.

Junior year I tried again for the varsity, and didn’t make it. However, Pete Westermann, whom I had gotten to know in the Battell Chapel Choir, invited me to sing in the Apollo, which I did and enjoyed. Senior year I tried again for the varsity, and you let me in. I think I was the last person admitted. I enjoyed that year very much, and it was so important to me that I quit my outside job to make time to sing. Meanwhile, I borrowed the cost of my entire senior year from a local bank, for which my employer for the year I was out of school cosigned the loan. Highlights for me were learning the Hindemith Requiem, which retuned my ears for all time to the dissonance of 20th century music, and our trip around the United States that summer. Three memorable impressions from that trip were that people all over the United States were basically the same (I didn’t begin to understand regional differences until my much later travels with the space program). Also, learning the Mormon hymn “Come, Come Ye Saints” while flying from Denver to Salt Lake City, and looking down and trying to imagine what crossing that territory by wagon must have been like in the 1840’s. And then to sing that hymn in the Mormon Tabernacle to the Tabernacle Choir! I still relate that experience to people. And lastly, singing the Cowell Hymns and Fuging Tunes and the Martinu Field Mass at Tanglewood. Henry Cowell and I conversed for about 15 minutes, and I really appreciated his spending that time with me.

Well, I met my objectives: I got my engineering degree from Yale and I sang with the Yale Glee Club! However, I didn’t realize that was only the beginning. You invited me to sing with the University Glee Club, and we sang together for several years in the United Church Choir. During those “New Haven” years, I built two stereo systems for you, one for your Hendrie Hall office and one for your Sheffield St. home. Those were fun projects for me. I custom designed the speaker enclosures to match the characteristics of the speakers, and I learned a lot about acoustics from those projects. But more important to me was the boost you gave to my confidence by being an already an eminent person who trusted my engineering judgment to build something of value for you. I also remember with great pleasure your inviting me back in 1957 to sing the Bach B Minor with Connecticut College, and later to sing the second and third sections of the Messiah with the Litchfield County Choral Union at Norfolk. Those pieces still reside in my repertoire. You also invited me to join the Glee Club European tour in 1958, but I had to refuse because Carla and I were getting married and she did not want to share our honeymoon with 80 other guys! I finally got to take a Yale overseas singing trip in 1998 when the YAC went to China. Carla and I celebrated our 40th anniversary on that trip.

Fenno, I could go on and on, about glee club singing dinners, reunions, Heath family musicales in New Hartford, and YCOB festivals in Concord and Milton. But you get the idea. You admitted me to a very select and prestigious organization that has formed a significant part of my adult identity and has given me a lifetime of pleasure and satisfaction. It has also opened some amazing doors. Let me cite an example. In 1990 I was part of the first US engineering delegation to visit our counterparts in the Soviet space program. We were in Moscow visiting “Nauka” (“science” in Russian). They built the life support equipment aboard the Russian Mir Space station. Imagine the scene: we are in a hunter green and white conference room in a really grubby and run down factory in downtown Moscow, with a plaster bust of Lenin glowering down at us. A long table has been set with water and fruit, and we Americans are on one side, and the Russians are lined up in a row on the other side. After the formalities, no one knows what to say. After what seems like an embarrassingly long time, a Russian points to my Yale Glee Club key on my tie bar, and asks through his interpreter, “What is that?” I answer through my interpreter that as an undergraduate I was privileged to sing with the Yale University Glee Club. He replies that while in medical school in Leningrad, he had established the singing society there. That breaks the ice. We talk about choral music, and the rest becomes history. (Re Barty: the world needs less talking and more singing) I subsequently became the first US engineer to go aboard a Mir space station. There was a second flight unit used for training the cosmonauts at Star City. Our trip to Russia led ultimately to the US government’s inviting Russia to join the International Space Station program, and I subsequently led the effort to integrate their Orlan (Eagle) space suit into the space station. As you know, the Russian ability to resupply the station after the loss of the Shuttle Columbia has been absolutely critical in keeping that program alive. Over the years, my Russian colleagues and I have written several joint papers for international presentation, and recently we have each contributed to books about the development of our respective countries’ spacesuits. In 2001 YAC sang in Moscow, and I invited about 30 Russian friends to hear us in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Joining my love of singing with the international space program has been very special for me.

This has been a long letter, but you and I have known each other for a long time, too. Thank you for being a teacher, inspiration and friend for more than 50 years.

Sincerely,

Dick Wilde, 56E

Meeting Fenno

2008-12-08T14:19:00.001-05:00

I will always remember with fondness my first meeting with Fenno
after I moved to New Haven. I was alone - my family was still in
Michigan - but he was kind enough to invite me to breakfast shortly
after I arrived. Within seconds, we discovered two mutual affinities
- for the genius of Robert Shaw and for the children's literature of
Sandra Boynton! I have cherished his friendship, guidance and
encouragement every since.

All of us in the current Glee Club know that our beloved ensemble is
what it is today because of Fenno's inspired musicianship,
leadership, and love. For me personally, it is a privilege and an
honor to be a part of the tradition he nurtured for so many
years. Fortunately, music is a living art, and Fenno will continue
to live on in the Glee Club as long as we have voices to raise!