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Primavera

The words and music of “Primavera” were written by music professor Everett Olive in 1923. It was sung by the Women’s Glee Club for 90 years as the primary college song for soprano and alto voices (as “Torchbearers” was for tenors and basses). It was last performed in 2015. Olive was inspired to write it when he realized how the architecture and landscape of Pomona in spring reminded him of his time living in Italy, and “the complementary idea of a student’s ‘springtime of life at Pomona.’”^[1]

Just as the colorful sunrise glorifies mountain and plain,
So the fair name of Pomona quickens my spirit’s domain.
Caro nome! Caro nome! Non domando più altro perchè.
Nel cuore, ho amore, ho amore, amore per te.

Spring in a Florentine garden snares with a beauty sublime,
Springtime of life at Pomona pulses with growth more divine.
Primavera! Primavera! Non domando più altro perchè
Nel cuore, ho amore, ho amore, amore per te.

So through life’s Autumn to Winter, Oh! how my spirit shall sing,
Touch’d by the joys that Pomona gave to my season of spring.
[Hum . . . ]
Nel cuore, ho amore, ho amore, amore per te.

The Picture

Like “Primavera,” “The Picture” was also written by Everett Olive, who was inspired by the sweeping view of Pomona up against the San Gabriel Mountains driving in everyday from his home in Ontario.^[2] It was originally written for the Men’s Glee Club in the 1924–25 academic year.^[3] However, its performance was soon taken up by the Women’s Glee Club, and in the Lyman, Babcock, Hitchcock, vom Lehn, and Russell years was frequently performed by them, being their song, second only to “Primavera.” When Jon Bailey arrived in 1982, it was retired from the Glee Club’s active repertoire in an effort to have concerts not dominated by the college songs.^[4]

Loyalty and Chivalry

Along with “Primavera” and “The Picture,” “Loyalty” and “Chivalry” were composed by Everett Olive for the Men’s Glee Club in the 1924–25 academic year.^[5] Usually one of the two would be sung as a part of a college songs set in a concert. Although sung frequently by the Men’s Glee Clubs in Lyman and Russell’s eras,^[6] as was the case with “The Picture,” Jon Bailey decided to retire them from the Glee Club’s active repertoire in an effort to have concerts not dominated by the college songs.”^[7]

Football Songs

In the past 120 years, many songs were performed by the college pep band at football games. These songs, while not regularly performed by the Glee Clubs or Choir, were an important part of building community amongst the student body. Some of the favorites were “Push on, Pomona” by Terry Koechig, “The Fighting Sagehens” by Richard Loucks, and “Swoop Down the Field,” written by a group of junior women from the class of 1948: Janie Bradford, Katie Brydolf, Betty Harper, Bobbie Miller, Jean Moremen, and Pat Sides.^[8] By the 1960s, the songs were primarily played as instrumental numbers and no longer regularly sung by students. However, in the last decade of his tenure at Pomona, Professor Russell began to include a couple of football songs with other college songs at Glee Club Home Concerts. These included “Push on, Pomona,” “When Cecil Sagehen Chirps” (a recent addition to Pomona’s songs by Brian Holmes ’68, with lyrics assistance by Graydon Beeks ’69), and “Swoop Down the Field.” The pep band dissolved in the 1990s, and these songs have not been performed since.^[9]

[1] Olson and Blanchard, The Songs We Sing at Pomona, 2^nd edn. (Claremont, CA: Associated Students of ɫ��ɫ, 1968), p. 6. [back]

[2] Ibid., p. 6. [back]

[3] The Student Life, March 16, 1925. [back]

[4] Jon Bailey, in conversation with Matthew Cook, November 1, 2019. [back]

[5] The Student Life, March 16, 1925. [back]

[6] Graydon Beeks, in conversation with Matthew Cook, June 20, 2018. [back]

[7] Jon Bailey, in conversation with Matthew Cook, November 1, 2019. [back]

[8] Olson and Blanchard, p. 7. [back]

[9] Graydon Beeks, in conversation with Matthew Cook, June 20, 2018. [back]