"So m ebody
s h o u l d wri te
a b o o k , I sai d
t o m y wi f e,
a nd t h e n that
s o m ebody
t u r n e d out to
b e me,"
Dr . S c o t t Wa tk i ns
worth of photo albums.” Scanning the album
pages would have been problematic, he says,
due to the way they were attached. Instead,
he captured the writings with his smartphone
and will then transcribe as much as possible.
“A few years ago, when I first started this
project, I thought I'd found evidence that
Hanson had fallen in love with a young
woman in California named Marjory Fisher,
a violinist.” Gossip columns at the time
indicated that Hanson and Fisher were
often seen together, performed together,
and attended parties. Neither was yet
married. Hanson was between 19 and 25
years old during his stay in California, and
Watkins' discovery of a College of the Pacific
yearbook, dated 1919, included further
evidence of a romantic relationship.
“This page in the yearbook, titled Campus
Cases, referred to cases of infatuation, and
it's the only photo I have ever found of the
two of them together.”
From what he can tell, no letters between
the two have been unearthed, but he says
that the prospect of such a romantic interest
certainly drives the potential for emotional
content. Furthermore, Watkins says he was
curious about why Hanson and Fisher never
married. “Immediately after that photograph
was published, she resigned from the
college, and I'm suspecting that the influence
of the president at that time, John Seaton,
may have played a role. Seaton hired Hanson
under the condition that he didn't smoke or
drink. That was 1916.”
He believes it stands to reason that a
relationship between colleagues would also
have been frowned upon and been probable
cause for Fischer's hasty exit from Hanson’s
life. “Remember, he was not much older
H o w ar d H an s o n an d M ar j o r y Fi s he r
C ol l eg e of t h e P a c if ic Y ea r b ook, "Na r a j a n d o, " 1 91 9
than his students,” Watkins said, “and I think
that's why there existed so much affection
for him on the part of students.”
Hanson's resignation from the College of the
Pacific, officially, was due to being awarded
a two-year study opportunity in Italy, under
the direction of The American Academy in
Rome. Hanson’s last day on campus is one of
Watkins' favorite stories to narrate. “He told
them to keep studying and celebrating art
in America 'because she needs you.'" Then
he dashed out of the room, about to burst
into tears. All the students were crying and
couldn't believe that he was leaving.”
At this point, Watkins is about 95 percent
finished with the research phase but not yet
ready to speak with editors or publishing
houses. In the meantime, he says that
Hanson’s music is making a come-back.
“I credit that, to a certain extent, to the
popularity of film scores.” Specifically,
the 1979 classic science fiction horror film
“Alien,” directed by Ridley Scott.
Watkins explains that when a film director
finishes a movie and hands it off to a post-
production team, included is what the film
industry calls a “temp track,” or temporary
musical score that gives the hired composer a
glimpse into what the director and/or producer
wants to hear in the finished film.
track for “Alien” included music by Hanson.
Composer Jerry Goldsmith, to whom Ridley
Scott entrusted the film, wrote the Academy
Award-nominated score, but the final
moments of the film which segue into closing
credits have inadvertently become a shining
yet controversial moment for Hanson. For
that unforgettable and explosive scene, in
which the alien is blown out of the airlock,
Goldsmith wrote a three-minute cue called
“Out the Door,” but only twenty seconds
were used. Instead, a 1976 recording of
Hanson’s first movement (Adagio) from his
1930 Symphony No. 2, “Romantic” was kept.
“Hanson was furious. They used his music,
without his or the publisher's permission.
Lawsuits were thrown back and forth, but
the Hanson family later, graciously, decided
to drop it. He would have been in his late
80's then.” According to Watkins, it was
his “Romantic” Symphony that put Howard
Hanson's name on the international map.
All that remains now is re-tracing Hanson’s
journey and preserving the untold narrative of
his remarkable life, a task that JU Professor of
Music Dr. Watkins will ensure happens.
Dr. Scott Watkins next performs the Hanson
“Symphonic Rhapsody” at Jacksonville
University, October 26, at 7:30pm in Terry
Concert Hall.
“The musical score is the last character to be
added to a film,” Watkins says, and the temp
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