Traditionally, the months of May and June are chaotic and nerve-racking, exhilarating and hopeful, fueled by feelings of bittersweetness with the closing of the school year and anticipation of exciting, new beginnings. The required rehearsals for commencement exercises are a necessary prelude to the actual event , the long-awaited awarding of degrees or diplomas.
Andrew Albanese's Graduation Day: The Best of America's Commencement Speeches is a 1998 publication of a potpourri of luminaries who have addressed our nation's graduates including Bill Clinton, Carl Sagan, Sting, Ben and Jerry, Gloria Steinem, etc. While reading or scanning these speeches, I would like to suggest some nostalgic melodies for background listening:
Elgar, Edward. Pomp & Circumstance March #1
Fillmore, Henry. Rolling Thunder
Holst, Gustav. First Suite for Military Band
Prokofiev, Sergey. Anthem for Military Band
Sousa, John Philip. Stars and Stripes Forever
Sousa, John Philip. The Washington Post March
Suk, Josef. Towards a New Life
Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich. Coronation March
Williams, John. Call of the Champions
