NORMAN CORWIN, CREATOR-CONDUCTOR OF "ON A NOTE OF TRIUMPH."
ON A NOTE OF TRIUMPH
Norman Corwin lived for 101 years - from 1910 to 2011. The author, producer and director wasn't hailed as The Poet Laureate of Radio without reason. Although he was nominated for awards in his film and television work, Corwin is best remembered today for his two Peabody Award winning radio broadcasts when he was still in his thirties.
The first of these programs was We Hold These Truths, celebrating the 150th anniversary of The Bill of Rights which was broadcast by all networks on the evening of December 15, 1941, just a week after the United States entered World War II. (See We Hold These Truths.)
Three years later Corwin created On A Note of Triumph. commissioned and broadcast by CBS at 9:00 p.m. on May 8, 1945, forever known as V-E Day. (See V-E Day: Very Early.)
Corwin was well prepared for the event. He had devoted nine months to creating the program, dropping his Columbia Presents Corwin series in August, 1945, to tackle the project which Carl Sandburg later called, “One of the all-time great American poems.”
But with no time for advance promotion, CBS hastily pre-empted two commercial programs, Inner Sanctum and Orson Welles’ This Is My Best, to broadcast Corwin’s tribute to V-E Day in the heart of prime time, against NBC’s Mystery Theater and Fibber McGee & Molly, two of Tuesday’s Top Ten programs.
On A Note of Triumph was narrated by Martin Gabel supported by two dozen radio actors and actresses with Lud Gluskin’s large studio orchestra playing Bernard Herrmann’s score. (1) Production charges of the hour-long program plus the cancellations of commercial revenue during its broadcast were reported to have cost CBS a combined total of $35,000.
Was it worth the extra expense? FCC Chairman Paul Porter hailed On A Note of Triumph the following day as, “A great moment in broadcasting. Nowhere has the story of this day been told with such bold and sensitive artistry.”
Variety chimed in with its May 16 review headed, ‘Note of Triumph’ A Milestone In Radio:
“…Without equivocation, chalk this one up as one of the high-water marks in listening - a fitting, joyous climax to a memorable day in history. For here was Corwin, the fashioner of beautiful prose, Corwin, the exponent of realistic ideals, the Corwin who can make words sing, the poet who glorifies the common man, and above all, the Corwin who is the master of radio and its assorted techniques. … When a ’Triumph’ comes along it becomes apparent that in spite of the fact it can command an audience of millions as a ’one shot’ it should also take its place in the halls of fame accorded literary, dramatic and canvas creations which maintain their laurels because of the permanence of their form.” (2)
Gold Time Radio contributes to that permanence with this recording of the CBS 11;00 p.m. rebroadcast of On A Note of Triumph the following Sunday night, May 13, 1945. KNX/Los Angeles, where Corwin’s production originated, reported receiving a record 1,600 phone calls, the overwhelming majority of them praising the program.
Continuing with the Varity accolades: “‘Triumph’ was flawless. Bernard Herrmann composed an original score which was more than able to stand on its own, yet when interwoven with the script, intensified and heightened the value of the work and became part of the perfect whole. … Any appraisal of ’Triumph’ must include the just share of credit due Martin Gabel as narrator. The restraint exhibited when over dramatization might have lessened the impact, the voice of a timbre so well suited to radio, the understanding interpretation of the lines that could have resulted only from heartfelt conviction, these were the qualities that Gabel brought to a role that made great demands on a performer.”
If that review seems over-the-top, consider this editorial from Billboard on May 19, 1945: "Once in a decade something comes down the pike that is so good it deserves to belong not to its creator or its sponsor, but to the people. Last week radio had such a something - it was the Norman Corwin V-E Day program, ‘On A Note of Triumph’, the single greatest - and we use greatest in its full meaning - radio program we have ever heard.
"It was and is great because it dealt in simple yet specific words and thoughts with the single most important event in the last hundred years, namely the rise and fall of Fascism. … ‘Triumph’ is so fine a document of the whys and wherefores, the causes and effects, the results and cravings of this war that it should be played each morning for the delegates of the World Security Conference now meeting in San Francisco. ‘Triumph’ is so important that it should be played by every radio station in the English speaking world. … Not only should everyone have an opportunity to hear it, but everyone should hear it every six months for the next decade. Then, maybe, we will not forget and then, maybe , we’ll have no more wars.”
V-E Day, with its confusions and delayed celebrations fades further into history with each passing year. Yet, the closing lines of that Billboard editorial praising On A Note of Triumph from 75 years ago still echo: “This program transcends the urgencies of purely competitive radio. It is in the public interest, convenience and necessity; it is of the people; it should be made available to the people.”
Gold Time Radio agrees and hopes you do, too.
(1) Supporting players in On A Note of Triumph were reported by the trade press to include: Harry Bartell, Eula Beal, Johnny Bond, Bob Bruce, Tom Collins, Ludwig Donath, Fred Essler, June Foray, Alex Hartford, Ramsey Hill, Merton Koplin, Raymond Lawrence, Elliott Lewis, Pat McGeehan, Lucille Meredith, Norbert Muller, Dick Nelson, Jim Nusser, George Sorel, Irene Tedro, Lurene Tuttle, Regina Wallace, Peter Witt and Joe Worthy.
(2) Simon & Schuster released On A Note of Triumph in book form on May 15, 1945.
Norman Corwin lived for 101 years - from 1910 to 2011. The author, producer and director wasn't hailed as The Poet Laureate of Radio without reason. Although he was nominated for awards in his film and television work, Corwin is best remembered today for his two Peabody Award winning radio broadcasts when he was still in his thirties.
The first of these programs was We Hold These Truths, celebrating the 150th anniversary of The Bill of Rights which was broadcast by all networks on the evening of December 15, 1941, just a week after the United States entered World War II. (See We Hold These Truths.)
Three years later Corwin created On A Note of Triumph. commissioned and broadcast by CBS at 9:00 p.m. on May 8, 1945, forever known as V-E Day. (See V-E Day: Very Early.)
Corwin was well prepared for the event. He had devoted nine months to creating the program, dropping his Columbia Presents Corwin series in August, 1945, to tackle the project which Carl Sandburg later called, “One of the all-time great American poems.”
But with no time for advance promotion, CBS hastily pre-empted two commercial programs, Inner Sanctum and Orson Welles’ This Is My Best, to broadcast Corwin’s tribute to V-E Day in the heart of prime time, against NBC’s Mystery Theater and Fibber McGee & Molly, two of Tuesday’s Top Ten programs.
On A Note of Triumph was narrated by Martin Gabel supported by two dozen radio actors and actresses with Lud Gluskin’s large studio orchestra playing Bernard Herrmann’s score. (1) Production charges of the hour-long program plus the cancellations of commercial revenue during its broadcast were reported to have cost CBS a combined total of $35,000.
Was it worth the extra expense? FCC Chairman Paul Porter hailed On A Note of Triumph the following day as, “A great moment in broadcasting. Nowhere has the story of this day been told with such bold and sensitive artistry.”
Variety chimed in with its May 16 review headed, ‘Note of Triumph’ A Milestone In Radio:
“…Without equivocation, chalk this one up as one of the high-water marks in listening - a fitting, joyous climax to a memorable day in history. For here was Corwin, the fashioner of beautiful prose, Corwin, the exponent of realistic ideals, the Corwin who can make words sing, the poet who glorifies the common man, and above all, the Corwin who is the master of radio and its assorted techniques. … When a ’Triumph’ comes along it becomes apparent that in spite of the fact it can command an audience of millions as a ’one shot’ it should also take its place in the halls of fame accorded literary, dramatic and canvas creations which maintain their laurels because of the permanence of their form.” (2)
Gold Time Radio contributes to that permanence with this recording of the CBS 11;00 p.m. rebroadcast of On A Note of Triumph the following Sunday night, May 13, 1945. KNX/Los Angeles, where Corwin’s production originated, reported receiving a record 1,600 phone calls, the overwhelming majority of them praising the program.
Continuing with the Varity accolades: “‘Triumph’ was flawless. Bernard Herrmann composed an original score which was more than able to stand on its own, yet when interwoven with the script, intensified and heightened the value of the work and became part of the perfect whole. … Any appraisal of ’Triumph’ must include the just share of credit due Martin Gabel as narrator. The restraint exhibited when over dramatization might have lessened the impact, the voice of a timbre so well suited to radio, the understanding interpretation of the lines that could have resulted only from heartfelt conviction, these were the qualities that Gabel brought to a role that made great demands on a performer.”
If that review seems over-the-top, consider this editorial from Billboard on May 19, 1945: "Once in a decade something comes down the pike that is so good it deserves to belong not to its creator or its sponsor, but to the people. Last week radio had such a something - it was the Norman Corwin V-E Day program, ‘On A Note of Triumph’, the single greatest - and we use greatest in its full meaning - radio program we have ever heard.
"It was and is great because it dealt in simple yet specific words and thoughts with the single most important event in the last hundred years, namely the rise and fall of Fascism. … ‘Triumph’ is so fine a document of the whys and wherefores, the causes and effects, the results and cravings of this war that it should be played each morning for the delegates of the World Security Conference now meeting in San Francisco. ‘Triumph’ is so important that it should be played by every radio station in the English speaking world. … Not only should everyone have an opportunity to hear it, but everyone should hear it every six months for the next decade. Then, maybe, we will not forget and then, maybe , we’ll have no more wars.”
V-E Day, with its confusions and delayed celebrations fades further into history with each passing year. Yet, the closing lines of that Billboard editorial praising On A Note of Triumph from 75 years ago still echo: “This program transcends the urgencies of purely competitive radio. It is in the public interest, convenience and necessity; it is of the people; it should be made available to the people.”
Gold Time Radio agrees and hopes you do, too.
(1) Supporting players in On A Note of Triumph were reported by the trade press to include: Harry Bartell, Eula Beal, Johnny Bond, Bob Bruce, Tom Collins, Ludwig Donath, Fred Essler, June Foray, Alex Hartford, Ramsey Hill, Merton Koplin, Raymond Lawrence, Elliott Lewis, Pat McGeehan, Lucille Meredith, Norbert Muller, Dick Nelson, Jim Nusser, George Sorel, Irene Tedro, Lurene Tuttle, Regina Wallace, Peter Witt and Joe Worthy.
(2) Simon & Schuster released On A Note of Triumph in book form on May 15, 1945.