4.5.1 “Great popularity.”
—Józef Harazin, student. Our school, 2017, based on a handwritten booklet, 1986.
Together we formed “something” that filled our hearts and made us proud. All it took was for a few members of the choir to be together, and the harmonies would resonate, sung in several voices, with almost as much dexterity as if they were being conducted by Mr Berger.
Our conductor insisted on meticulous rehearsal of every detail. Occasionally, however, at certain concerts, under the influence of a particular atmosphere, Mr Berger would lead us with his energetic baton in a completely different way, using appropriate facial expressions and fixing us with his vigilant gaze from behind his glasses. At first we would be surprised, but the thunderous applause that followed the last notes proved that he knew perfectly well how we should sing at a particular moment, and the choir, united and disciplined, had followed him.
Everyone listened with pleasure to our singing. The choir enjoyed great popularity, not only within the school, but also among our compatriots living in the region and our French hosts and friends. The proof was in the cries of “bravo” that followed each of our songs, for which we were often obliged to perform an encore.
The choir ‘s performances could be divided into three categories: the first, school-related, concerned our participation in all the festivities organised for the high school; the second, religious, when every Sunday we took part in High Mass in the parish church; the third, cultural, when concerts were performed for our compatriots and French organisations in the region and sometimes further afield.
For the school events, organised more for the teachers and students, some French locals, especially the younger ones, would often attend.
Our performances in the church brought the choir the most fame, drawing, like a magnet, a crowd of faithful followers or people who simply listened, to such an extent that there was not enough room in the church! They came not only from the inhabitants of Villard, but also from partisans and fugitives hiding in the Vercors mountains. Our repertoire included many Polish and Latin songs, accompanied by pieces by famous composers such as Gounod, whose music Mr Berger had recreated and harmonised from memory.
Public performances did not only take place at the Hôtel du Parc and the Villard cinema. We visited various Polish accommodation centres in Grenoble, the region and elsewhere, for example in Allevard-les-Bains, Manosque, and Gréoux-les-Bains.
The French people rewarded our renditions of Polish songs and the few French songs we had in our repertoire with endless applause and cheers. They were particularly delighted by our performance of their national anthem. I cannot count the number of times they came up to us afterwards with enthusiastic praise: “We ‘ve never heard such a beautiful Marseillaise, it was simply extraordinary”.
