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Archive: April 2014 (9 Posts)

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

May Day: A Festival of Flowers

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

May Eve, April 30th, and May Day, May first, have long been part of the celebration of spring in Europe. The flowering of fruit trees and sowing season were important to agriculturalists in the hope of a good harvest. Lambing, kidding, and calving season had passed, so animals could be allowed out to more remote …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Coffeehouses: Folk Music, Culture, and Counterculture

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The following is a guest post by Nancy Groce, Senior Folklife Specialist at the American Folklife Center.  It originated as opening remarks for the forum Coffeehouses: Folk Music, Culture, and Counterculture, which was held last week in the Library’s Montpelier Room.  Webcasts of the event will eventually be added to the Library’s website and accessible …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

“A Dudele”: A Little Song for Jewish Heritage Month

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Jewish vocal music culture in the United States reflects the variety of the many different parts of the diaspora from which the Jewish immigrants originally came, as well as different song traditions among Jewish denominations. This essay will examine some of the Jewish folksongs curated by the Recorded Sound section, the Music Division, and the …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

The Animals Marched In Two By Two: More Songs About Noah’s Ark

Posted by: Stephen Winick

In my last post, I discussed the more serious side of songs about Noah’s ark. As I mentioned, though, there are other songs too, often with more celebratory messages–or even silly ones.  We’ll look at some of those Noah songs in this post. Celebratory songs tend to focus on the joy felt by Noah when …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Commemorating World War I

Posted by: Megan Harris

In a letter dated November 16, 1918, an Army Private First Class stationed near Verdun, France, wrote to his mother, Dear Mother: By firelight on the fought-over ground of this stricken country I pause to rush word to you of my safety + well being. The last three weeks were terrible + of them I …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Folklorist Harry Oster’s collection of 1950s-60s folk music ranges from English folksongs in Iowa to Delta country blues

Posted by: Nicole Saylor

During a recent trip to the University of Iowa at the invitation of the Digital Studio for Public Arts and Humanities, I took the opportunity to show off some of our recently digitized recordings made by folklorist Harry Oster (1923-2001), who was on the English faculty at Iowa for 30 years. The American Folklife Center …