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Archive: September 2011 (11 Posts)

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Pic of the Week: What the World Needs Now is the Recipient of the 2012 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song Edition

Posted by: Pat Padua

The Music Division has been busy this week. The Performing Arts Encyclopedia has just presented online collections both new (Franz Liszt, in honor of his bicentennial) and updated (fifteen composers and their works have been added to the American Choral Music presentation). But today we have a special announcement to make. The recipient of the 2012 …

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Congratulations to Dafnis Prieto, 2011 MacArthur Fellow

Posted by: Pat Padua

This week the MacArthur Foundation announced their list of  this year’s Fellows,  selected for ” their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future.”   Winners came from a variety of fields: clinical psychology, architecture, radio production, and poetry. Among the honored musicans is percussionist/composer Dafnis Prieto, who was a memorable part of …

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Pic of the Week: Belated Birthdays Edition

Posted by: Pat Padua

September 19th was the birthday of two old friends of the Music Division. Jazz pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams was born September 19, 1930 in Chicago. He worked as a sideman behind such luminaries as Dexter Gordon and Max Roach, and was part of the 1970s jazz loft scene in New York,  so  named because of …

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Arrr, it’s the Sheet Music of the Week Pirate Edition, Matey!

Posted by: Pat Padua

The following is a guest post by Senior Cataloging Specialist Sharrron McKinley. AAAARRRR! Ahoy, mateys! It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Luckily you can’t see me, because I’m sporting a bandana, an eye patch, and a fake peg leg. Nah, just kidding! It’s a real peg leg. Almost anyone can relate to the romance …

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Sheet Music of the Week: William Taft Birthday Edition

Posted by: Cait Miller

This week we recognize what would have been President William Taft’s 154th birthday by delving into the Library’s digitized collection of Presidential Campaign Songs. Taft was the 27th President of the United States, serving from 1909-1913. Note that this week’s Sheet Music of the Week, “President Taft, He’s All Right” with words and music by …

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Music from the Tsars: a Bibliography

Posted by: Pat Padua

The following is a guest post from Senior Music Reference Specialist Kevin LaVine. Throughout the 1930s, as the developing Soviet state was liquidating Tsarist property in order to generate funding for its ambitious projects, Herbert Putnam, the Librarian of Congress at that time, seized the opportunity to purchase approximately 2800 volumes which were formerly held …