Fans of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows were saddened by the death last week of star Jonathan Frid, who played the vampire Barnabas Collins. This week’s featured sheet music does not speak of vampires or other shadowy figures. But its lyrical plea to “meet me in the shadows” is at once romantic and sinister, and …
Some of our readership may be looking forward to a certain movie opening up in American theaters this weekend. In the Muse can not officially endorse the series (and in fact has not seen any of the movies or read any of the books), but hopes that interested readers will not be disappointed in the …
The following was written in part by Senior Cataloging Specialist Sharon McKinley. Oh boy, it’s Hallowe’en! My Lady Gaga costume wowed ‘em when I came in to work this morning, and my candy corn lights are glowing brightly. The frost is on the pumpkin and the sweet tooth is ready to go. What more do …
The Music Division is happy to announce a new webcast from our spring lecture series, featuring Senior Reference Specialist and occasional guest blogger Kevin Lavine. Set within the artistic milieu of the last decades of Imperial Russia, Tchaikovsky & Taneyev: Mentor and Protégé traces the lives and careers of two of that country’s most influential …
The following is the second part of a two-part guest post by Kevin Lavine, Senior Music Specialist. The vampire made its musical début on this side of the Atlantic in a slight piece for piano solo titled “Vampire Polka” (Boston, 1850), of unknown authorship (its composer is identified as “Four Eyes”), a work undoubtedly intended for performance …
The following is a part one of a guest post by Kevin LaVine, Senior Music Specialist. If you’ve ever sat around a campfire, listening intently to a ghost story almost against your will; or have peered through half-closed eyes, with fascination and horror, at a slasher film; or have simply heard inexplicable bumps in the …
Are you a night person? Do garlic cloves make you break out, or worse? Does Team Edward mean anything to you? If your answer to any or all of these questions is yes, you may enjoy “Vampire Polka,” by a composer known only as “Four-Eyes.” Whatever societal anxieties may be behind the twenty-first century thirst …