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Posted by: Matt Raymond
There’s something very satisfying in music about the number three: three notes in a basic chord, a romantic waltz in 3/4 time, the three-movement form of early symphonies. So it’s appropriate that the Library’s third blog (behind this one and “Inside Adams” from the Science, Technology and Business Division) would come from the Music Division. …
Posted in: Collections, Concerts, Curators, Music, Social Media
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Have you ever had to keep a secret? A huge, exciting secret? A few weeks ago the head of our Music Division called to inform me that the third recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song would be Sir Paul McCartney. I’m fairly certain that they heard my reaction in the …
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
What is dance? Is it storytelling, using human forms to advance the storyline? Is it movement with music? Is it movement alone? Merce Cunningham, a giant of modern dance, asked these questions and answered them–affirmatively in each case–over seven decades. He died, at age 90, on Sunday in Manhattan. From his introduction to the avant-garde composer …
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Broadway orchestration is the lasso that ensnares a catchy tune, a witty lyric, a burst of inspired dance–and spins them out from Times Square to your local theater, cabaret, satirical review or high school. Wednesday and Thursday, May 6 and 7, the Library of Congress’ Music Division will host a free, two-day public symposium on …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
We had a few delays, but we were finally able to post all 55 minutes of the historic Feb. 23 performance by Stevie Wonder at the Library. VIEW THE WEBCAST HERE As I previously wrote (prematurely heralding what turned out to be only highlights of the evening), Wonder premiered the piece “Sketches of a Life,” …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Before you watch the Stevie Wonder concert last night at the White House in celebration of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song tonight on PBS (you will watch, won’t you?), you really need to see the celebrated artist kick it “classical style” in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium. (The White House event was …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Concerts, Events, LC Web site, Music, News