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Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Carol Lynn Ward Bamford curates the Library's collections of more than 2,000 musical instruments, including the James Madison crystal flute that Lizzo played at a concert last fall, setting social media afire.
Posted in: Concerts, LCM, Library Work and Employees, Music, My Job, Preservation and Conservation
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Lizzo set the social media world afire last fall by playing, in concert, a short solo on a rare crystal flute that once belonged to President James Madison. The flute is one of the Library's most prized musical instruments and a showpiece of the collection of Dayton C. Miller, the famed physicist, astronomer and major flute aficionado. The collection, preserved in a vault at the Library, is not just the world’s largest of flute-related material, it is perhaps the largest collection on a single music subject ever assembled — and it’s what drew Lizzo to the Library in the first place.
Posted in: LCM, Library Work and Employees, Music, Performing Arts, Preservation, Science, Technology
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
The Library of Congress on Wednesday bestowed its Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on Joni Mitchell, the singer-songwriter best known for such 1970s classics as “Both Sides Now,” “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Help Me.” The celebratory concert included performances by Annie Lennox, Graham Nash, James Taylor, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Krall, Angélique Kidjo, Ledisi, Lucius and modern folkies Brandi Carlile and Marcus Mumford. It will air on PBS stations on March 31.
Posted in: Events, Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, Library Work and Employees, Music, Performing Arts, Writers
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Most folks know the ridiculously catchy instrumental theme song for the 1960s classic TV comedy “I Dream of Jeannie.” But how many can recite its lyrics — “Jeannie, fresh as a daisy!/Just love how she obeys me” — or even knew it had any? The theme for “Bewitched,” another ’60s favorite, briefly had its day: …
Posted in: Copyright, LCM, Music, Performing Arts
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Judy Garland insisted that the original gloomy lyrics of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" be rewritten to a warm, wistful tone in what is now a holiday standard. Garland debuted the song in the 1944 musical, "Meet Me in St. Louis."
Posted in: Christmas, Music, Performing Arts
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Garth Brooks and wife Trisha Yearwood, herself a country star and a celebrity chef, came to the Library's Coolidge Auditorium to talk with Librarian Carla Hayden about love, food, music and his receiving the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Posted in: Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, Music
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Conservationists at the Library of Congress today are working to preserve the original material that forms the foundation of Les Paul's musical legacy.
Posted in: Music, Preservation and Conservation
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Welcome to week two of our blog series for “Baseball Americana,” a major new Library of Congress exhibition opening June 29. This is the second of nine posts – we’re publishing one each Thursday leading up to the opening, then we’ll feature posts about different topics related to the yearlong exhibition. As a bonus, we’re …
Posted in: Baseball, Exhibitions, Music
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
This post first appeared in “Veterans on the Homefront,” the November–December issue of LCM, the Library of Congress Magazine. The entire issue is available online. The Library preserves recordings and sheet music of thousands of tunes from World War I. The Great War inspired thousands of songs, music that a century later still evokes a …
Posted in: Collections, LCM, Music