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Posted by: Wendi Maloney
“Be-bop is a way of phrasing and accenting. The accent is on the up beat. Instead of OO-bah, it’s oo-BAH. Different chords, too. And lots of flatted 5ths and 9ths. There’s lots more to it. But just now I can’t think of what.” —Dizzy Gillespie, Sept. 10, 1947, Down Beat Dizzy Gillespie—trumpeter, composer, bandleader—made an …
Posted in: Collections, Music, Photos
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Amy Beach (1867–1944), whose musical accomplishments changed the way Americans understood the possibilities for women in music. Born in New Hampshire to a prominent New England family, Beach was a child prodigy: by age four, she was composing simple waltzes; at seven, she began giving …
Posted in: Collections, Curators, Music, Researcher Stories, Women's History
Posted by: Gayle Osterberg
‘Tis the season to be jolly, be of good cheer and…be a thorough list-maker. Gift lists, grocery lists, invitation lists … there are so many things, and so little time that lists are essential to helping us make a bit more sense of it all. The Library offers a lot of great resources that can …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, History, LC Web site, Music, Photos, Science, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
Celebrated performer Tony Bennett salutes the crowd on November 15 after Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and a delegation of Members of Congress presented him with the 2017 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Members who joined Bennett on stage were Rep. Kevin Yoder, U.S. House of Representatives Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the …
Posted in: Concerts, Events, Music, Pic of the Week
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
Born into one of folk music’s foremost families, Peggy Seeger has been a leading voice of the Anglo-American folk revival for more than 60 years. As a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and political activist, Seeger is viewed as having forged an unconventional and artistically vibrant path. In “Peggy Seeger: A Life of Music, Love and Politics,” …
Posted in: American Folklife Center, Collections, Music, Researcher Stories
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
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
Baseball and music have a basic affinity, as any fan knows. . . . [E]very pitch ends either with the satisfying pop of the catcher’s mitt or the tension-creating crack of the bat. . . . It should surprise no one that a game with such inherently strong elements of musicality should have attracted scores …
Posted in: Collections, Music
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
This is a guest post by digital library specialist Elizabeth Gettins. It is always interesting to examine how a particular book came to publication with a look toward the cast of characters involved as well as the influences of place. The rare book I am highlighting this month is “Olney Hymns,” written by an English …
Posted in: Collections, Music, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
This post is by Katherine Walden, a 2017 summer intern with the Junior Fellows Program. Walden is a Ph.D. candidate in American studies and sport studies at the University of Iowa, where she is also completing a master’s degree in library and information science with a focus on digital humanities and archives. She has a …
Posted in: Baseball, Collections, Music