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Posted by: Erin Allen
Music is a powerful tool. It can create an emotional response, a feeling, a certain attitude. Music can unite people, and give a voice when simple words fail. During the Civil Rights Movement, music played a vital role. Freedom songs drew from spirituals, gospel, rhythm and blues, football chants, blues and calypso and were sung …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Exhibitions, History, Music
Posted by: Erin Allen
Last week, the Library of Congress opened the exhibition “American Ballet Theatre: Touring the Globe for 75 Years,” which highlights the dance company’s distinguished history and its collection here at the Library. Shortly after the opening, ABT alum Sue Knapp-Steen (1969-1974) stopped by to view the exhibition and reminisce on her time as a professional dancer …
Posted in: Collections, Exhibitions, History, Music, Photos, Pic of the Week, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is an article written by Rosemary Girard, intern in the Library of Congress Office of Communications, for the Library staff newsletter, The Gazette.) After weeks of researching, curating and unearthing some of the Library of Congress’s millions of artifacts, members of the Junior Fellows Program had a chance to present their most interesting …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Capitol Hill, Collections, Copyright, Curators, Education, Events, Film, History, Law Library, Manuscripts, Music, Photos, Thomas Jefferson Building, Veterans History Project, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! Pikes Peak is one of America’s most famous mountains. Rising more than 14,000 feet, the mountain has been …
Posted in: Collections, Music, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
The Library of Congress blogosphere helped beat the heat in June with a variety of engaging posts. Here are a sampling: In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog Connecting to Samuel Barber: A Young Musician’s Connection to a Musical Manuscript Music Division intern Rachael Sanguinetti talks about her appreciation of the composer’s works. Inside Adams: Science, …
Posted in: American Folklife Center, Blogging, Collections, Congress Blogs, History, Law Library, Music, Photos, Poetry, Preservation, Social Media
Posted by: Erin Allen
The story of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” for many decades, seemed as murky as the smoky haze over Fort McHenry on the morning two centuries ago when Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics that still inspire a nation. No one knew for sure who wrote the music. No one fully understood the circumstances of the tune’s creation (but, no, it wasn’t a …
Posted in: Collections, Concerts, Events, History, Manuscripts, Music, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
Pianist Alex Hassan’s passion is music, but not just any music – he lives to recreate the Tin Pan Alley melodies of the 1920 and 1930s. The classically trained musician, who says he is a pupil of pupil of a pupil of Franz Lizst, has, in his own words, “tunnel vision” for the popular musical …
Posted in: Collections, Manuscripts, Music, Researcher Stories, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
Several years ago I took a whirlwind tour of Ireland, which included a few days in Dublin. One of my most memorable experiences was taking a literary pub crawl through the city. Throughout the evening, the actor tour guides led us in the footsteps of James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde, among others. While …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Concerts, Events, LC Web site, Music, Video
Posted by: Erin Allen
Inside Adams: Science, Technology and Business Oh, Oology! Caliology and oology are the study of bird nests and eggs, respectively. In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog Best Buddies, or Just Goethe Friends? Tchaikovsky and Brahms share a birthday, among other things. In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress I Could Not Accept Your Challenge to …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Blogging, Collections, Congress Blogs, Education, Law Library, LC Web site, Manuscripts, Music, Photos, Poetry, Science, Social Media, Technology