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Posted by: Matt Raymond
Did you happen to catch the “CBS Evening News” last night? They featured the latest audio recordings the Library has added to the National Recording Registry, which features everything from Jiminy Cricket and Little Richard to Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Tupac Shakur and a World War II battle. As Katie Couric might say, Anthony Mason …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, History, Music, News
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
The Librarian of Congress today named 25 new entries to the National Recording Registry, a designation given to recordings that are culturally, historically or aesthetically significant and at least 10 years old. This year’s entries bring the total to 300 and include recordings made famous by a range of artists from Tupac Shakur, Little Richard …
Posted in: American Folklife Center, Audiovisual, Film, History, Music, Uncategorized
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Tim Daly gingerly wound his way up a narrow spiral staircase to a low-ceilinged, vaulted alcove overlooking the ornate Ceremonial Office of the Librarian of Congress. Surveying the VIPs on the crowded floor below–members of Congress, Hollywood A-listers, Library leadership–he pulled out a digital camera to capture the celebratory moment. Then he paused. “I wonder …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Events, History, Music, Preservation
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
One of the complaints heard from non-fans of classical music is that so much of it reaches back centuries. As one wag, who preferred jazz, put it: “Mozart hasn’t written anything decent in 200 years!” And yet classical, as a genre, continues to unfold even in our lifetimes. Which means there may be among us the …
Posted in: Books, Concerts, Events, Music, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Most musicians probably would be satisfied during a performance with a single standing ovation. But at a rousing concert Tuesday in the Coolidge Auditorium, the crowd leapt to their feet in applause no less than four times for a half dozen of country music’s most popular and influential stars—and even surprise “guest performer” Librarian of …
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
A bunch of ninth-grade girls got in touch with their favorite radio station, making a song request for a tune by one of their favorite artists. But they couldn’t resist the chance to raise that universal complaint: “Why, why, why, why do you always repeat the same songs?” It could have been from the suburbs …
Posted in: Collections, Congress, Curators, Exhibitions, Music, Poetry, Social Media
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: Blogging, 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
A cartoon can be engaging and funny and tell a story without any audible sound at all; even newspaper cartoons of the 20th century featured characters such as Ferd’nand and The Little King, (external links) who went through their paces, frame-by-frame, with little or no dialogue to move the story along. But sometimes, more is more, as …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Exhibitions, Film, Music, Uncategorized