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Posted by: Neely Tucker
"The Metropolitan Opera Murders," the latest entry in the Library's Crime Classics series, is a novel from a woman who knows the score. Helen Traubel, a longtime star soprano who performed at the Met for years, wrote the book in 1951, shortly before she left the opera to pursue a career in popular entertainment.
Posted in: Music, Performing Arts, Theater, Women's History, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Lionel Richie, the Alabama-born songwriter with a smooth voice and a deft touch for the romantic ballad, is the 2022 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song honoree.
Posted in: Concerts, Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, Music, News
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The National Audio-Visual Conservation Center has found a never-before-seen home movie of the infamous Altamont Free Concert in 1969, during which a member of the Hell's Angels killed a member of the audience. The incident became a cultural turning point of the era.
Posted in: Library Work and Employees, Music, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Performing Arts, Preservation and Conservation
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: Wendi Maloney
Lin-Manuel Miranda and his production team researched Jonathan Larson's papers at the Library for the new musical, "tick...tick...Boom!" Here's how they did it.
Posted in: Film, Music, Performing Arts, Theater
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Mark Eden Horowitz, a senior music specialist in the Music Division, recounts his long friendship with Stephen Sondheim and how the maestro's papers will come to the Library.
Posted in: Library Work and Employees, Music, Performing Arts, Theater
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Billy Strayhorn was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and lyricist, most often working for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He wrote "Take the 'A' Train," "Lush Life," "Chelsea Bridge," "Day Dream" and dozens of other standards. His papers are collected at the Library of Congress.
Posted in: African American History, Music, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Hazel Scott was the gorgeous face of jazz at the mid-century; the most glamorous, well-known Black woman in America, making more than $100,000 per year, draped in custom-designed jewelry and furs. Her remarkable career is preserved in the Library's Music Division.
Posted in: African American History, Music, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
During Hispanic Heritage Month, we pause to appreciate the impact of Selena, the superstar Tejano singer. Her breakthrough 1990 album, “Ven Conmigo,” was added to the Library's National Recording Registry in 2019.
Posted in: Hispanic American History, Hispanic and Latino, Music, National Recording Registry