Charles Fox was always exciting and new -- the composer was a hit-making wonder in the 1970s and 1980s, writing themes for television shows such as “The Love Boat,” “Happy Days,” “Laverne and Shirley,” “Wonder Woman" and “Monday Night Football.” He also composed classic hits such as "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and "I Got a Name." A trove of his papers are now at the Library.
On the fourth anniversary of Stephen Sondheim's death, his friend and colleague Adam Guettel -- the Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of “The Light in the Piazza,” “Floyd Collins” and “Days of Wine and Roses" -- writes a short piece about their friendship.
Stephen Sondheim put together "Send in the Clowns," his most famous song, in about 24 hours during rehearsals of "A Little Night Music." His lyric and music sheets chart the song's quick progression.
The beloved hymn “Amazing Grace,” written by John Newton, is one of the most recorded songs in history. But it didn't particularly stand out when it was published in the "Olney Hymns" collection in 1779. It's not even called "Amazing Grace," just numbered "Hymn 41." The hymn book was huge, containing 280 hymns by Newton and 68 by William Cowper, a poet and Newton's friend. The volume also contains Cowper's “Light Shining Out of Darkness,” which coined the maxim still in use today, “God moves in mysterious ways.”
If that haunting music in the season finale of "Severance" on Apple TV+ sounded familiar, that's because "The Windmills of Your Mind" has been around for 57 years, won an Oscar and has been recorded by more than 300 artists the world over. Lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, the husband-and-wife duo, wrote "Windmills" with composer Michel Legrand. In a legendary career, they won three Oscars and were finalists another 16 times, not to mention their four Emmys and two Grammys. In the Library's collections, we look at their lyrics sheets and interviews to see how they and Legrand combined to put together "Windmills."
Ned Rorem could never stop thinking. Or writing, composing or socializing. He kept datebooks, scrapbooks and diaries, the last of which went for thousands of pages over decades. He composed more than 500 art songs, three symphonies, four piano concertos, more than half a dozen operas and on and on. These fill volumes and folders …
Legendary ragtime composer Scott Joplin died in poverty at age 48 in 1917 and left few personal artifacts behind; only three photographs of him are known to exist. The song that made him famous was the spirited "Maple Leaf Rag" in 1899. So 125 years later, when the Library's music staff pulls the two copies of "Maple Leaf Rag" sheet music that Joplin and his music publisher mailed in for copyright registration, it can produce an audible gasp.
Burt Bacharach, one of the most popular songwriters and composers in American history, was awarded the Gershwin Prize in 2012. He wrote or cowrote dozens of pop standards -- "Walk on By," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "The Look of Love," "I Say a Little Prayer," "(They Long to Be) Close to You" -- mostly with lyricist Hal David. He also composed, arranged, conducted the band or orchestras for the recording sessions and recorded his own albums. His songs have been recorded by hundreds of artists around the world. His papers are now at the Library.
