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Posted by: Cait Miller
I could hardly let the would-be birthday of eminent conductor Serge Koussevitzky go by without a blog post! Born in 1874, Koussevitzky began his musical life as a performer. He studied numerous instruments, though excelled at the double bass – he even composed a concerto for double bass, which he premiered in 1905. In the …
Posted in: Birthdays, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Head of Acquisitions & Processing Denise Gallo. Running past the Nation’s Capitol into Virginia, the Potomac River is fed by myriad tributaries, one of which is the Occoquan. Flowing into that river just south of Manassas, Virginia, is a creek called Bull Run. It was there on 21 …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Sheet Music of the Week
Posted by: Cait Miller
Check out a new program that investigates the architecture of and treasures inside the Library of Congress that premieres tonight on C-SPAN at 8:00 p.m. ET (it re-broadcasts at 11:00 p.m.). You can even view a clip of the documentary as well as an extra interview with Librarian of Congress Dr. James Billington here! If …
Posted in: Pic of the Week
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Reader Services Technician Melanie Guitreaux. Today would mark the 100th birthday of Ginger Rogers, a performer who emanated energy and romance and, together with her alluring partner Fred Astaire, struck the film world by storm. The world famous dancing duo dazzled audiences with their spectacular performances …
Posted in: Birthdays, Pic of the Week, Sheet Music, Women in Dance
Posted by: Cait Miller
It’s July 7 – Gustav Mahler’s 151st birthday! Instead of highlighting manuscripts or correspondence by Mahler, I’d like instead to point out another composer/conductor’s commentary on Mahler, as provided in one of Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concert scripts, Who is Gustav Mahler? The script, along with all other scripts for the Young People’s Concert broadcasts, …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Head of Acquisitions & Processing Denise Gallo. Over the past few months, we’ve begun to showcase examples from the Music Division’s rich collection of Civil War sheet music to highlight some anniversaries of events in 1861. The Battle of Gettysburg, of course, would not be fought until 1863, …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Sheet Music of the Week