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Posted by: Cait Miller
It’s Flag Day! On this day in 1777, the design of the US flag was officially approved by Congress. We have been taking a little time every June 14th to celebrate the flag since 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson established this day as a national day of recognition – you can read more about Flag Day …
Posted in: Digital Collections, Sheet Music of the Week
Posted by: Cait Miller
We’re bringing back our Five Questions interview today with Music Cataloger Laura Yust (courtesy of Senior Music Cataloger Sharon McKinley). Enjoy! Laura, what are you working on these days? Besides the regular scores and books about music, I’m cataloging a fascinating item from the mid-16th century that contains German tracts on music and music theory …
Posted in: Staff, Staff Interviews
Posted by: Cait Miller
On June 3, 1888, Ernest Thayer’s beloved poem “Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888” was first published in the San Francisco Examiner. Though not an instant hit, the poem was republished a few months later in the New York Sun with some changes and attributed to “Anon”. …
Posted in: Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Head of Acquisitions & Processing Denise Gallo. When the Civil War began, Lincoln’s army was under the command of a well-seasoned war hero, General Winfield Scott. For the task at hand, though, his reputation served little, since Scott, whose initial Army commission had been issued in 1808, was …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Sheet Music
Posted by: Cait Miller
As I opened up the Style section of The Washington Post today, I was excited to see a story by the Post’s music critic Anne Midgette on eighth blackbird, who will be performing here in Coolidge Auditorium tonight! Thought I’d share the story with our In the Muse readers to highlight the quality of performers …
Posted in: Concerts and Events
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Theater Specialist Walter Zvonchenko. Among the most significant collections acquired by the Library of Congress in very recent time is the Oliver Smith Collection of theatrical design, now in the custody of the Music Division. One of the most highly regarded and sought after stage designers of the …
Posted in: Special Collections, Theater
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Head of Acquisitions & Processing Dr. Denise Gallo. Although the Mason-Dixon Line originated in the 1760s to resolve a border conflict between the colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware, the role it assumed in the Civil War was deeply cultural and philosophical. To its north lay the states …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Sheet Music, Sheet Music of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
In her list of “not to miss” DC performances this year, The Washington Post music critic Anne Midgette included the premiere of Finnish composer Olli Kortekangas’s Seven Songs for Planet Earth, which will be performed in a concert called “Northern Lights: Choral Illuminations from Scandinavia and Beyond” by The Choral Arts Society of Washington and …
Posted in: Composers
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Mark Eden Horowitz, Senior Music Specialist, and curator for the Larson Collection. On Monday, May 9th at noon in the Whittall Pavilion, I will be discussing the Larson Collection and showing some of the rare and surprising treasures it holds. The special collections of the Music Division …
Posted in: Composers, Musical Theater, Staff