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Posted by: Pat Padua
Gershwin Prize Honoree Billy Joel met Beethoven this week thanks to the Music Division, who showed the six-time Grammy-winning composer manuscripts and artifacts from one of his favorite composers, including a lock of Beethoven’s hair. Joel was an engaged audience, humming along to Gershwin’s “Summertime” when he was showed a holograph from Porgy and Bess, …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
In the Muse is excited to announce our September film series, Directed by Ken Russell. The late director, who died in 2011, had a vividly colorful, operatic vision of cinema, and was attracted to music that was similarly bold and romantic. With co-sponsors DCist and Brightest Young Things, we present four evenings of Russell’s most …
Posted in: Film Music
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post from retired cataloger Sharon McKinley. With summer and picnic season in full swing, The Library of Congress celebrates this treasured national institution in song, photos, and motion pictures. There are entire books, plays and poems centered around picnics, and the Music Division offers a wealth of musical delights. A …
Posted in: Sheet Music of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Anne McLean, Senior Concert Producer, contributed to this post. In addition to host and American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers President Paul Williams, last night’s annual ASCAP concert featured, as always, an intriguing variety of composers: Jon Batiste, Alan Bergman, Josh Kear, Randy Newman, Carly Simon, Narada Michael Walden with Shelea Frazier, Jimmy Webb, and …
Posted in: Composers, Podcasts, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Staff from the Performing Arts Reading Room frequently wave to their neighbors across the partition in the Recorded Sound Reference Center. In the Muse is now happy to welcome their neighbors in Washington and at the National Audio Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia to the blogosphere as they launch Now See Hear! We plan …
Posted in: Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Gregory Porter’s 2013 Blue Note album Liquid Spirit just won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. This week we welcome this rising star to the Library of Congress. Porter’s influences range from the Southern Gospel sound of Bakersfield in his native California to his mother’s Nat King Cole records. The Grammy winner records for the …
Posted in: Jazz
Posted by: Pat Padua
A member of the audience at Tuesday’s Copyright Matters event in the Coolidge Auditorium asked songwriter Jimmy Webb about Donna Summer’s version of his song, “MacArthur Park.” Webb explained that it was his first number one record as well as Summer’s first number one record. “I’m not a fan of disco, but I was crazy …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
It is a long cultural journey from President Teddy Roosevelt to pop singer Anne Murray to art house film director Peter Greenaway. But this is just one of the paths you can take using the new web presentation The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America as a starting point. At the turn of …
Posted in: Composers, Digital Collections, Sheet Music, Sound recordings, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
This Friday, the Music Division’s popular jazz film series returns to the Mary Pickford Theater. Senior Reference Specialist Larry Appelbaum curated the series and provided program notes. Friday evenings at 7:00 pm – Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets or reservations needed. Limited seating begins at 6:30pm. Programs subject to change without …
Posted in: Film Music, Jazz, Musicians