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Archive: 2016 (15 Posts)

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“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”: An Illustrated History

Posted by: Cait Miller

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is one of the most popular Christmas carols we hear during the holidays, and one with an especially interesting history involving four creative minds over the span of two centuries. While the history is well documented, source materials in the Library of Congress’s collections provide engaging illustrations detailing the evolution …

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Lost Track for the Next Hamilton Mixtape

Posted by: Cait Miller

As a fan of the musical Hamilton, I’ve been listening to The Hamilton Mixtape non-stop since its release last Friday. The new album offers covers of numbers from the original cast recording, new tracks inspired by the musical, numbers cut from the show and even a couple of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s demo tracks. However, it occurs …

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Music and the Law, Part 1

Posted by: Cait Miller

In the Muse is happy to cross post the following piece by Betty Lupinacci, Processing Section Head in the Law Library. Her blog post was originally published on the Law Library’s blog, In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress.   As much as I love Christmas carols, I’m usually tired of them by mid-December as …

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Food for Thought: Recipes in the Collections

Posted by: Cait Miller

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up this week, most peoples’ thoughts turn to food and family recipes. It seems like the perfect time to share recipes that rest in the Music Division’s collection. One of the more memorable comes from a 19th-century virtuoso: Paganini’s ravioli! The Music Division is home to a collection of Paganini …

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King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (1927-2016)

Posted by: Cait Miller

The following post is co-written with Musical Instruments Curator Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford. Early yesterday morning the world learned of the death of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, crowned in 1946 and known as the world’s longest-reigning monarch. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and educated in Switzerland and the United States, King Bhumibol was interested in musical performance …

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Furry Friends of Music: “Walking the Dog” with Gershwin

Posted by: Cait Miller

The following is a guest post from Gershwin Archivist Janet McKinney.   Dog: composer’s best friend? Sometimes it seems like a novel idea that these revered historical figures would be charmed, comforted, and loved by animals just as the rest of us are. These seemingly larger than life personalities become more relatable when there is …

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Discovering the Music within our Dance collections: Composer Lucia Dlugoszewski and the Erick Hawkins Dance Company

Posted by: Cait Miller

The following is a guest post from Kaitlin (Kate) Doyle, one of the Music Division’s summer Fellows. Dance Curator Libby Smigel introduces her.    Meet Kate Doyle, a doctoral candidate specializing in experimental composition and sound for performance art at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Kate spent her summer as a CWRU Fellow …

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Furry Friends of Music: Leonard Bernstein and Honey

Posted by: Cait Miller

It’s National Dog Day, which means it’s time for another post in our Furry Friends of Music blog series! Leonard Bernstein is remembered and celebrated as a renowned conductor, a major composer, and a masterful educator, but there’s another side to the great musician: Bernstein the dog lover. Although there are far more stories that …

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From Flutes to Flags

Posted by: Cait Miller

The following is a guest blog post from Luke Conklin, doctoral candidate at Case Western Reserve University. As a summer intern in the Music Division, Luke is creating catalog records and inventory lists of rare scores from the Dayton C. Miller Collection. While exploring the collections, staff will inevitably stumble across unexpected, quirky, or unique …