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Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Music Reference Specialist James Wintle. There is many an old familiar song running through the collective memory of the Western world that will occasionally cause one to sit back with a puzzled look and wonder: “Do I actually understand what I’m saying right now?” Foremost among these is …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Holidays, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Senior Theater Specialist Walter Zvonchenko. Miles White (1914-2000) was one of the most admired costume designers for the American stage in the 20th century. He came to New York in the 1930s hoping for a career in high fashion. While that was not to be, his subsequent work …
Posted in: Curators, Guest bloggers, Special Collections, Theater
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Gershwin Archivist Janet McKinney. It seems there is something utterly compelling about the core story of A Star is Born, as it is now being told in theaters for the fourth time. Originally a 1937 drama starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, it told the story of a …
Posted in: Composers, Film Music, Guest bloggers, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Senior Music Specialist Ray White. Composer George Gershwin was born 120 years ago, on September 26, 1898. For most of his adult life, he was a youthful celebrity, indeed a rock star of his time, and his mystique is only enhanced by his tragic death from a brain …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Guest bloggers, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Robin Rausch, Head of Reader Services in the Music Division. For three days in September, in 1918, the musical elite gathered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for what was billed as the first chamber music festival ever given in America. It took place September 16-18, two months before the November …
Posted in: Composers, Guest bloggers, Musicians, Special Collections, World War I
Posted by: Cait Miller
Any other Clara Schumann fanatics out there? I’ve been a personal devotee of Clara the composer ever since I first listened in college to Barbara Bonney and Vladimir Ashkenazy’s recording, Robert & Clara Schumann Lieder. I was a Music major and voice student exploring new repertoire for upcoming recitals; while I already loved Robert Schumann’s …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Special Collections, Women in Music
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Jennifer Ashley Tepper, Creative & Programming Director at Feinstein’s/54 Below and author of The Untold Stories of Broadway book series. She is the producer of the musical Be More Chill and the creator of The Jonathan Larson Project, which will premiere this fall. She is also the historian …
Posted in: Composers, Guest bloggers, Musical Theater, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Gershwin Archivist Janet McKinney. Dear Jerry, Much as I hate to bother you, you must forgive me if, on rare occasion, I do. I know you are busy rehearsing your next, and what I hope will be a successful show, but if you could take a few minutes …
Posted in: Composers, Curators, Guest bloggers, Musical Theater, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Music Reference Specialist Paul Allen Sommerfeld. The contents of Paganini’s famed ravioli recipe are well known, but few people seem to attempt making it. So to get a sense of what Paganini might have himself eaten after a long day of performing—perhaps providing a sense of home while …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Musicians, Special Collections