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Archive: 2019 (15 Posts)

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Johann Baptist Wanhal and the First Viennese School

Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld

The mention of late-eighteenth century Vienna frequently conjures thoughts of well-known composers like Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. But since I joined a project reporting pre-1800 imprints and manuscripts to RISM (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, an open-access database that lets you see which libraries have a certain published score or unique manuscript), I would like …

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

Celebrating Walt Whitman’s 200th Birthday

Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld

Since publishing Leaves of Grass in June 1855, Walt Whitman and his poetry have captured the American imagination. Not until the early twentieth century, however, did composers begin to draw from and set to music Whitman’s work in earnest. Today, 200 years after Whitman’s birth, his settings have inspired over 500 composers to write over …

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

Saturday Research Orientation: Film Music at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld

Join us this Saturday, March 16, from 10-11:30am! The Music Division, together with the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, will offer a research orientation on how to find film music resources at the Library of Congress. These resources are located in the Performing Arts Reading Room, Moving Image Research Center, and Recorded Sound Research Center, …

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

In Search of Korngold

Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld

On this Saturday, February 23rd at 11am, yours truly, Paul Sommerfeld, will offer a #Declassified talk in the Mary Pickford Theater focused on the film music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. A screening of Captain Blood (1935), one of Korngold’s earliest film scores, will follow at 12pm. In this interactive #Declassified event, I’ll be focusing on how Korngold’s …

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

Film Music from 1923 and the Public Domain

Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld

Multiple news articles have heralded the many works and publications that entered the public domain on January 1st of 2019. Pieces of music, novels, and films alike have become available within the United States without copyright permissions. With the changes in copyright status, I wondered exactly how much of the Music Division’s substantial collection of …