January 15, 2021 is the 216th birthday of Louise Angélique Bertin. She was a French composer, poet, librettist, and painter. She was the only composer to work directly with Victor Hugo, the first French composer to set Goethe’s Faust as an opera, and the first woman of the 19th century to have an opera performed at the Opéra de Paris. The Music Division has wonderful resources about Louise Angélique Bertin.
On October 30, the Music Division musically celebrates the birthday of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge as Founder’s Day. Musicians who befriended Mrs. Coolidge sent her birthday greetings as musical scores, including Darius Milhaud, Paul Hindemith, Leo Sowerby, Sir Eugene Goossens, and more!
The Music Division celebrates the 257th birthday of composer Franz Ignaz Danzi, and summarizes efforts to report rare holdings to RISM, the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales.
Mississippi-born composer William Grant Still (1895-1978) holds a significant place in the history of American music, and May 11, 2020 is his 125th birthday! I hope that this birthday blog post piques your interest about the many research possibilities in the Music Division about William Grant Still.
On Rossini's leap day birthday we highlight a Rossini manuscript for a recitative and sketch from his opera Moïse, held in the Music Division's Moldenhauer Archive.
Did you know that two of the most famous violinists in history - Jascha Heifetz and Fritz Kreisler - are birthday twins? On Feb. 2, 2020, it will be Heifetz's 119th birthday and Kreisler's 145th birthday. You can engage with both of their legacies right here in the Music Division.
Every generation has its saxophone heroes in jazz: Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane all continue to inspire players in every style on just about every instrument. One of the great saxophonists and multi-instrumentalists of this generation is the Chicago-born, Columbia, South Carolina-raised Chris Potter. For the past three decades he’s been drawing …
Watch the world premiere of Maria Schneider's Library-commissioned work "Data Lords," and view interviews as well as a panel discussion with the Grammy Award-winning composer, arranger and bandleader.