The Library of Congress is proud to offer free digital programming from its collections for the enjoyment of audiences that are not able to attend our live events in Washington, D.C. The Music Division works with colleagues throughout the Library to ensure that past events in the Concerts from the Library of Congress series, educational …
*** SPECIAL START TIME OF 7 p.m. FOR THIS YEAR’S FOUNDER’S DAY CONCERT!!!*** Each year on Founder’s Day (October 30th) we celebrate the legacy of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the visionary patron whose gifts of the Coolidge Auditorium and an endowment to support a concert series in that space have helped make Concerts from the Library …
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.