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Posted by: Cait Miller
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.
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
On Leopold Mozart's 300th birthday, we explore the musical contributions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's father as well as his presence in the Music Division's collections.
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Guest bloggers, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
One year ago, I published a blog post declaring my excitement about a one-year countdown to Clara Schumann’s 200th birthday and highlighted Schumann’s manuscript cadenzas from the Library’s Whittall Foundation Collection, material that is digitized and available online. Now, finally, Clara’s big day has arrived! 200 years ago, in Leipzig, Germany, Marianne Tromlitz gave birth …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Concerts and Events, Musicians, Women in Music
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
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
In a 1972 concert in Berlin, Germany, composer Eubie Blake introduced one of his piano rags by announcing, “Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to play you the first number that I composed, in 1899….Well I’ll tell you, what gives me the license to say that – I was born in Baltimore in 1883, the …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Composers, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
On May 9, 1567, one of music history’s most revered composers was born – Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi. To look at the whole of Monteverdi’s exquisite compositional output is to understand the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque era in music. Some of the most exciting early printings in our collections include early editions …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
Tomorrow, April 25, marks the one and only Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday. Fitzgerald’s impact on American music is undeniable, and her legacy and influence continue to inspire new generations of artists today. To celebrate the First Lady of Song on her special day, the Library’s Jazz Specialist Larry Appelbaum will give a talk tomorrow …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections, Women in Music
Posted by: Cait Miller
The Music Division is home to some magnificent Mozart manuscripts, from his Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219, to a handwritten letter from 14 year-old Wolfgang to his sister Nannerl, to his revered Gran Partita. In addition to these (fully digitized!) Mozart manuscripts, our collections also feature reflections and commentary on the …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Special Collections