Tomorrow, August 25, marks American composer, conductor, and educator Leonard Bernstein’s birthday (he would be 94 years old!). Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was without a doubt one of the most significant and influential musical figures in American history. The Music Division is incredibly fortunate to hold the Leonard Bernstein Collection. One of the most heavily used …
Today we remember Richard Rodgers and his incredible contribution to musical theater and popular song on what would be his 110th birthday! Rodgers (1902-1979) wrote more than 900 songs and composed for 43 musicals and left an immeasurable impact on the American songbook, influencing arts from the worlds of pop, classical, jazz, and beyond. Rodgers’ …
The following is a guest post from Music Cataloger Laura Yust. Scottish composer Thea Musgrave was born in Barnton, Midlothian, near Edinburgh, Scotland on 27 May 1928. Still a busy composer as she celebrates her 84th birthday, Musgrave has written operas, concertos, chamber music, solo vocal and choral music, solo instrumental music, and electro-acoustic music. …
Iconic tenor Enrico Caruso was born on February 25, 1873 in Naples, Italy. Over a career spanning 25 years, he performed at the world’s great opera houses, including nearly 900 appearances at New York’s Metropolitan Opera alone. In this age of the mp3 we take recorded music for granted, but Caruso was one of …
Known as the Texas Troubador, Ernest Tubb was born on February 9, 1914 in Ellis County, Texas. His best known song is probably “Walking the floor over you,” but owing to my heritage I am partial to “My Filipino baby.” In September 1947, Tubb led the first Grand Ole Opry in New York’s Carnegie Hall, …
The following is a guest post from Head of Acquisitions & Processing Denise Gallo. Today marks the 192nd birthday of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Born into an Ohio family steeped in law and politics, Sherman was at various points in his life a banker, lawyer, and president of a streetcar company. He is remembered above …
The following is a guest post from Head of Acquisitions & Processing Denise Gallo. It’s not often that the Music Division dedicates a blog to a literary giant, but today we wish a happy 200th birthday to Charles Dickens, one of the greatest British authors of the nineteenth century. When he penned his novels, myriad …
Earlier this week I was alerted to an exciting new addition to the wonderful World Digital Library – Mozart’s holograph manuscript for The Magic Flute! The manuscript, held at the Berlin State Library, is now fully accessible online and I can’t think of a better day to share it with our In the Muse readers …
The following is a guest post by Daniel Walshaw, Music Division. The Music Division is home to the Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection. Danny Kaye turned ninety-nine yesterday. While normally that would not warrant more than the usual nod to a performing genius, something about the rhythmical nature of the number “ninety-nine” makes me think of …
