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Posted by: Pat Padua
Ben Webster, one of the great tenor saxophonists, was born March 27, 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri. Along with bassist Jimmy Blanton, Webster helped form one of the most celebrated incarnations of the Duke Ellington orchestra. From 1940-1942, the Blanton-Webster band recorded such Ellington classics as “Cotton Tail,” “Chelsea Bridge,” and, of course, “Take the ‘A’ …
Posted in: Birthdays, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
His work has been interpreted by everyone from Barbara Streisand to Tim Burton. Lyricist-composer Stephen Sondheim, one of the great voices in American musical theater, was born on March 22, 1930. In 2000, The Library of Congress honored him with a Living Legend award, complete with an all-star 70th birthday concert in the Coolidge Auditorium. …
Posted by: Pat Padua
Baseball season is just around the corner; Johann Sebastian Bach (not to be confused with Canadian heavy-metal singer Sebastian Bach) has just celebrated a birthday; what better time than now to revisit From Bach to Baseball Cards: Preserving the Nation’s Heritage at the Library of Congress. This web presentation looks at some of the problems …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Conservation
Posted by: Pat Padua
Bandleader-accordionist Lawrence Welk was the musical voice of a faraway time in America, before punk rock, hip-hop, and Lady Gaga. The son of German immigrants from the Ukraine, Welk was born in Strasburg, North Dakota on March 11, 1903. The first big break in Welk’s long and storied career came in 1927, when Lawrence Welk …
Posted in: Birthdays, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following post is by James Wintle, Reference Specialist. The Music Division of the Library of Congress, in cooperation with the Samuel Barber estate and G. Schirmer, Inc., have created an online exhibition of original manuscripts, correspondence, and performances to commemorate the birth of one of America’s most beloved composers. The web presentation is available …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following post is by Robin Rausch, Senior Music Specialist. If you have ever been a serious student of the piano, you have likely had the pleasure of playing Frédéric Chopin’s music. He wrote almost exclusively for the instrument; his ballades, etudes, mazurkas, nocturnes, polonaises, preludes, scherzos, and waltzes count among the staples of the pianist’s …
Posted in: Birthdays
Posted by: Pat Padua
“He was our benefactor and inspiration. Even more, he was the Martin Luther King of Music.” Pianist Eubie Blake said this of composer/bandleader James Reese Europe, who was born in Mobile, Alabama on February 22, 1881. Europe’s accomplishments run from the grand “Concert of Negro Music” that he conducted for a 125-man orchestra at Carnegie Hall in …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Composers, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The holiday weekend may have been last week, but George Washington’s actual birthday is celebrated on February 22 [1]. The Music Division has in its storied coffers a number of ways to celebrate this historic date in song. You may know that George M. Cohan composed Over There and countless other melodies for the Broadway …
Posted in: Birthdays, Sheet Music
Posted by: Pat Padua
We all can’t be Marilyn Monroe cooing a personal birthday greeting to the Commander-in-Chief. But this President’s Day weekend gives all Americans a chance to remember our iconic leaders and take advantage of holiday sales — and gives the Mid-Atlantic States more time to dig out from the record-breaking snowfall that brought the region to …
Posted in: Birthdays, Digital Collections, Sheet Music, Special Collections