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.
Lyricist and songwriter Harold Rome's first Broadway score, "Pins and Needles," became the longest running musical of the 1930s. With a cast of garment workers and a pro-union message, it was unlike any other musical seen at the time.
Acclaimed for expanding the horizons of traditional musical sounds through his refined use of technologies, American composer Roger Reynolds reveals that the act of writing music is "my way of understanding the world."
The following is a guest post by virtual artist-in-residence, violinist Jennifer Koh. I am honored to be a virtual artist-in-residence at the Library of Congress. For the program that was streamed on November 19, 2020, I included works that engage with the question of who we are during this time of COVID. Beethoven Sonata No. …
Henry Cowell, one of the ultramodernists of the 1920s and 1930s, experimented with new pianistic sounds in his compositions. A new finding aid published by the Music Division showcases these compositions and many other works by Cowell.
The following is a guest post by composer Igor Santos. confined. speak. is a 15-minute work for violin and piano commissioned by the McKim Fund in the Library of Congress. It was written for Ensemble Dal Niente members MingHuan Xu and Winston Choi and was recorded in Chicago on October 27, 2020, for a virtual …
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!
Composer Henry Mancini’s command of wide-ranging musical styles was matched only by his expansive list of creative partners. Discover more about Mancini’s musical friendships and his creative process in the Library's Henry Mancini Papers.
Victor/Victoria, known for its toe tapping tunes and Julie Andrews in drag, has found its way to the Music Division among the papers of the famed composer, Henry Mancini. Learn about the wonderful music composed for the film and musical.
