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Posted by: Pat Padua
The children’s prayer that begins, “Now I lay me down to sleep” dates back to an 18th century New England primer, but its musical life has followed a surprising path over the more than two centuries since. From heavy metal (Metallica) to hip-hop (The Notorious B.I.G.) to indie rock (Liz Phair), the iconic words have …
Posted in: Composers, Sheet Music, Sheet Music of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post by Senior Music Cataloger Sharon McKinley. The Library of Congress Chorale’s Spring concert is this Thursday, June 7. Cinema in Concert will be presented at noon in the JeffersonBuilding, Coolidge Auditorium. It is free to staff and the public, so if you’re in the neighborhood, stop on by! It’s …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Guest bloggers, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Seeing a new Wes Anderson movie is like getting a new mix tape. The soundtracks to his films blend original scores — often by Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh — with pop music that summons an air of fragile nostalgia: Nick Drake, Nico, middle-period Kinks, French yeh-yeh music. Classical music also plays a part in his …
Posted in: Composers, Film Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post by Daniel Walshaw, Music Division. Berlin – before the nightclubs and the heavy metal concerts, before the cabarets and the brettls, even before the Berlin Philharmonic – evening musical entertainment was centered on a vibrant and growing chamber music tradition, nurtured by King Frederick II of Prussia. C.P.E. Bach, Johann …
Posted in: Composers, Guest bloggers
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post by Stephen Winick, Writer and Editor, American Folklife Center. On Saturday, February 18, 2012, the Library’s Coolidge auditorium hosted a relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable concert by Grammy-Award-winning old-time folk music group The Carolina Chocolate Drops. The two-hour concert featured old-fashioned music on guitar, banjo, steel-resonator mandolin, and fiddle, with …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Guest bloggers, Pic of the Week
Posted by: Pat Padua
One of the most memorable images from Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Shining is a shot of a framed group photo from the heyday of the fictional Overlook Hotel. It has become an iconic image, and its resonance in the film can lend almost any vintage group photo an air of …
Posted in: Composers, Pic of the Week
Posted by: Pat Padua
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, …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Musicians, Pic of the Week