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Posted by: Pat Padua
The following post is by Larry Appelbaum, Senior Reference Specialist, Music Division. For the final night of the Library’s Jazz Film Series, we celebrate composer David Amram, who at age 80 continues to break ground in jazz, classical and world music. As a jazz French horn player, Amram worked with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy …
Posted in: Composers, Film Music, Jazz, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
Legendary blues singer Bessie Smith was born on this day in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Portions of this blog post were taken from the online exhibit, American Treasures of the Library of Congress. Bessie Smith gained immediate success in 1923 with her first recording “Down Hearted Blues”/”Gulf Coast Blues.” Her renditions of Negro life in …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Musicians, Pic of the Week, Sheet Music of the Week, Special Collections, Women in Music
Posted by: Pat Padua
In the Muse chatted recently with Senior Acquisitions Specialist Loras Schissel. What are you working on right now? I’m putting the final touches on the personal correspondence for the American composer David Diamond, which is neat because it’s not only David corresponding with other musicians and other New York type people, but he was real …
Posted in: Composers, Special Collections, Staff Interviews
Posted by: Pat Padua
This week’s featured image is a charming collage assembled to honor today’s birthday celebrant. Russian Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was born on this day in 1873. This hand-made birthday invitation was donated by Oxana Siloti, a relative of the maestro. The Music Division is home to the Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, forty-two feet of shelf space which includes …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
In the Muse rings in the new season with our foray into territories forged by our colleagues at In Custodia Legis and Inside Adams, who have both established Pic of the Week features. We inaugurate the Music Division’s unique iteration of this feature with an image from a collection which has been the subject of …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
We are always excited to welcome composers to the Music Division as it not only affords us the opportunity to connect with new faces and perspectives in the music world, but also allows us the opportunity to appreciate how their activities are an extension of the legacies preserved here in the Library’s collections. This Friday, …
Posted in: Composers, Women in Music
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post by Music Cataloger Laura Yust, who recently researched composer Johanna Beyer in a seminar about American Modernist composers. Laura is pursuing her M.A. in Musicology at The Catholic University of America. Many people know of the composer Henry Cowell and his innovative compositions, but the name Johanna Magdalena Beyer …
Posted in: Composers, Guest bloggers, Women in Music
Posted by: Cait Miller
It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air! As this blog has revealed to us over the last 14 months, the Music Division holds a plethora of materials in its collections including manuscript scores, correspondence, business papers, iconography, and yes – even love letters. There’s not a romance in the history of classical composers …
Posted in: Composers, Holidays, Special Collections, Women in Music
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post by Senior Music Specialist Ray White. Victor Herbert’s 152nd birthday is this month. If you recognize his name, you might recall that he composed operettas. Perhaps Babes in Toyland comes to mind. Its best-known number, “Toyland, Toyland, little girl and boy land…,” recorded by Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, the …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Guest bloggers, Special Collections