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Posted by: Larry Appelbaum
Jazz specialist Larry Appelbaum retired from the Library of Congress on March 31, 2020. Larry reflects on his career at the Library of Congress and provides links to interviews, panels, and blog posts he created and facilitated at the Library of Congress.
Posted in: Curators, Exhibitions, Interviews, Jazz, Special Collections, Staff, Webcasts
Posted by: Cait Miller
Today marks the opening of a new exhibition at the Library of Congress dedicated to civil rights activist Rosa Parks. “Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words” draws from material in the Library’s Rosa Parks Collection to tell the life story of this remarkable woman, including her early life and activism, the Montgomery bus boycott, the …
Posted in: African American History, Exhibitions
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
Details the story behind how baseball's most well-known song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," came to be.
Posted in: Baseball, Composers, Curators, Exhibitions, Guest bloggers
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
Since publishing Leaves of Grass in June 1855, Walt Whitman and his poetry have captured the American imagination. Not until the early twentieth century, however, did composers begin to draw from and set to music Whitman’s work in earnest. Today, 200 years after Whitman’s birth, his settings have inspired over 500 composers to write over …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Exhibitions
Posted by: David Plylar
The Music Division of the Library of Congress will be presenting a series of events exploring video game music, from retro bits to VR hits. We will be looking at the history of game music, and learning about how it works from acclaimed musicians who are actively composing for some of the biggest franchises and …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Conservation, Copyright Deposits, Exhibitions, Film Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
The following is a guest blog post from Dance Curator Libby Smigel and Howard University intern Jacquelyn Chin: The Music Division was selected to host one of the Library’s three spring internships from Howard University. Dance archivist Libby Smigel is working with Jacquelyn Chin on the Division’s Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation collection. A senior psychology …
Posted in: African American History, Dance, Exhibitions, Guest bloggers, LGBTQ+, Special Collections, Staff Interviews
Posted by: Melissa Wertheimer
February is Black History Month! The Music Division has all the resources you need to explore and appreciate African-American contributions to the performing arts year-round, not only in February.
Posted in: African American History, Exhibitions, Musicians, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
On this Saturday, February 23rd at 11am, yours truly, Paul Sommerfeld, will offer a #Declassified talk in the Mary Pickford Theater focused on the film music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. A screening of Captain Blood (1935), one of Korngold’s earliest film scores, will follow at 12pm. In this interactive #Declassified event, I’ll be focusing on how Korngold’s …
Posted in: Composers, Exhibitions, Film Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Melissa Wertheimer
November 5th is National Love Your Red Hair Day! The Music Division salutes some of music’s great redheads in our own collections: Vivaldi, Berlioz, Lucille Ball, Beverly Sills, and Ariel the Little Mermaid.
Posted in: Composers, Exhibitions, Musical Theater, Musicians, Special Collections