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Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
Every year when December arrives, I find the urge to re-watch the classic animated film, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Its themes centered in kindness and giving have always resonated with me most each holiday season. Originally written by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel and published in 1957, the 1966 special features a narration by Boris …
Posted in: Composers, Film Music, Holidays
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Gershwin Archivist Janet McKinney. It seems there is something utterly compelling about the core story of A Star is Born, as it is now being told in theaters for the fourth time. Originally a 1937 drama starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, it told the story of a …
Posted in: Composers, Film Music, Guest bloggers, Special Collections
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
Over the past several months, I’ve been sifting through the thousands of pieces that are part of the silent film music accompaniment anthologies in the Music Division’s collection. These volumes, with titles such as the Capitol Photoplay Series, The Synchronizer Suite, or Sam Fox Photoplay Edition: A Looseleaf Collection of High Class Dramatic and Descriptive …
Posted in: Film Music, Sheet Music
Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
For me, the phrase Merchant-Ivory conjures scenes from sumptuous period films like A Room with a View (1985), Maurice (1987), Howard’s End (1992), or The Remains of the Day (1993). I’ve always found the music for these films to be particularly haunting yet beautiful, as if disclosing the tensions that can exist beneath the veneer …
Posted in: Composers, Film Music, Special Collections
Posted by: David Plylar
Concerts from the Library of Congress is pleased to announce the 2018-2019 season, filled with an astonishing roster of artists and speakers. Building on the world-class chamber music you love to hear in the Coolidge Auditorium—which this year includes the Emerson Quartet with David Finckel, the Brentano Quartet with Hsin-Yun Huang and the Tetzlaff-Tetzlaff-Vogt Trio, …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Curators, Dance, Film Music, Interviews, Jazz, Musicians