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Posted by: Cait Miller
This blog post highlights the work of American composer Ulysses Kay (1917-1995), particularly his “Forever Free: A Lincoln Chronicle” for wind band, commissioned by Broadcast Music Inc. for the Civil War Centennial Commission in 1962.
Posted in: African American History, Composers, Holidays
Posted by: Cait Miller
While Walter Kent and Kim Gannon are the only names credited on the original copyright deposit for the Christmas classic, "I'll be home for Christmas," the label on Crosby's recording credits the song to three names: Kent, Gannon, and Buck Ram. Read about the history of the song and its copyright backstory, illustrated in records from the US Copyright Office. Download the original printed sheet music, registered as an unpublished copyright deposit on September 28, 1943.
Posted in: Copyright Deposits, Holidays, Sheet Music
Posted by: Cait Miller
While traveling in Israel in 1948, Leonard Bernstein wrote a letter to his mother with beautiful illustrations by artist Jossi Stern. In anticipation of Mother's Day weekend, "In the Muse" highlights that digitized letter from the Leonard Bernstein Collection and encourages readers to send illustrated letters of their own.
Posted in: Holidays, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
On Patriots' Day, we celebrate musician, publisher, and patriot Josiah Flagg (1737-1794), a friend of Paul Revere and major figure in Early American music.
Posted in: Composers, Holidays, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
2020 St. Patrick’s Day celebrations will look a bit different for many who are used to sharing a beer at their local Irish pub; nevertheless, we can still celebrate the spirit of Ireland and the Irish by sitting at the piano, listening to some favorite ballads and songs, and doing a little online research in …
Posted in: Holidays, Sound recordings, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The Jerome Kern Collection features correspondence, including love letters from Jerome Kern to his wife Eva Leale and a letter to her father requesting his blessing to propose.
Posted in: Composers, Holidays, Musical Theater, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Music Reference Specialist James Wintle. There is many an old familiar song running through the collective memory of the Western world that will occasionally cause one to sit back with a puzzled look and wonder: “Do I actually understand what I’m saying right now?” Foremost among these is …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Holidays, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
Thanksgiving is upon us, and across the country our readers are making plans and preparations for Turkey Day. What kind of Thanksgiving-related music can we find in the Music Division’s stacks? Out of curiosity, I visited our “subject files” in the office to see what sort of information our reference librarians collected back before the …
Posted in: Holidays, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Gershwin Archivist Janet McKinney. Janet presented a Curator Talk entitled “My Irish Song of Songs: Irish-American Identity in Popular Song and Musical Theater” on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 that was recorded for webcast and will be made available on the Library of Congress website in the coming months. …
Posted in: Curators, Guest bloggers, Holidays, Musical Theater, Sheet Music, Sound recordings, Special Collections