2012 is almost upon us! The Music Division certainly had an exciting year with many accomplishments from digital projects such as the launch of the Music Treasures Consortium last February, to two successfully curated exhibits (Coast to Coast: The Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939 and I Love Lucy: An American Legend), to the continued production of …
Seventy-three years ago today, Irving Berlin’s patriotic song “God Bless America” was premiered by singer Kate Smith on her CBS radio show in recognition of what was then called Armistice Day. November 11th is now known as Veterans Day, but the power and popularity of Berlin’s song endures. Would you believe that the song was …
The following is a guest post from Music Division Contract Archivist Janet McKinney. As millions of Americans get ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and commence the wearing of the green (because “everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day”), it is easy to forget there was once a time in this country when no Irish …
In recognition of President’s Day, I thought I would join NPR’s classical music blog, Deceptive Cadence, in highlighting the newly recorded choral cycle, Mr. President, commissioned in 2004 by Judith Clurman (renowned choral conductor and NPR’s Artist in Residence for the month of February). The cycle consists of 13 choral settings of quotations from various …
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 …