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Category: Musical Instruments

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PagaNewni: Composers Rise to the Paganini Challenge–A Paganini Project Update

Posted by: David Plylar

Friday, February 1, 2013. The following is a guest post provided by Peter Sheppard Skærved, who recently appeared at the Library in events dedicated to its Paganini holdings and collection of Cremonese instruments. I am powerfully aware of the constant dialogue between past and present. Working as a violinist equally involved with the discovery of …

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A Miró On Which To Dwell

Posted by: David Plylar

Perhaps the greatest problem with musical warhorses is that in winning the battle for performance time they have triumphed over other works that could have been heard “in-steed.” There are certain works, however, that I do not begrudge their trot to the top; among these is Schubert’s String Quartet in G major, D. 887, the …

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Pic of the Week: Whistle While You Bike Edition

Posted by: Pat Padua

The third annual Washington Tweed Ride (the autumnal iteration of the Seersucker Social, which we mentioned in the late spring) is upon us again, in which local hipsterati don their finest and pedal vintage bicycles around our increasingly bike-friendly town. In honor of the dapper velocipedists primed to pedal among the hills of our great …

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Pic of the Week: Birth of the Sax Edition

Posted by: Pat Padua

On this date in 1846, Belgian-born Antoine-Joseph “Adolphe”  Sax patented the family of instruments that bear his name.  The saxophone was originally developed in two categories,  an orchestral group and a band or military group, of seven instruments each.  Only a handful of these varieties are in common use today, although composer/musician Anthony Braxton, who …

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Arf Musica

Posted by: Pat Padua

Today the blogosphere celebrates National Puppy Day. In the Muse throws their august paw into the ring with this unusual whistle made by an unknown crafstman.   According to the item’s description, “the dog’s neck contains a threaded hole indicating this was a handle for something, possibly a small walking cane.”  We do not know if …

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

And the Strads Play On…

Posted by: Cait Miller

The Strads. They make string players salivate, and everyone knows the name to be synonymous with excellence. But how much do you really know about these pristine creatures of sound? Let’s start with the name – “Stradivarius”. Many are at least familiar with the fact that these string instruments were created by the famous violin …