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Posted by: Cait Miller
It’s Flag Day! On this day in 1777, the design of the US flag was officially approved by Congress. We have been taking a little time every June 14th to celebrate the flag since 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson established this day as a national day of recognition – you can read more about Flag Day …
Posted in: Digital Collections, Sheet Music of the Week
Posted by: Pat Padua
Our colleagues at In Custodia Legis recently shared a list of the ten most viewed pages at the Law Library of Congress. We in the Music Division give you the eleven most viewed individual items (not including presentation pages) from the Performing Arts Encyclopedia for the month of February. Thanks to Elizabeth Fulford Miller, Library …
Posted in: Digital Collections, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
Safeguarding a collection as rare and valuable as that housed in the Music Division is an incredible responsibility, and one that carries with it difficult challenges. In my opinion, the single biggest issue facing archivists and librarians today is how to best preserve our cherished materials while simultaneously providing access to the many performers and …
Posted in: Digital Collections, Special Collections
Posted by: Larry Appelbaum
The Music Division has uploaded its latest batch of William P. Gottlieb jazz photos onto our Flickr site. Several are particularly eye-catching, notably the two images of bassist Chubby Jackson: one with dramatic lighting, the other showing Jackson’s irrepressible personality. There is an impressive triple exposure of bandleader Jerry Jerome, and an unusual shot of …
Posted in: Digital Collections, Jazz, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
Aaron Copland, eminent composer of 20th-century American music, was born 110 years ago yesterday, on November 14, 1900. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Aaron studied piano as a child and later studied with American composer and pianist Rubin Goldmark. In 1920, Copland traveled to Paris to study with renowned French composer, conductor and teacher Nadia …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Digital Collections, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Selections from the Martha Graham Collection is a new web presentation now available in the Performing Arts Encyclopedia. Dancer, choreographer, and company director Martha Graham (1894-1991) is considered one of the pioneering founders of American modern dance. In a career spanning over seven decades, Graham developed her own innovative technique and produced an impressive legacy …
Posted in: Dance, Digital Collections, Special Collections, Women in Dance
Posted by: Pat Padua
Walt Whitman wrote, “I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear.” The American experience – the courage and the struggle and the hope of the American people – has long been reflected in her rich tradition of poetry and song. The Music Division reaches beyond Capitol Hill to celebrate this great tradition with The …
Posted in: Concerts and Events, Digital Collections, Musicians
Posted by: Pat Padua
Many virtual servings of cake and ice cream are on hand this week in the Music Division, as we celebrate the birth dates of a veritable constellation of stars in the musical firmament. These October children grew to be the august personages who populate the Performing Arts Encyclopedia with dulcet tones – or, in some …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Digital Collections, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
It’s that time again – today another 100 photographs have been uploaded to the Gottlieb Jazz Photos Set on Flickr! The set is comprised of uncropped images from the William P. Gottlieb Collection, all of which depict the Jazz scene in New York City and Washington, DC between 1938 and 1948. We keep adding more …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Digital Collections, Jazz, Special Collections