The concluding part of this two-part survey of music and disease looks at examples that arose from pandemics in the 19th and 20th centuries, including: works by Stephen Foster and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel written in the wake of a series of cholera outbreaks, and the sometimes curiously lighthearted musical response to the 1918 influenza pandemic.
The following post is by retired music cataloger Sharon McKinley. I’ve enjoyed perusing the Library’s World War I sheet music over the past few years as we’ve commemorated the centennial of The Great War. We are now coming to the end of the fighting. Although the Treaty of Paris wasn’t signed until June 28,1919, an …
The following is a guest post from Robin Rausch, Head of Reader Services in the Music Division. For three days in September, in 1918, the musical elite gathered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for what was billed as the first chamber music festival ever given in America. It took place September 16-18, two months before the November …
The following is a guest post from retired cataloger Sharon McKinley. May 8 is World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. Founded in 1881, the American Red Cross organization was still rather small when the United States entered World War I. But services multiplied, millions helped collect supplies and money, and many served overseas, particularly …
Zachary Maiorana interned in the European Division this summer updating lists of e-resources that are especially valuable for European studies. He alternated with interning at the Smithsonian, as well. Zach graduated in May from Ohio State University with a B.A. in an Honors program which included English and Linguistics and minors in History and German. …
The following is by retired cataloger Sharon McKinley. The sinking of the Lusitania was one of many rallying events of WWI. Interestingly, the ship was sunk two years before the United Sates entered the war: on May 7, 1915. She was a civilian ship of the Cunard line, but was carrying some war materiel along …
The follow is a guest post by retired music cataloger Sharon McKinley. WWI was a time of conflicting loyalties for Irish-Americans. Many still felt strong ties to the old country, and their feelings reflected the sentiments of friends and relatives back in Ireland. Still chafing under British rule, Irishmen from the South as well as …
The following is a guest post by retired cataloger Sharon McKinley. The Library of Congress has a wealth of sheet music from World War I. Although the United States entered the Great War rather late in the game, Americans wrote commemorative songs by the thousands. This music ranges from the famous to the obscure; large …
When the Library of Congress was founded in 1800, the institution could not yet boast an established Music Division; in fact, it would be nearly a century before the Library formally created a Music Division. That decision was not so much a philosophical reflection of music’s importance in our culture but rather a necessary course …
