The following is a guest post by the NLS Music Section’s Librarian-in-Residence, Brian McNeilly.
Holidays are often deeply intertwined with food, activities, and certainly music. Whether it is songs about ghosts around Halloween, or carols around Christmas, celebrating with music is an excellent way to mark a special day. Valentine’s Day in particular has multiple musical associations. From love ballads like (Everything I Do) I Do It for You (BRM34934), to pieces like Beethoven’s Ich liebe Dich (BRM25001), expressing feelings of love and affection in song is a deeply human desire.
Around many major holidays, members of the Music Section typically receive increased requests for many classic holiday songs. In an effort to allow patrons to more quickly and efficiently see what the Music Section has available, we are pleased to announce the creation of a new catalog Holiday Music Catalog on the Music Materials section of the NLS website. The catalog represents the current listing of holiday music available from NLS.
While most of the catalog contains individual pieces to be performed, there are also a wide variety of music appreciation materials. Works like Love Songs: The Hidden History (DBM04254) trace the true extent of love songs, from deep in the past to our present day.
The catalog itself is divided up by holiday, listing each event in alphabetical order by name of holiday. In addition, the customary date or placement of each holiday (or range of dates for events that span multiple days, or are moveable events) is listed after the holiday’s name. Within each holiday, there are subheadings for what format of music is present (i.e. ‘Audiobooks’, ‘Braille’, and ‘Large Print’). Each entry includes the name of the work, any available information on who authored it, the type of instrumentation if this is unclear from the title, and a Book Number to be used when searching for the work.
If an item is available on BARD, a link will be present on the Book Number to allow immediate downloading. If the item is not currently available on BARD, the item can be requested on cartridge or hard copy. To borrow music-related talking books on cartridge or hard copies of braille scores, please call the Music Section at 1-800-424-8567, ext. 2, or e-mail us at [email protected].
Valentine’s Day Music
Audio
All You Need Is Love, performed and taught by Bill Brown. For piano. (DBM03976)
Be My Love (DBM00807)
Be My Valentine (DBM01003)
Love Songs: The Hidden History (DBM04254)
Braille
And I Love You So, by Donald George McLean. For voice and piano. (BRM23057)
Because You Loved Me, by Diane Warren. For piano vocal and chords. (BRT37159)
Can You Feel the Love Tonight, by Elton John. For voice and piano. (BRM34927)
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You, by Bryan Adams. For voice and piano. (BRM34934)
Ich Liebe Dich, By Ludwig van Beethoven. For voice and piano. (BRM25001)
Liebesfreud¸ by Fritz Kreisler. For violin and piano. (BRM23330)
Never Ending Song of Love, by Delaney Bramlett. For voice and piano. (BRM30604)
Silly Love Songs , by Paul McCartney. For voice and piano. (BRM24027)
Six Love Songs, by Johannes Brahms. For SATB and piano. (BRM04879)
Will You Be My Valentine? by Jewell, Lucina. For piano. (BRM09670)
Large Print
Ich liebe Dich, by Ludwig van Beethoven. For high voice. (LPM00013)
Liebesfreud, by Fritz Kreisler. For xylophone solo. (LPM00364)
Liebestraum, by Franz Liszt. For piano. (LPM00595)
Love and Blues Songs. For voice. (LPM00377)