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Category: Instrumental Music

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Sousa’s Birthday

Posted by: Katie Rodda

Last week on November 4th, Americans performed their civic duty and voted in the 2014 mid-term elections. Last week on November 6th, one of America’s most famous composers, native Washingtonian John Philip Sousa, celebrated his 160th birthday. It is fitting, then, to celebrate a composer’s music that is inextricably tied to American patriotism, both at …

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NLS Presents Justin Kauflin

Posted by: Katie Rodda

Next week, on October 22, the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) will present a concert by jazz pianist and NLS patron Justin Kauflin in the Coolidge Auditorium at 7:15 p.m. The performance is a celebration of 50 years of the Music Section, which provides braille scores and …

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Some Splendid Saint-Saëns Selections

Posted by: Katie Rodda

Today we celebrate the 179th birthday of Camille Saint-Saëns, a famous French composer, most well-known for his works The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, and a number of other pieces. Saint-Saëns began his musical studies at the incredible age of three, while he was living with his mother and aunt in …

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“Away with Harmony as the Cement of my Architecture!”: Arnold Schoenberg at 140

Posted by: Katie Rodda

This Saturday, Arnold Schoenberg celebrates his 140th birthday. All those who have studied music have come across Schoenberg’s compositions in one way or another, and whether they love, despise, or are intrigued by his works, it’s undeniable that Schoenberg had an enormous impact on 20th and 21st century art music. I must admit, I have …

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“Take Five”…and Check Out Our Jazz Titles

Posted by: Katie Rodda

Although the majority of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) Music Section’s collection deals with classical music, we also have a wide array of materials dedicated to the great American art form–jazz. In this blog post, I will detail some of the special format materials in our collection that jazz …