Today is the blessing of the animals. St. Francis of Assisi died on October 3, 1226. He is still revered as a religious figure, having been canonized by Pope Gregory IX on July 16th, 1228 and recognized for his patronage of animals and the environment. There is now an established custom for pet owners to …
It’s the last week of September, and time to list some recent braille music acquisitions. You may call to request hard copies, or you may download them from the BARD site. Sorry, no recordings this week, but we hope there will be some very soon. Cello Brahms, Johannes. Sonata No. 1, Op. 38 (BRM07814) Choral …
Béla Bartók was a seminal 20th-century composer and musicologist. Born in Hungary on March 25, 1881, he lived through World War I and experienced the beginnings of World War II, before immigrating with his second wife to the United States in 1940. He died in New York on September 26, 1945. What makes Bartók‘s works …
This week, we will take a look at American composer George Gershwin. George Gershwin was one of the first American composers to use both popular and classical idioms. Years before his most famous compositions were penned, he worked on Tin Pan Alley as a song plugger—that is, someone who was hired to play and promote …
I’m not sure what attracts listeners to large choral works, but for myself, I go for the musical line first. Only later do I find out what the chorus or soloists are singing about. But I wonder: are composers drawn to texts and create melodies to match, or do they have a file of melodies …
British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born on August 15th in 1875. One of the more popular composers in England and the United States during the turn of the 20th century, he composed many works for choir, piano, and larger instrumental ensembles; however, his works are seldom performed today. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in London to …
![(ca. 1890) Peasants dancing, Bosnia, Austro-Hungary. , ca. 1890. [Between and Ca. 1900] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2002710708/.](https://blogs.loc.gov/nls-music-notes/files/2018/09/Peasants-dancing-detail.png)