The noun 'Diva' has gained popularity in usage to describe some current pop female singers; but this title was used in the past for gifted opera sopranos as a sign of respect.
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 …
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 …
The NLS Music Section is part of a national network of cooperating libraries. With that in mind, we are in touch with the network when they have patrons who are interested in the materials provided by our section, and there is a nice spirit of cooperation between the network and our offices here in the …
One of the fun and interesting parts of working at the NLS Music Section is being able to upload files to BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download). Our patrons are always checking to see what is new in the “Recently Added” link, and we frequently remind them that not all the NLS Music Section collection is …
Recently on June 9th-10th, I had the pleasure to present some treasures at the recent “Pride in the Library: LGBTQ+ Voices in the Library of Congress Collections” exhibit. This was in the Jefferson Building and there was great interest in what was on display. The attendance record (2,365 visitors over three days) illustrates the level of …
On Saturday, May 6, 2017, I had the pleasure to present some braille music scores and talk about the NLS Music program to many people in a short amount of time. They were all very happy and streaming by the Main Reading Room desk in the Jefferson building at a very rapid pace. However, they …
I have blogged previously about Women in Music and although the official calendar date has passed for Women’s History Month, I would like to share my experience from a forum sponsored by the Library of Congress. Leaders in the Arts was a conversation held in the beautiful Members Room on March 22, 2017, with Librarian Carla Hayden …