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Posted by: Pat Padua
The following was written in part by Senior Cataloging Specialist Sharon McKinley. Oh boy, it’s Hallowe’en! My Lady Gaga costume wowed ‘em when I came in to work this morning, and my candy corn lights are glowing brightly. The frost is on the pumpkin and the sweet tooth is ready to go. What more do …
Posted in: Composers, Holidays, Musicians, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post by Reader Service Technician Melanie Guitreaux. While most people were marching off to the Civil War or finding material ways to support the war effort, one fair, anonymous Union lady wrote a war song, titled “The American Banner March.” The cover of this piece …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Sheet Music, Sheet Music of the Week, Women in Music
Posted by: Pat Padua
The Music Division congratulates Florence Barber, who is leaving the Library after a long and storied career. Cait Miller posed Five Questions to Florence. Florence, how many years have you worked for the Library of Congress? How long have you been in the Music Division specifically? Well, I have been employed by the Library of …
Posted in: Interviews, Staff, Staff Interviews
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post from Senior Reference Specialist Kevin LaVine. Please note that tickets are still available for events in our Franz Liszt Bicentennial Project, with concerts in the Coolidge Auditorium from October 19-November 5. Please visit our Concert page for information on specific events. For some events, tickets may be reserved …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Concerts and Events, Guest bloggers
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Senior Music Specialist Ray White. Sixty years ago, on October 15, 1951, America met Lucy and Ricky Ricardo for the first time. She was a housewife with dreams of a career in show business, and her bandleader husband was as determined to keep her out of show business …
Posted in: Exhibitions, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following is a guest post from Music Division Contract Archivist Janet McKinney. Can you imagine us years from today, Sharing a park bench quietly? How terribly strange to be seventy… Old friends Seventy years ago today on October 13, 1941, Paul Simon was born. Three weeks later, Arthur Garfunkel was born on November 5th. …
Posted in: Birthdays, Composers, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Head of Acquisitions & Processing Denise Gallo. This past weekend marked the 198th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi. Born in Le Roncole, Italy, Verdi went from humble origins to become one of the most influential opera composers of his day. And that fame continues, as works like Rigoletto, Aida, …
Posted in: Birthdays, Guest bloggers, Sheet Music of the Week
Posted by: Cait Miller
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s new documentary, “Prohibition,” aired this week on PBS and I’m sure that many of you have seen it already (if you haven’t caught it on TV yet, you can watch it online here!). In the film, Burns and Novick explore the rise and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to …
Posted in: Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
This week’s featured sheet music celebrates one of the pioneers of cinema. The aptly named Louis Lumière was born on this day in 1864. In 1895 Louis and his brother Auguste patented the cinématographe, a device that worked as a film camera, developer and projector. This was in contrast to Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, first demonstrated in 1891, …
Posted in: Birthdays, Sheet Music, Sheet Music of the Week, Special Collections