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Posted by: Pat Padua
A member of the audience at Tuesday’s Copyright Matters event in the Coolidge Auditorium asked songwriter Jimmy Webb about Donna Summer’s version of his song, “MacArthur Park.” Webb explained that it was his first number one record as well as Summer’s first number one record. “I’m not a fan of disco, but I was crazy …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Musicians
Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres
Michael Feinstein on Musicals & Songs at the Library of Congress Series 1 – Rodgers & Hammerstein Episode 1 – Introduction & Oklahoma! View Series 1 Episode 1 on Youtube Michael Feinstein explores the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein in this first of a series of videos. The first episode introduces Rodgers & Hammerstein as …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Film Music, Musicians, New Acquisitions, Podcasts, Sheet Music, Special Collections, Theater, Webcasts
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Senior Music Cataloger retiree Sharon McKinley. Are you already suffering from post-Olympics letdown? Just think about the athletes, who work non-stop towards that goal of standing on the podium, and afterwards may simply become has-beens. Of course, many athletes, past and present, have managed to capitalize on their …
Posted in: Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Music Archivist Janet McKinney. One year ago this month the rush to buy tickets during the members only presale to see the Broadway tour of The Book of Mormon musical here in Washington, DC crashed the Kennedy Center website. The incident reminded me of a topic in which …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following text excerpted from a Library of Congress press release. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), one of the world’s leading performing-rights organizations, through the past 100 years has been protecting the use of its members’ musical works, monitoring broadcast, online and live usage and ensuring that music creators are fairly …
Posted in: Composers, Exhibitions, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Music Archivist Chris Hartten. Eminent Polish keyboardist Wanda Landowska has been called many things over the past century: visionary, diva, virtuoso, Mamusia. Her story is extraordinary, a self-made legend who mined the rich past of early Western keyboard music to forge her future as an authentic performer and …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Musicians, Special Collections, Women in Music
Posted by: Pat Padua
It is a long cultural journey from President Teddy Roosevelt to pop singer Anne Murray to art house film director Peter Greenaway. But this is just one of the paths you can take using the new web presentation The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America as a starting point. At the turn of …
Posted in: Composers, Digital Collections, Sheet Music, Sound recordings, Special Collections
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from Head of Reader Services, Daniel Boomhower. In May, 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach began, following his appointment as the Cantor at St. Thomas School and Director of Music in Leipzig, a period of creative activity of staggering productivity. In fulfillment of his responsibility for providing sacred music for the …
Posted in: Curators, Guest bloggers, Special Collections
Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres
On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 at 8:00pm the Freiburger Barockorchester (Freiburg Baroque Orchestra) will perform the complete Brandenburg Concertos by J.S. Bach in the Coolidge Auditorium. For more information about attending the concert, visit the event page. Though advance tickets are no longer available, you may obtain RUSH tickets at the door beginning two hours …
Posted in: Composers, Concerts and Events, Musical Instruments, Musicians, Sheet Music