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Posted by: Paul Sommerfeld
Multiple news articles have heralded the many works and publications that entered the public domain on January 1st of 2019. Pieces of music, novels, and films alike have become available within the United States without copyright permissions. With the changes in copyright status, I wondered exactly how much of the Music Division’s substantial collection of …
Posted in: Composers, Copyright Deposits, Film Music
Posted by: Cait Miller
The following is a guest post from music archivist Anita M. Weber. At a recent production of Paula Vogel’s Indecent, the sight of renowned Austrian-American actor Rudolph Schildkraut depicted on stage reminded me of the four remarkable scrapbooks in the Music Division that document the careers of Rudolph (1862-1930) and his son, fellow actor Joseph …
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Special Collections, Theater
Posted by: Cait Miller
Fans of composer Jonathan Larson and his revolutionary show, Rent (aka, Rentheads), are eagerly anticipating Fox’s live broadcast of the musical this Sunday night. The Library of Congress is home to the Jonathan Larson Papers, a rich collection of papers and recordings that reveal Larson’s creative process behind Rent as well as other projects and …
Posted in: Composers, Musical Theater, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Who was this caped costume designed for? The answer may surprise you! The Music Division has greatly expanded the amount of materials available online from the Federal Theatre Project Collection. A selection from this popular collection was first put online over 20 years ago, and this updated version contains more than 6,500 digital items, including costume designs, …
Posted in: Special Collections
Posted by: Larry Appelbaum
Today marks the 95th birthday of jazz drummer, bandleader and educator Max Roach (1924-2007). His papers are among the most heavily researched jazz archival collections in the Music Division revealing much about jazz and the intersection of modernism and the development of Black political consciousness in 20th-century music. And though the collection includes a draft …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections, Webcasts
Posted by: Pat Padua
On Thursdays this month the Music Division hosts Fraudway in the Mary Pickford Theater. Inspired by the outrageous production numbers in such ‘80s films as The Fan and Staying Alive (which screens Jan. 24), the series celebrates the often bizarre and always dazzling cinematic spectacles that imagine a Great White Way that can only exist on …
Posted in: Film Music