The following is a guest post by Ray White, Senior Music Specialist, Music Division.

Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve) marks the beginning of a “triduum” (a Latin term for a three-day period) in which the Western Christian church has traditionally contemplated persons who have died. All Hallows’ Day (or more commonly, All Saints’ Day), with origins dating back to the eighth century and usually observed on November 1, commemorates all Christian saints and martyrs. All Souls’ Day, November 2, is wider in scope, commemorating all Christians who have died. Some Christian practices now combine All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day into a single observance (usually called All Saints’ Day, and sometimes held on the first Sunday in November). The “Día de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead), a two-day observance on November 1 and 2, has its roots in this “triduum;” it was largely developed in Mexico but has come to be commemorated elsewhere as well.

In recognition of this season, the Music Division wishes to highlight an extraordinary recent acquisition—a manuscript volume now termed “Last Rites and Matins of the Dead.” This small volume measures just over eight inches tall and slightly less than six inches wide and was created for the use of itinerant Dominican priests (hence, its small size) as they visited the mortally ill and as they prayed over the deceased. It contains the liturgy, music, readings, and instructions for priests, on 53 handwritten pages (22 of them with the appropriate chants notated on four-line staves). It shows evidence of long and steady use.

One of the most remarkable features of this volume is its sheer age. Although it is undated, the style of the manuscript notation indicates that it was produced in Southern France probably between the years 1375 and 1425, thus making it between 600 and 650 years old. It provides an excellent addition to the Music Division’s already-rich holdings of medieval chant manuscript sources but which do not include any example comparable to this one. Furthermore, France is the least-represented country of origin among the Music Division’s collection of books and fragments of liturgical chants, so this volume expands the opportunities to study the geographical differences in notation, format, and illuminations.

The first section of the manuscript relates to the Visitation of the Sick, during which the priest would bless the house with holy water, confess the individual, administer communion, and anoint the individual with holy oil. This part of the manuscript follows with the “commendation anime” (the commendation of the soul for its transition to the afterlife) which includes a lengthy litany and several prayers and blessings.

The second and longer section of the manuscript provides the liturgy performed on the eve of a funeral, consisting of antiphons, versicles and responses, nine readings from the biblical Book of Job, responsories, and alternative prayers for men, women, and bishops. In addition, there are prayers for the Absolution of the Dead, to be recited over the coffin after the funeral mass and before the entombment. The manuscript concludes with the opening of “In Paradisum” (In Paradise), which would be sung during the procession to the burial site.

And to return to the season of Halloween (or Allhallowtide), this manuscript is a significant addition to the Music Division’s resources for projects relating to music composed on the topic of death. The Music Division already holds scores for numerous Requiem mass settings as well as for many individual works relating to death, such as Franz Liszt’s “Totentanz” (or Dance of the Dead, for piano and orchestra, 1849/1859), Sergei Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem “Isle of the Dead” (1909), Frederic Chopin’s “Funeral March” (the third movement of his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat major, composed in 1837) and hundreds of shorter works from every period of music history. This one volume broadens the scope of the Music Division’s holdings on this topic back to the Middle Ages and represents some of the earliest examples of this area of music.

This manuscript has been cataloged with the call number BX2035.6 .F85 1375 Music Case, and it may be examined in the Performing Arts Reading Room of the Library of Congress.

Each year on October 30, the Library’s Music Division presents its Founder’s Day concert. This homage to Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953), namesake of our concert hall and founder of our world-renowned concert series, is a longstanding tradition that ensures our appreciation for Mrs. Coolidge’s impact remains strong. We also find joy in sharing Mrs. Coolidge’s story and impact with audiences who are new to the series. This year’s Founder’s Day concert (October 30, 2024, 8 p.m.) features flutist Emi Ferguson and ruckus in an eclectic concert that juxtaposes the music of Georg Philipp Telemann and György Ligeti. Click here to learn more.

Mrs. Coolidge: The Legend

Mrs. Coolidge was born and raised in Chicago to two parents who doted on her and were major supporters of the arts. She trained as a pianist, studied composition, and became one of the first women to appear as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony. After attending boarding school and traveling throughout Europe, she returned to the U.S. and married Frederic Shurtleff Coolidge (1865-1915). Tragedy struck in 1915 and 1916, with Coolidge’s father, mother, and husband all passing away within 18 months of each other. During this period, she began to carry on her father’s work as a philanthropist, providing an initial $100,000 endowment to create Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s musicians’ pension fund. She also built her first of four concert halls, Sprague Hall at Yale University, as a tribute to her late father. She also built the South Mountain Concert Hall (Pittsfield, Massachusetts; 1918), the Coolidge Auditorium (Library of Congress, Washington, DC; 1925), and the concert hall at Mills College (Oakland, California; 1928).

Mrs. Coolidge was a devoted listener and performer of chamber music, both standard repertoire and contemporary. She believed firmly in the importance of exposing American audiences to chamber music and invested extensive financial resources in presenting chamber music concerts at festivals, libraries, and cultural institutions. She also believed in advancing chamber music repertoire by commissioning living composers and ensuring their works would be performed and heard, even if they were not always to her own liking.

In the early 1920s, Mrs. Coolidge developed a friendship with Carl Engel (1883-1944), who was the Chief of the Music Division at the time. The two spent many months corresponding about Mrs. Coolidge’s desire to find a home for the manuscripts of works she commissioned and to explore the possibility of her sponsoring concerts in Washington, D.C. These discussions were in part motivated by Mrs. Coolidge’s desire to ensure that her efforts in promoting chamber music would sustain far past her own time on earth. Having a stable institutional partner was viewed as the key ingredient.

After many months of advocating to Librarian of Congress Dr. Herbert Putnam, Coolidge and Engel received the approval to present a series of “pilot” concerts in February 7-9, 1924, at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery, which had recently built a charming auditorium suitable for chamber music. These performances drew members of Congress, diplomats, and dignitaries from as far away as Boston and New York. They were a huge success and gave Coolidge and Engel the proof of concept needed to go to the next stage of their plan: to establish a concert series at the Library of Congress.

While several obstacles stood in their way, Mrs. Coolidge and Engel persisted in their efforts. When they were told there could not be concerts at the Library because there was no concert hall, Mrs. Coolidge said she would fund the construction of an auditorium. When she was told there was no legal mechanism for the Library to accept private funds to build the concert hall, save a new act of Congress, she was more than happy to go straight to Congress to get support for her plan. The first legislation to accept Mrs. Coolidge’s funds for the building the hall was introduced in November 1924 and it was on President Coolidge’s desk (no relation) in January of 1925 for signature. Separate legislation was required to accept and create the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress, which would fund the concerts and commissioning program in perpetuity. Mrs. Coolidge’s endowment was the first trust fund established within the Library of Congress using private funds.

The Coolidge Auditorium was miraculously built in ten months, a feat that nobody can envision being repeated in modern times. Coolidge moved the federal government in a way few have managed, but her staying power is revealed in the purpose of her efforts, as she expressed to Putnam in 1926:

“If the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation might foster the interests of musicians, both creative and interpretative, by freeing them from the power of advertising middlemen such as manufacturers, managers, publishers and critics, I should consider it a service, rendered by a small corner of our Government, to Art, to America, and therefore to the idealism of the world.”

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge desired to invite others into the world of music that saved her during her darkest hours. She believed in the good that government could do in nurturing the arts, and her vision was larger than just building concert halls and presenting free concerts. She wanted the arts to be central to American civic identity.

Since 1925, the Music Division has presented thousands of concerts, radio broadcasts, lectures, films, and educational programs. While Mrs. Coolidge’s efforts inspired many to follow in her footsteps with financial support—including the Friends of Music, Gertrude Clarke Whittall, and more—she is, without question, the reason why the series exists. Millions of Americans and people around the world have been touched by the concert series, whether through tuning in to a concert on the radio from California or traveling to the Library to hear unique performance by leading artists, presented in the presence of the manuscripts and archival material that tell the story of the creative process.

 

All of us in the Music Division owe Mrs. Coolidge our gratitude for her vision, fortitude and savvy as a philanthropist. The traditions she started at the Library have resulted in almost 700 new works in the musical canon (the manuscripts of which become part of the Library’s collections), enriching cultural experiences that many experience over decades and proof that a “government of the people, for the people, and by the people” (The Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln, 1863) can and should have a role in preserving and advancing the arts.

We invite you to experience Concerts from the Library of Congress this season, as we continue our celebration of its centennial.

Founder’s Day Concerts from the Archive

For Further Study

• Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Uncut: Conversation with Coolidge Exhibit Curators & Filmmaker Marjorie Short (October 31, 2015)
• Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation Collection – Finding Aid
• “The Coolidge Legacy” by Cyrilla Barr (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1997) – e-book
• “Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge: American Patron of Music” by Cyrilla Barr (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998)
• Cyrilla Barr Research Materials on Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge – Finding Aid

Previously on In the Muse

• Musical Birthday Wishes to Mrs. Coolidge (October 29, 2020)
• A Musical League of Nations: The 1918 Berkshire Festival of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (September 19, 2018)
• Coolidge Uncut (October 28, 2015)
• New Exhibit! Chamber Music: The Life and Legacy of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (August 27, 2015)
• Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge @ 150 (October 29, 2014)

 

On Friday, October 18, the Music Division had the honor of presenting 10-time Grammy winner, NEA Jazz Master, “El Sonero Mayor,” American pianist, composer, arranger, band leader and social activist, Mr. Eddie Palmieri. In 1975, Palmieri won the first-ever Grammy in the category of Best Latin Music Recording with his album “The Sun of Latin Music.” In 2009, the Library of Congress inducted his album “Azucar Pa’ Ti” in the National Recording Registry to preserve it for future generations due to its cultural significance. With a career that spans for over seven decades, Eddie Palmieri is a true living cultural legend.

In an evening full of talent and charisma, Palmieri put the entire audience a gozar (“[to enjoy]”) proving that age is just a number. At 87 years young, he has so much joy to share. The evening began with a screening of the short documentary produced by Red Bull, “Eddie Palmieri: Revolution on Harlem River Drive.” The film centers on Eddie’s 1971 crossover album Harlem River Drive, which he described as “the the past, present and future.” Inspired by the shared struggles of the Latin and African American communities in New York, “Harlem River Drive” was a sonic call for union, justice and peace, blending Latin rhythms, funk and soul. Palmieri explained that the album didn’t achieve the commercial success he had hoped for. Despite the album’s commercial results, it was a musical success, with many referring to it as a work ahead of his time that will ultimately gain the recognition it deserves.

 

As the documentary concluded, the screen rose to reveal Palmieri  seated at the piano. He was met with a standing ovation and the rumba began.  He opened the evening with his characteristic sense of humor saying, “The rest of the band didn’t show up yet because I have them at minimum wage and they are having a meeting.” Accompanied by virtuoso musicians Luques Curtis on bass, Louis Fouche on alto saxophone and Camilo Molina on drums, Palmieri performed many of his legendary masterpieces arranged for piano quartet, including “Life,” a sentimental ballad dedicated to his late wife Iraida, “Adoración” from his album “Sentido,” and Tito Puente’s “Picadillo,” a piece included in his collaboration album with Cal Tjader “El Sonido Nuevo.” “Tito Puente to me was the greatest bandstand warriors of all times. He loved to perform, and he performed extremely well. He played the timbales uniquely and he also played vibraphone,” Palmieri shared. 

 

                                                                                                         

The program offered generous space for virtuosic improvisation, giving the audience the opportunity to witness fantastic music-making in real time. It was inspiring to observe the communication among musicians, their reactions to each another, and their ability to adapt to Palmieri’s unpredictable repertoire choices, called out spontaneously from the piano. During “Picadillo,” Palmieri stood up and shouted “clave, clave!”, and the enthusiastic audience joined in by clapping the clave rhythm to accompany bassist Luques Curtis in his solo. At the end of the piece Palmieri said, “You are such a great audience, that wherever we travel we are going to take you with us. So, when you get home, pack your suitcases!” 

 

Throughout his performance, the audience witness Palmieri’s signature piano technique, which showcases an intense finger and hand disassociation that allows him to play montuno with his left hand and other intricate rhythms and improvisations with his right. As he mentioned during the conversation we recorded, this technique was developed early in his career and notably present in his 1965 album “Azúca Pa’ Ti,” which solidified his reputation as a sonero (a leader/lead singer and improviser in some Latin music styles).   

 

For his final piece, Eddie took the mic and introduce his famous piece “Azúcar” and shared the story behind it. For years, his legendary orchestra La Perfecta, closed its shows at The Palladium Ballroom in New York with this piece. “Azúcar” became a challenge between the dancers and the orchestra, with the dancers almost always losing because it was nine minutes and thirty seconds-long. “The dancers would say to each other, if you are going to dance ‘Azúcar’ make sure you leave after the piano solo; otherwise, you won’t make it,” Palmieri shared, making everyone laugh. The audience followed him as he screamed, groaned, laughed and reveled in the music through a nearly two- hour concert without intermission.

 

At the end of the evening, Susan Vita, Chief of the Music Division, took the stage to recognize Palmieri. She presented him with a certificate for his 2009 National Recording Registry induction for his album “Azuca Pa’ Ti” and a facsimile of the first page of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Palmieri is one of a select few living artists whose work is being preserved by the Library  and who has also performed at the historic Coolidge Auditorium stage.  

                                       

 

Thank you, Palmieri, for your many contributions, your talent and your humanity. Your gifts will remain with us forever.

 

                                                                                            

This year we celebrate the 150^th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth. The Library of Congress is the home to nearly all of Schoenberg’s music for string quartet, and over the course of two concerts given by the superb Quatuor Diotima, we will explore most of what we have, including:

• String Quartet in D major (1897)
• String Quartet no. 1 in D minor, op. 7
• String Quartet no. 3, op. 30
• String Quartet no. 4, op. 37

Two of these—the final two quartets—were commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. While we are unable to program the second quartet this time (which includes a vocal part in two of the movements), we are making up for it by including two more classic works by other composers in Schoenberg’s orbit:

• Alban Berg’s “Lyric Suite”
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s String Quartet no. 3 in D major, op. 34

This is essential repertoire of incredible depth and vitality—rarely can one access live performances of such a collection of works. Preceding the first concert will be a lecture by Harvey Sachs, author of “Schoenberg: Why He Matters,” and then we will hear from the performers before the matinee concert the next day.

As a bonus, this is a unique opportunity to hear this incredible music on the Library’s Stradivari instruments.

Learn more about Arnold Schoenberg at the Library of Congress.

Please check for ticket availability because returned tickets will be available as we receive them. If the concert is sold out, no worries! You can still come the day of the concert. Starting 2 hours in advance of the start time we will have numbered RUSH space available passes. While we cannot guarantee seats for walk-up guests, there is a high likelihood that they will be seated due to the percentage of no-shows and last-minute returns. Any seats not occupied 5 minutes before the start time of the concert will be released to RUSH pass holders. For more information about each concert, please see below. We hope to see you there!

***

Friday, October 25, 8 p.m., Coolidge Auditorium: Quatuor Diotima, Program I
6:30pm: Lecture by Harvey Sachs, author of “Schoenberg: Why He Matters,” Whittall Pavilion

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth, we will survey many of his works for string quartet held in manuscript at the Library of Congress. The eloquent and indefatigable Quatuor Diotima offers two striking programs over the course of two days that are not to be missed, putting on display the passion, wit and craft of this oft-misunderstood artist. The first program includes the unnumbered D-major quartet that Schoenberg composed in 1897, a harbinger of other Romantic works to come. It is paired with Schoenberg’s final quartet, commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge in 1936. Both manuscripts are held at the Library, along with sketch material for Alban Berg’s enigmatic “Lyric Suite” from 1925-26.

Program:
Arnold Schoenberg
String Quartet in D major, 1897
String Quartet no. 4, op. 37

Alban Berg
“Lyric Suite”
Find more information here

***

Saturday, October 26, 2 p.m., Coolidge Auditorium: Quatuor Diotima, Program II
12:30pm: Conversation with the Artists, Whittall Pavilion

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth, we will survey many of his works for string quartet held in manuscript at the Library of Congress. The eloquent and indefatigable Quatuor Diotima offers two striking programs over the course of two days that are not to be missed, putting on display the passion, wit, and craft of this oft-misunderstood artist. The quartet’s second program includes the exciting third quartet by Erich Korngold, whose collection is held at the Library. We will also hear two more Schoenberg quartets: the third quartet from 1927, which was also commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, and the first string quartet, composed over twenty years earlier—a monumental endeavor cast in a single movement.

Program:
Erich Korngold
String Quartet no. 3 in D major, op. 34

Arnold Schoenberg
String Quartet no. 3, op. 30
String Quartet no. 1, op. 7
Find more information here

The Music Division’s Annegret Fauser and Tim Carter Research Fellowship (“the Fellowship”) is made possible by a generous donation of Drs. Fauser and Carter in 2022. For decades, Drs. Fauser and Carter have been regular researchers in the Performing Arts Reading Room and good friends to the Music Division.

The purpose of the award is to ensure support for post-doctoral (or equivalent) researchers of any nationality engaging in projects centered on collections held within the Library’s Music Division. Recipients may engage with other research collections in the Library or elsewhere in Washington, DC, but the primary focus will be the Music Division collections. The award will be a stipend of up to $2,000 and is to be used to cover travel (e.g., airfare, train, mileage, etc.) to and from Washington, D.C., overnight accommodations, as well as other research expenses. The Fellowship will be awarded to applicants proposing well-conceived projects that will primarily use the Music Division’s collections.

Eligibility

Post-doctoral (or equivalent) researchers with a need for the Fellowship support are encouraged to apply. All researchers must meet the requirements of the reading rooms that they plan to access during their research visit. Consult Performing Arts Reading Room requirements on the Reading Room website. Individuals who are not U.S. residents but who otherwise meet the above academic qualifications may also apply and be considered for a Fellowship, contingent upon the applicant’s visa eligibility.

In the interest of increasing awareness and extending documentation of Library of Congress collections, Fellows are required to make use of the Music Division’s extensive collections; be in residence for a minimum of at least five business days during the award period; and share information derived from their research at the Library through a publication, public lecture (or other event), or digital humanities project within twelve months of completing their research at the Library (or have acceptance for publication within twelve months). Each Fellowship recipient must also notify the selection committee once their publication is completed and provide a hyperlink to the work. There must be some form of acknowledgment within all related presentations, events, and publications that research was supported by the Fellowship.

What are the application requirements?

Please submit the following via email submission to vnovara@loc.gov (accepted only via email):

1. An up-to-date résumé or curriculum vita (brief) providing information as to education, degrees received, fellowships and honors, publications, positions held, and other pertinent information.
2. A one-page abstract (250 words maximum) that specifies how the proposed project is related to the research that features the Music Division’s collections or more broadly within the field of music; and identifies specifically which Library collections the applicant intends to utilize in research during the required period of residency at the Library of Congress.
3. A description of the proposed project (no longer than five pages) including (a) accomplishments to date, (b) a timetable for completion, (c) an itemized budget (including necessary travel and research expenses), (d) plans for use of the Library of Congress collections, and (e) other pertinent information, including plans for publication. (Font no smaller than 11 point, double-spaced).
4. Two letters of recommendation. Please give your recommenders copies of your proposal and ask them to comment on your strengths and weaknesses, the value of the proposed project, and your abilities to carry out the project as described.
5. Applications lacking any of these required components will automatically be eliminated from review.

When will the Fellowship begin? 

The Fellowship can start at the Music Division in the James Madison Building after May 12, 2025, but should complete by August 29, 2025. The Fellowship is required to be conducted in person. Completed applications are due by midnight February 17, 2025; notification will occur in March 2025.

Selection process

Each application will be reviewed by the selection committee composed of the Music Division’s Assistant Chief, the Head of Acquisitions and Processing, and the Head of Reader Services. The Library reserves the right to not award the Fellowship or to award more than one Fellowship.

Additional benefits for the applicant during their residency at the Library

The Fellow will receive a welcome tour of the Library by the Music Division’s Head of Acquisitions & Processing and Head of Reader Services. The tour will include how to find relevant reading rooms, the location of various amenities, and introductions to appropriate staff. This overview will allow the Fellow to focus on their research rather than losing valuable time trying find out how to navigate the Library.

The following is a guest post from Dr. Paul Sommerfeld, Senior Music Reference Specialist.

 

In celebration of Henry Mancini at 100 and the opening of the Henry Mancini Archive in the Music Division, we take particular pride in announcing a celebratory concert to be performed tonight, on September 28^th at 8pm, in the historic Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress.  This program will feature Monica Mancini and husband Gregg Field, and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra of the Frost School of Music at the University Of Miami, conducted by Scott Flavin.

With over 900 archival boxes spanning 393 linear feet (for context, a football field spans 360 feet), the papers of Henry Mancini rank among the Music Division’s largest collections. Mancini’s original manuscripts, sketches, and printed scores account for nearly 85% of the collection. His manuscript materials for all the film and television works featured on tonight’s program—including “The Pink Panther,” “The Thornbirds,” “Charade,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Two for the Road,” “Peter Gunn,” and the iconic “Baby Elephant Walk” from “Hatari!”—demonstrate the composer’s proliferation in American culture. Beyond the well-known films and television programs themselves, Mancini’s signature arrangements of their famous tunes for live performances, album projects, and other productions also exist within the collection. These arrangements provide us vital glimpses into the composer’s deftness at orchestration and arrangement to suite the needs of a moment, his ability to spin new life into familiar tunes, and our ability to explore and understand his career through its many developments.

Equally compelling within the collection are the production files, business papers, cue sheets, correspondence, photographs, and other materials that document how not only films and television series are made but also how music can and does maintain a pivotal role in shaping production. Mancini’s scoring innovations for “Peter Gunn” (1958–1961), which featured more original music than any previous television series, infused television music with the sounds of popular genres like jazz and rock and roll. In addition to the manuscript scores and sketches, the collection includes over forty scripts from the series as well as cue sheets that tracked what pieces of music appeared in each episode. These materials allow us to explore the business of television production and how music operates at the center of art and commerce within it.

Those individuals wishing to learn more about Mancini’s thoughts on music, orchestration, and his own life will find similar richness in the collection Included are the composer’s own drafts of his many writings, including his book on orchestration, Sounds and Scores, and annotated drafts of his autobiography. Thus, anyone wishing to study, understand, and enjoy Mancini’s music can do so from several vantage points: his musical scores and arrangements, production files, and his own writings. Together, these perspectives help us explore and understand Mancini and his signature, quintessential sound.

The following is a guest post by Vincent J. Novara, Head, Acquisitions & Processing Section, Music Division, Library of Congress.

The Music Division at The Library of Congress is thrilled to announce six new finding aids to performing arts special collections:

Irwin Bazelon Papers

Irwin “Bud” Bazelon (1922-1995) was an American composer of both concert and film music, as well as a conductor and author. His compositional output includes symphonies, chamber music, music for documentaries and television commercials, and other works. His “Knowing the Score: Notes on Film Music,” first published in 1975, was one of the early scholarly texts on film music. The collection consists of Bazelon’s music, writings (especially pertaining to “Knowing the Score”), correspondence, business papers, programs and promotional materials, and clippings.

Harry Chapin Collection

Harry Chapin (1942-1981) was an American singer-songwriter and philanthropist. Primarily active in the 1970s, he was known for songs written in a narrative style, such as the hits “Cat’s in the Cradle” and “Taxi.” Chapin was also one of the founders, along with Bill Ayres, of the World Hunger Year organization, now known as WhyHunger. This collection consists of interviews, writings, photographs, song and poetry books, scrapbooks and clippings pertaining to Chapin’s personal life, career, and philanthropy, collected by Peter Coan, author of “Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story” (1987).

Ann Murphy Collection on the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall

Ann Murphy was a member of the Rockettes dance company at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. She first began her career with a Rockettes-sponsored touring company in 1959 and performed with the company for 20 years. Her late spouse, Tom St. John (birth name: John Thomas St. John Jr., 1913-1989), also employed by RCMH, operated the Radio City Music Hall control board. The collection chiefly contains photographs and performance programs, as well as a small number of schedules, stage management documents and event invitations. Murphy’s descriptive key to photograph subjects is also included.

Alfred Newman Film Music Manuscripts

Alfred Newman (1901-1970) was a prominent composer, arranger, and conductor of film music active from the 1930s until his death in 1970. He worked on more than 230 films and won nine Academy Awards. The collection includes scores, sketches, and parts from a number of films he composed for, including “Wuthering Heights” (1939), “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939), “The Robe” (1953) and “The Song of Bernadette” (1943). Some materials are in Newman’s hand, while others are in the hands of arrangers and copyists.

Park Avenue Synagogue Commissioning Project Correspondence

The Park Avenue Synagogue is a congregation in New York City. The commissioning project documented here was conceived to encourage composers to write music to be set to ancient prayers for the synagogue’s prayer services. According to the preface of “Synagogue Music by Contemporary Composers” (1951), the commissioned works were meant to contribute to and enhance the synagogue’s music while also being worthy additions to the “mainstream of contemporary music.” Notable composers who produced commissioned works as part of the project are Leonard Bernstein, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Paul Dessau, Lukas Foss, Morton Gould, Darius Milhaud, Leo Sowerby, Alexandre Tansman and Kurt Weill. The collection consists of approximately 200 letters, telegrams, contracts, and other documents relating to this commissioning program for Jewish liturgical music.

Hans Spialek Papers

Hans Spialek (1894-1983) was an orchestrator, composer, and conductor active from the 1920s to the 1940s. He primarily orchestrated musical theater works, including those by Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers. The collection includes his compositions and arrangements as well as music owned by him and his wife Dora Boshoer, personal and professional correspondence, photographs, programs and clippings.

For research questions or assistance in scheduling a visit, please contact the Performing Arts Reading Room staff through Ask a Librarian.

On June 27, 2024, actor and comedian Jim Belushi visited the Library of Congress, where he received a special tour of the collections of the Music Division, Recorded Sound Division and American Folklife Center. Belushi took part in  “Live! At the Library: The House of Blues Moves into the Library of Congress,” an event celebrating the arrival of the House of Blues Radio Collection. The House of Blues was hosted by Dan Akroyd and ran for over two decades, raising the profile of the blues as a vital musical genre. 

During his tour, Belushi looked at original sheet music copyright deposits, ranging from “Black Smith Moan” by legendary bluesman “Blind” Lemon Jefferson to music featured in the original 1980 “Blues Brothers” film, including Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose” and Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher.” What touched him most was an original copy of “Back Water Blues” by Bessie Smith, written for the African American community affected by the Nashville Cumberland River Flood of 1926. Carefully holding the 1927 manuscript, Belushi grew visibly emotional as he read the lyrics aloud, 

When it rains five days and the skies turn dark as night,
When it rains five days and the skies turn dark as night,
Then trouble’s takin’ place in the lowlands at night.

 

Later that night, Belushi made a surprise appearance at “Live! At the Library!” under his Blues Brothers persona, Zee Blues. Dressed in his iconic black suit and sunglasses, Belushi sang, played harmonica, and danced with blues performers Gaye Adegbalola and Adem Dalipi. At the end of a performance of Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home, Chicago,” Belushi welcomed the House of Blues Radio Collection to its new “sweet home” at the Library of Congress.  

The following is a guest post by Andrew Northrop of the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London (UCL).

In March 2024, the Library of Congress’s Buchla 100 synthesizer was restored through a project between the Library’s Music Division, technician Andrew Northrop from Slade School of Fine Art/UCL, the MEMS Project (Chip Flynn & Mark Milanovich) and the Nova Labs makerspace in Fairfax, Virginia. This blog by Andrew Northrop provides an overview of the repair.

Around 2008, the Library of Congress acquired one of the earliest Buchla 100 synthesizers through musician and teacher Michael Czajkowski, a friend of composer Morton Subotnick. The system was purchased by Subotnick in 1966 for his Bleecker Street studio in New York City, where he composed “Silver Apples of the Moon” (1967) and the “The Wild Bull” (1968). The first Buchla 100 system had emerged a few years earlier, during Subotnick’s time at the famous San Francisco Tape Music Centre, where he and Ramón Sender commissioned inventor Don Buchla to realize something that bridged the gap between tape music practice and the future capabilities of computers.

When Subotnick moved back to the West Coast to help setup CalArts in 1969, Czajkowski inherited most of the Bleecker Street system and set up the Composers Workshop at New York University (NYU). There he provided access to notable musicians including Laurie Spiegel and Éliane Radigue. The Buchla 100 then moved to Aspen Music School, where Czajkowski and Spiegel periodically taught on it. When “Silver Apples of the Moon” was being inducted into the National Recording Registry, Subotnick suggested the system be gifted to the Library of Congress.

In March 2024, the system was bought back into operation by Chip Flynn and Mark Milanovich of the MEMS Project – a group devoted to studying Don Buchla’s instrument designs, examples of which are often scarce and in private collections. The restoration took place across four days, with the invaluable help of the Nova Labs makerspace in Fairfax, Virginia, who provided space to work because of security restrictions around electrical work on Capitol Hill.

The repair was realized as part of a broader ‘knowledge exchange and innovation’ project funded by University College London, where I work as the Film and Media Technician for the Slade School of Fine Art. I had filmed the system on a 16mm film camera in July 2022, and received a lot of encouragement from the Library’s curator of musical instruments, Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford, to think beyond that initial visit. I wanted to build a project around the Buchla 100 that would make the most out of its restoration and the opportunity to see behind its panels.

With Chip and Mark’s knowledge playing a vital role, we sought to research and document the system as much as we could whilst also repairing it, and we’ll be sharing our findings through various blog posts and initiatives in the coming months. The Bolex camera, of a similar age to the Buchla 100, was by my side throughout the trip, and I’ll be editing that 16mm footage into a short film.

Once we transported the Buchla 100 out of the Music Division’s Flute Vault and set up shop at Nova Labs, we began testing each module one-by-on, setting aside those requiring further attention. The team only replaced components when it was necessary for bringing a module back to historically correct operation. We did replace the power supplies with a more modern, sustainable alternative however, because the originals didn’t feel safe to keep in use.

A big part of this project was capturing front and back photographs of each module on a 50 megapixel stills camera, whilst we had the opportunity. The metal traces and solder joins on the circuit boards of each Buchla 100 module are works of art in their own right, transporting you back to the material processes of the 1960s, and giving insight into Don Buchla’s design philosophies.

Many of the circuit boards feature a spine-like pattern down the center, due to most of the modules having two of the same function. This results in Rorschach test-like layouts that may well have been inspired by the incoming psychedelia of the period. You might see a mantis on the back of the Dual Square Wave Generator Model 144, or perhaps a muscular figure if you view it upside down.

The front panels of the modules evoke their past use. In certain places you can see wear marks and bits of pencil that Subotnick and others left behind when using the system, and it was important for us to keep them there. Subotnick built the system up over time, and there seems to have been some substitutions made after its time in Bleecker Street, so you can see slight differences in the coats of paint and silk-screening on each module, indicating different points of manufacture.

There’s a move to displaying ‘Buchla & Associates’ as the manufacturer on a few modules, as well as a later module with the CBS Musical Instruments nomenclature and blue screen-printing. Those versed in the urban legends around Buchla equipment will notice one of the notorious red panel modules, though a chemical test run by the Music Division saw no evidence of LSD on the system as a whole.

Czajkowski had reconfigured the system for teaching purposes, and when we began the layout matched patchsheets he had made at Aspen Music School, corresponding with the label-maker labels on each module. When repopulating the cabinets, we wanted to strike a balance between both Subotnick and Czajkowski’s use of the system, whilst also making the system feel intuitive to new users. We used images from the ‘Famous Musicians at Work: Morton Subotnick’ filmstrip, produced by Jane Beethoven in 1968 for understanding how Subotnick had laid out the system at Bleecker Street.

The new layout gives sequencers a prominent position in the bottom row, mirroring Subotnick’s original configurations. We then work upwards with function generating modules and oscillators, towards mixers and filtering modules. Frequently paired modules are kept close to each other, so that there’s some encouragement for those approaching a Buchla 100 for the first time.

Around 2010, a few of the system’s modules had been put into a smaller case so that Subotnick could convey the key principles of the system at events. This is outlined in an article by Steve Antosca – who was instrumental in the Buchla’s acquisition – here. We put those modules that back into the cabinets and used that newly freed up case to house two Buchla 200 series modules from the collection of Vladimir Ussachevsky of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Those modules act as a bit of contextualization for where Don Buchla’s designs went next.

At various stages during the repair, we were combining modules and testing them, the soundscapes of which invited and intrigued Nova Labs’ members and volunteers. It was rewarding to see the interest the system caused, and to have Chip and Mark there telling stories about how certain aspects of the system were designed or inspired. We received the same enthusiasm once the system was back in the Flute Vault, where we showcased it to a group of Library of Congress staff.

The equipment is now available for researchers to play (by appointment, and subject to approval by the Music Division). We’re excited for people to discover the system. I’m thankful for Carol Lynn’s trust and encouragement and hope that others will be inspired to think about how they may engage creatively with different objects in the Library of Congress’s collections, of which the Music Division has many!

We’ve a handful of people to thank: Steve Antosca, Stephanie Akau, Cait Miller, Morton Subotnick, Tom Beyer, Dave Brown, Ted Gordon, the volunteers at Nova Labs, Larry Confino, Jane Beethoven, Robert Gluck, Thomas Jenkins, Jayne Parker, Jon Nensén, Elektronmusikstudion (Mats Lindstöm, Mats Erlandsson), and the Ernst Krenek Institut (Alethea Neubauer, Clemens Zoidl and Martina Pröll). Thank you to Robert Rabinowitz, Cynthia Webster and Genelec for equipment donations. We’d like to dedicate this project to the late Michael Czajkowski.

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Upcoming Special Event

Morton Subotnick and the Buchla 100
Thursday, December 5, 2024, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
LJ-119, Thomas Jefferson Building
Free, tickets required (available Wednesday, October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET)

Featured Speakers: Morton Subotnick, composer; Steve Antosca, composer
Members of the Modular Electronic Music Systems (MEMS) team: Chip Flynn, MEMS Research Associate; Mark Milanovich, MEMS Research Associate; Andrew Northrop, Film and Media Technician, Slade School of Fine Art/UCL

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Enjoy these event videos from the Library’s collections. Morton Subotnick most recently appeared at the Library in concert on November 9, 2012.

Leonard Bernstein’s impact on 20th-century music history and popular culture is incalculable, a fact regularly evidenced by the endless stream of researchers who come to study the Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress year after year. Since its arrival and processing, the Bernstein Collection has offered endless gifts to librarians, researchers, and visitors, allowing all of us to find new connections to a musician and teacher who left indelible marks on many lives.

Bernstein would be celebrating his 106th birthday on August 25th. As a birthday tribute, we’re excited to report that our Leonard Bernstein: Writings By, From, and To “By the People” crowdsourced transcription campaign has been completely transcribed and reviewed! That means that our amazing volunteer force transcribed nearly 16,000 pages of letters, telegrams, sketches, scripts, school assignments, and more; in addition, all pages were reviewed by another volunteer for quality control. In the coming months, Library staff will provide another layer of quality control and ultimately make these transcriptions available in the Leonard Bernstein Digital Collection. Researchers will be able to download these transcriptions and the digital collection will become keyword searchable, allowing people to find content about specific people or topics that otherwise wouldn’t be discoverable without painstakingly reading through thousands of pages. Though I called the campaign milestone a birthday tribute above, it’s truly a gift to future researchers made possible “By the People.” We’ll be sure to update our readers when the transcriptions are loaded into loc.gov.

We’d like to close out by thanking the many, many volunteers who dedicated your time, effort, and perhaps sometimes squinted eyes to this process (some of that handwriting can be tough to decipher!). Some of you have been transcribing since By the People first launched, and others came to this project via special interest in Leonard Bernstein. It’s our sincere hope that transcribing this material revealed new layers of Bernstein’s work, talent, and personality to you; in fact, we’d love to hear about favorite items you transcribed or discoveries you made in our comments below. In return, I leave you with a letter from a 6-year-old Burton Bernstein to his older brother Leonard on his 20th birthday (featured at the top of this blog post); below, take a look at the transcription captured in our campaign!

And check out more fascinating “By the People” transcription campaigns, including our Sheet Music of the Musical Theater campaign featuring more than 16,000 pieces of sheet music published between 1890 and 1922 — over half of the digital collection needs review and nearly 20% hasn’t been touched yet. Help us make our sheet music keyword searchable!

 

The Library of Congress National Book Festival is always a booklover’s dream. This year’s festival, which takes place on Saturday, August 24, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, also offers several opportunities for music lovers to engage with the Library of Congress. “Books Build Us Up” is the theme for the 2024 festival. The festival showcases how reading can help connect us and inform our lives. Author talks, book signings, family activities, and opportunities to engage with Library staff provide ample opportunities for visitors to be in community with fellow booklovers.

“Music Is Medicine”

Opera superstar and author Renée Fleming will be joined by renowned neuroscientist and author Daniel J. Levitin for a conversation on “Music Is Medicine.” The discussion will be moderated by Michael Andor Brodeur of The Washington Post. They will discuss themes from their recent books, “Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts and Health and Wellness,” edited by Renée Fleming, and “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine” by Daniel J. Levitin.

Saturday, August 24, 2024
“Music is Medicine: Renée Fleming and Daniel J. Levitin on the Arts and Wellness”
Book Talk: 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, West Salon GHI
Signing: 6:45-7:45 p.m. | Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall DE (Level 2, North Building)

Fleming will also appear on PBS on Wednesday, August 21 at 8 p.m. ET for an interview with Heather-Marie Montilla of PBS Books. Click here to learn more.

Visit the Music Division at the Library of Congress Pavilion

Music Division staff will be on hand at the Library of Congress Pavilion from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to share information about the Library’s performing arts collections and concert series. This is a great opportunity to meet some of our friendly staff, learn how to access our collections online and in the Performing Arts Reading Room, and hear about our fall 2024 concert season.

 

Attendees who would like to learn a bit about the history of Concerts from the Library of Congress are invited to attend “What Do Stevie Wonder and Arnold Schoenberg Have in Common?” at the Library of Congress Pavilion at 11:00 a.m. The concert series is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary and we will be celebrating with a range of commissions, concerts, talks, and films. The session will feature trivia, fascinating images from the collections, and tips for registering for fall 2024 concerts.

Saturday, August 24, 2024
“What Do Steve Wonder and Arnold Schoenberg Have in Common?”
Library Expert Presentation: 11:00-11:30 a.m. | Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall DE (Level 2, North Building)

After much anticipation, we are excited to unveil our Fall 2024 Centennial Season, featuring a remarkable lineup of groundbreaking commissions, vibrant musical celebrations, and heartfelt tributes to iconic artists. The 2024-2025 season is the centerpiece of our commemoration of the 100th birthday of Concerts from the Library of Congress. Join us as we honor a century of musical excellence at the Library with a diverse array of concerts, conversations, lectures, and film screenings—all free to the public. This season highlights the Library’s firm commitment to preserving and advancing music, culture and creativity. We eagerly await celebrating this special occasion with you!
Starting August 7 at 10:00 a.m. ET, you can explore the fall 2024 season lineup at loc.gov/concerts. Tickets for September and October concerts will be available on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET, and tickets for November and December concerts will be available on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET.  Thanks to the Library’s new Etix ticketing system, concertgoers will receive seat assignments upon registration. Space-available admission will continue through the RUSH pass program. 

We look forward to celebrating this musical milestone with you. To receive event updates and weekly emails, sign up for our newsletter here. For the full press release, click here. 

Fall 2024 Event Schedule: 

Thursday, September 26, 7 p.m.: Live! At the Library: Screening of “Man’s Favorite Sport?”
The author of a bestselling book on fishing who has never fished is corralled into entering a major fishing tournament. Directed by Howard Hawks, this screwball comedy stars Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss, among others. Henry Mancini composed a score that relies on a sophisticated swinging theme introduced over the opening credits, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer answering the question in the film’s title (“… the favorite sport of man is girls”). Part of “Henry Mancini at 100.” No tickets required 

Friday, September 27, 7 p.m.: Screening of “Touch of Evil”
“Touch of Evil” is a 1958 film noir gem, the grim story of a murder in a Mexican border town, featuring Orson Welles—also the film’s director and one of its writers—with Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. Part of “Henry Mancini at 100.” Reserve tickets here on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

Saturday, September 28, 2 p.m.: AMS Lecture: “Heard on the Small Screen: Music in Jack Arnold’s and Henry Mancini’s Episodes of “Peter Gunn”
In a lecture co-presented with the American Musicological Society, Reba Wissner explores how Henry Mancini’s music for “Peter Gunn” helped to shape the television series.  Part of “Henry Mancini at 100.” Reserve tickets here on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Saturday, September 28, 4 p.m.: Screening of “Charade”  
Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn star in this elegant, Hitchcock-esque romantic thriller featuring a sophisticated Henry Mancini score that vividly evokes the streets and cafés of Paris. Part of “Henry Mancini at 100.” Reserve tickets here on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

Saturday, September 28, 8 p.m.: “Henry Mancini at 100”
Scott Flavin conducts a spectacular evening of memorable scores by the composer, performed with projections of excerpts from classic films like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Victor/Victoria” and “The Pink Panther.”  Join for a preconcert conversation on the Mancini legacy and the Library’s Henry Mancini Papers at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Part of “Henry Mancini at 100.” Reserve tickets here on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

Friday, October 18, 8 p.m.:  Eddie Palmieri
Experience legendary Latin jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri, a multi-Grammy winner renowned for his innovative blend of jazz and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The evening opens with a short documentary film, “Eddie Palmieri: A Revolution on Harlem River Drive,” that demonstrates how he masterfully fused Latin music with soul, funk, and jazz to create a sound that was both politically charged and undeniably danceable. Presented through the generous support of the Revada Foundation of the Logan family. There will be no pre-concert talk for this event. Reserve tickets here on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

Friday, October 25, 8 p.m.: Schoenberg at 150: Quatuor Diotima  
To honor the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth, Quatuor Diotima will perform works by Schoenberg and Alban Berg on the Library’s Stradivari instruments. Join for a preconcert lecture by Harvey Sachs, author of “Schoenberg: Why He Matters,” at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Reserve tickets here on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET.  

Saturday, October 26, 2 p.m.: Schoenberg at 150: Quatuor Diotima  
Celebrate Schoenberg’s 150th birthday with Quatuor Diotima, performing Schoenberg and Korngold in the second of two concerts, performed on the Library’s Stradivari instruments. Join for a pre-concert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Reserve tickets here on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET.     

 Wednesday, October 30, 8 p.m.: Emi Ferguson and Ruckus
Acclaimed flutist Emi Ferguson and the rollicking Baroque ensemble Ruckus partner in “By George!” to reimagine music by composers writing two hundred years apart. The artists perform their own creative arrangements of Georg Philipp Telemann’s Fantasias, TWV 40:2-13, and György Ligeti’s “Musica ricercata.” Join for a pre-concert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Reserve tickets here on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. ET.  

Friday, November 8, 8 p.m.: Hiromi’s Sonicwonder  
Join renowned Japanese jazz composer and pianist Hiromi Uehara and her ensemble for an electrifying night performing “Sonicwonderland” at the Library of Congress. Presented through the generous support of the Revada Foundation of the Logan Family. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET.      

Friday, November 15, 8 p.m.: amarcord
The five voices of amarcord take us on a journey half a millennium in the making.  Founded over thirty years ago by graduates of the famed Thomanerchor in Leipzig, and equally at home with music old and new, the group performs music by Gabrieli, Marenzio, Josquin, Schutz, di Lasso, Schubert, Bruch, Sametz and others. Join for a pre-concert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET.      

Saturday, November 16, 8 p.m.: Belcea Quartet and Quatuor Ébène
Two of Europe’s most distinguished string quartets come together to perform monumental works of the chamber music repertoire. Written when both composers were still in their teens, the Mendelssohn and Enescu octets are prodigious creations, symphonic in concept and impact, with gorgeous melodies and rich, multilayered textures. Join for a pre-concert lecture by David Plylar, Music Division, “Teen eighngst: the early string octet powerhouses by Felix Mendelssohn and George Enescu.” This concert inaugurates the Sally Hart and Bennett Tarlton McCallum Fund in the Library of Congress. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

Wednesday, November 20, 8 p.m.: Danish String Quartet
The exemplary Danish String Quartet performs works by Haydn, Mozart and Stravinsky to frame pieces written more than three centuries earlier by the blind Irish harper and composer Turlough O’Carolan.  Capping their concert is Franz Schubert’s transcendental last quartet. Join for a pre-concert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. This concert is made possible through the generous support of the Sally Hart and Bennett Tarlton McCallum Fund in the Library of Congress. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

Friday, November 22, 8 p.m.: “Max Roach at 100:” Tyshawn Sorey Trio + Sandbox Percussion
In this special double-bill concert celebrating the legacy of drummer and composer Max Roach, The Tyshawn Sorey Trio and Sandbox Percussion will each play sets inspired by legendary recordings of Roach and his collaborators. After a break the groups will join forces to perform a new work by 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tyshawn Sorey, co-commissioned by the Library. Pre-concert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET.  

Wednesday, December 4, 7 p.m.: AMS Lecture: “Recovering the Extraordinary Life and Songs of Carrie Jacobs-Bond”
In a lecture co-presented with the American Musicological Society, Christopher Reynolds explores the career of Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1861-1946), one of the most successful songwriters in the first half of the 20th century. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET.  

Thursday, December 5, 5 p.m.: Live! at the Library: Morton Subotnick and the Buchla 100
Composer and electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick offers some background and insights into his work with the famed Buchla 100, which he used to create the genre-defining album “Silver Apples of the Moon.” The recently restored Buchla 100 will be on display and demonstrated. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

Friday, December 6, 8 p.m.: Schoenberg at 150: Experiential Orchestra
The Experiential Orchestra and violinist Curtis Stewart bring out the eloquence of Julia Perry’s neglected violin concerto. Author and violinist Ling Ling Huang joins the stage as a speaker, presenting new text alongside Richard Dehmel’s original in Arnold Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht.” Other works include Irving Fine’s lush “Serious Song: A Lament for String Orchestra” and Alan Hovhaness’ “In Memory of an Artist.”  Join us for a pre-concert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m., Whittall Pavilion. Presented through the generous support of the Verna and Irving Fine Endowment in the Library of Congress. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET.  

Friday, December 13, 8 p.m.: Julius Rodriguez
Julius Rodriguez, also known as “OrangeJulius,” at 25, is a prodigious jazz talent blending R&B and classical influences with virtuosic piano and drum performances praised by The New York Times. Presented through the generous support of the Revada Foundation of the Logan family. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET.  

Monday, December 16, 8 p.m.: Barbara Hannigan, soprano and Bertrand Chamayou, piano  
Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou perform a spellbinding recital pairing Scriabin piano works with dramatic song cycles by Olivier Messiaen and John Zorn that Hannigan describes as “deeply spiritual, mysterious, tender and ecstatic.” There will be no pre-concert conversation for this concert. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

Wednesday, December 18, 8 pm: Stradivari Anniversary: Pacifica Quartet  
The mighty Pacifica Quartet will celebrate the Library’s Antonio Stradivari Anniversary with a pair of concerts designed to give more listeners a chance to hear our fabled instruments in person. The program includes iconic works by Crumb, Barber, Ives, and Dvořák. Join us for a pre-concert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m., Whittall Pavilion. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET. NOTE: Patrons may attend one of the two Stradivari Anniversary Concerts (same program each date).  

 Thursday, December 19, 8 p.m.: Stradivari Anniversary: Pacifica Quartet
In the second of two concerts, the Pacifica repeats the program from December 18. Join us for a pre-concert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m., Whittall Pavilion. Reserve tickets here on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. ET. NOTE: Patrons may attend one of the two Stradivari Anniversary Concerts (same program each date). 

Concerts from the Library of Congress is made possible through the generous support of music lovers. Make your gift today to ensure world-class performances inspire all who share the experience. 

The Library of Congress is pleased to commemorate the 150^th birthday of conductor, composer, and double bass player Serge Koussevitzky (1874-1951) this summer. Koussevitzky had a wide-ranging career in music, both in Europe and in the United States, but he is most revered for his consequential artistic leadership of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949. During that tenure, he founded what is now known as the Tanglewood Music Festival and Tanglewood Music Center, taught and mentored countless influential musicians—including Leonard Bernstein and Robert Shaw, and became an unprecedented champion for the commissioning and performance of contemporary music in the United States. Koussevitzky began a commissioning program through the Boston Symphony and later established the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in memory of his wife Natalie, who passed away in 1942. The Foundation, along with the manuscripts of works it commissions, was transferred to the Library of Congress Music Division in 1949 to continue the work of commissioning new works, which has reached over 450 commissions to date.

A multi-faceted birthday celebration is merited for such a towering figure in contemporary music history. The Library of Congress, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra are leading national institutions involved in commemorating Koussevitzky’s birthday.

Koussevitzky Archive Digital Collection

This summer, the Music Division published a new digital collection that provides access to a selection of correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and other original material from the Serge Koussevitzky Archive. Over 500 items showcase the depth and breadth of the 200,000+ items in the archive, which is available for research in the Library’s Performing Arts Reading Room. The archive provides countless opportunities for discovery by researchers and performers, whether related to Koussevitzky’s own music  or his savvy as an artistic impresario.

2024 Koussevitzky Commissions

The most fitting tribute to Koussevitzky and his commitment to supporting composers is by awarding new commissions. On August 1, 2024, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress announced eight new commission awards for its 2024 award cycle. The annual awards are selected by the Board of the Koussevitzky Music Foundation through a competitive, public application process. The next deadline for submissions is Jan. 15, 2025. Please visit koussevitzky.org for more information.

• Andy Akiho and Sandbox Percussion*
• Donnacha Dennehy and F-Plus Trio
• Ted Hearne and WildUp*
• Pierre Jalbert and the Morgenstern Trio (In Commemoration of Koussevitzky’s 150^th)
• Thomas Larcher and the New York Philharmonic
• Sky Macklay and Project Fusion Saxophone Quartet*
• Kurt Rohde and Brightwork New Music (In Memory of Andrew W. Imbrie)
• Hans Thomalla and ~Nois

*Awarded the American Academy of Arts and Letters composer grant, made possible by the Otto and Catherine Brunson Luening Awards Fund.

This latest class of award recipients marks over 450 works commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation since 1942, a staggering total that is unmatched by any other major commissioning program in the United States. Highlights from years past include Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony no. 3 “Khaddish,” Benjamin Britten’s landmark opera “Peter Grimes,” Henri Dutilleux’s “Ainsi la nuit,” Augusta Read Thomas’ “Earth Echoes: Homage to Gustav Mahler,” Tania Leon’s “Desde,” György Ligeti’s “Ramifications” and countless other works that have expanded the boundaries of orchestral and chamber music over the past 82 years.

Koussevitzky 150 at Tanglewood

The Music Division and Koussevitzky Music Foundation were pleased to collaborate with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on the Koussevitzky 150^th commemoration. Curators supported the creation of a BSO Archives exhibit, “Happy Birthday! The Legacy of Serge Koussevitzky at 150,” which is available online and can be viewed this summer on the grounds of Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. You also enjoy a newly released video about Koussevitzky’s legacy as an advocate for new music, made possible in part by support from the Library of Congress Music Division and Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress.

Exploring the Collections

Koussevitzky’s legacy can be traced in numerous special collections in the Music Division, beyond just the Serge Koussevitzky Archive. The papers of numerous Koussevitzky students and mentees are housed at the Library, including Leonard Bernstein and Irving Fine. He is also represented in countless special collections of figures from the classical music industry in the 20^th century, from the Music Division’s original philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge to colleague Aaron Copland’s Collection. Visit loc.gov to explore the collections and contact the Performing Arts Reading Room through Ask a Librarian for assistance.

Enjoy this recording of Koussevitzky’s former student, Leonard Bernstein, remembering his teacher on the occasion of Koussevitzky’s birthday in 1974. Recorded at Tanglewood on July 24 or 27, 1974. Leonard Bernstein Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

 

Members of the Koussevitzky Music Foundation Board discussed Koussevitzky’s legacy in conjunction with a concert at the Library in 2014.



 

 

 

The following is a guest post by Music Reference Specialist and Shakespeare scholar, Dr. Stacey Jocoy.

In June 2024, t­­­he Folger Shakespeare Library celebrated its reopening after a multi-year building renovation. This amazing repository of everything Shakespeareana is internationally famous for holding the most copies and versions of Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623). Only 235 First Folios survive, and the Folger Shakespeare Library owns 82 of them, which are now on permanent display. The Folger neighbors the Adams Building of the Library of Congress and has a long history of research, collaboration, and performance in all areas that touch Shakespeare, from early-modern literary studies, dramaturgy, source studies, dance and, of course, music. The Folger’s music collections cover the range of changing performativities from early-modern musical offerings that might have been heard in the earliest productions to 20th- and 21st-century musics, composed for or inspired by Shakespeare. Early prints such as “Deuteromelia” (1609) by Thomas Ravenscroft and manuscripts of musical clubs from the seventeenth century such as John Hilton’s catches (V.a.409) convey the interconnectedness of music with early theater. This richness is often explored by The Folger Consort who regularly perform and promote earlier music to explore Shakespearean soundscapes. Compositions from later periods, up to the present in their collections include Franz Schubert’s music for “Cymbeline” and the works of composers such as Julia Marlowe, Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan fame, and Roger Quilter.

The collections of the Music Division of the Library of Congress complement those at the Folger and offer a fruitful counterpoint for both scholars and enthusiasts. The music from the time of Shakespeare, including early-modern prints of ballads and contemporary compositions assist both academics and modern creatives in the reconceptualization of Shakespeare’s world. Collections such as “Pammelia” (1609) and “Catch that Catch Can” (1652) provide convivial period music, like the catch in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” (II, iii) and connect to Folger’s edition of “Deuteromelia.”

Later seventeenth-century composers such as Matthew Locke and Henry Purcell composed music for Shakespearean revivals and retellings including “Macbeth” (c. 1665) and “The Fairy Queen” (1693). Additionally, a unique eighteenth-century manuscript, “A Collection of Uncommon and Rare pieces of Shakespeare Music,” offers insight into the early collecting of Shakespeare-related songs, including those composed by Restoration composers such as Purcell, Maurice Greene, and Theodore Aylward for Shakespearean revivals.

The wealth of music related to Shakespeare, however, was composed from the mid-nineteenth century forward and this is where the Music Division’s collections truly shine. From the holograph manuscript editions of Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story,” Ambroise Thomas’ opera, “Hamlet” (1868) and Samuel Barber’s music for Franco Zeffirelli’s vision of “Anthony and Cleopatra,” 1966, to first editions of Charles Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” (1867), Giuseppe Verdi’s “Falstaff” (1893), Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Sir John in Love” (1930) and Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1960), musically-staged settings of Shakespeare responded to the popularity and growing canonic status of his works. Songs with Shakespearean lyrics are even more plentiful in collections by composers such as: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Gerald Finzi, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Mary Howe.

The character Hamlet laments in III.2: “You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery.” Shakespeare’s texts provide an ongoing mystery and a musical fascination that has continued to inspire composers from Shakespeare’s time to present.

For more information about early music, including from the time of Shakespeare, see the recent Finding Aid created by Susan Clermont that lists many of the early holdings of this collection.

The following is a guest post by Archivist Jane Cross, who joined the Library of Congress Music Division in the Fall of 2019.

When I began processing the Theodore Presser publishing company’s archive last October, I quickly encountered holograph scores and printer’s proofs of many well-known composers in this vast and wide-ranging collection. I was excited to see works by Amy Beach, Chen Yi, Henry Hadley, William Schuman and John Philip Sousa. But some names that were new to me kept recurring among the pallets of music. Who was Ada Richter? Anna Priscilla Risher? Louise Stairs? Lily Strickland? 

No one jumped out at me more than Ada Richter. I saw her name repeatedly, both as a composer and as an arranger. And each time I handled yet another one of her pieces, my curiosity grew. I learned that Richter was born in 1900, and in addition to publishing under her own name, she also worked under the pseudonyms Hugh Arnold, Eileen Gail, and Wilma Moore. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Theodore Presser published Richter’s music, most of which was teaching material for children, with titles such as “Caterpillar Ride,” “Hippity Hoppity Hop-Toad,” and “More Stunts for the Piano.” She died in 1988. My work with Richter’s music led me to wonder about other women of her era whose names I noticed in the collection.

I wasn’t familiar with Anna Priscilla Risher (1875-1946) until the Music Division received a reference inquiry about her works in the Presser archive. When I pulled together a list of her compositions that we had located so far, I was surprised to see just how many there were, including her Easter cantata He Lives, the King of Kings. Interestingly, Risher had once taught the more widely known George Wakefield Cadman, whose works also appear in the Presser archive.

The plethora of music composed by Louise E. Stairs and Lily Strickland was most apparent when I sorted all of the music by composers with last names starting with “s.” Although Peter Schickele (aka P. D. Q. Bach) and Ralph Shapey were the most prolific of the “s” composers, Stairs and Strickland also stacked up impressively. While Louise Stairs (1892-1975) composed many works in the collection, she also did some arranging, and at times worked under the name Sidney Forrest – not to be confused with the celebrated clarinetist of the same name. Stairs was active with Presser from the 1930s through the 1950s. Lily Strickland was born a few years before her, in 1884, and published music with Presser from the mid-1920s through the late 1940s that includes primarily songs and her children’s operetta “Out of the Sea.” She died in 1958.

It wasn’t until I considered the four composers together that I realized the many similarities they shared. Though they were daughters of the Gilded Age, they were moreover a part of the so-called Lost Generation, usually defined as those born between the early 1880s and 1900 and who came of age in the first two decades of the twentieth century. This placed their composing and publishing activities squarely in the decades defined by both the Great Depression and World War II. As teaching was one of the few professions available to women of the era, it did not surprise me that their medium was largely educational music – songs and method books for young beginners. They also composed and arranged sacred music, including hymns, anthems, and cantatas. I was impressed that this quartet expanded their reach beyond their own pews and students; through publications of their works, they influenced future generations of musicians. As thrilled as I was to see scores and correspondence by more recent women composers including Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Shulamit Ran, and Melinda Wagner in the collection, I was equally glad to become acquainted with the contributions of this earlier generation.

The music of many generations of composers and arrangers from 1814 to 2019 is now available for research in the Theodore Presser Company Archive.

The Ann Murphy Collection on the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall is now available for use in the Music Division’s Performing Arts Reading Room.

Ann Murphy’s gift to the Library of Congress, especially strong in photographs and programs of her 20-year career as a Rockette, also offers some administrative schedules and stage management documents that provide a wider look at the 1960s and 1970s, an era often regarded as the heyday of Radio City Music Hall. Murphy’s easy-to-read autobiography, titled How I Got My Kicks, recounts the daily regimen, artistic achievements, and humorous misadventures of life as a Rockette. Her sparkly silver tap shoes are also available for inspection.

Radio City’s entertainment during its first decades showcased a first-run feature film accompanied by a live thematic variety show performed by the Radio City resident music, theater, and dance artists. Most frequent themes followed a seasonal holiday calendar, augmented by special guests from popular culture or national events such as the space program.

Ann Murphy’s career followed the path that many a youngster in dance dreamed of in the 1950s and 1960s. Initially, she was selected to tour cities in the United States and Canada in Rockettes-sponsored tap dance performances. That opportunity developed into full-time employment as a Rockette until her retirement and departure from New York City in the early 1980s.

The celebrated precision-tap troupe established by entrepreneur Russell Markert as the “Missouri Rockets” in the 1930s now nears its 90th birthday in New York City. As announced in Dance Teacher magazine on December 13, 2012, Dance Heritage Coalition recognized the ongoing impact of this iconic tap ensemble by naming the Rockettes to its list of America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures. Although entertainment and tourist tastes have changed since Markert’s vision for the troupe, the variety-show tradition does live on at Radio City Music Hall, particularly during the winter holidays from Thanksgiving through the New Year, when families still enjoy the famous Wooden Soldier routine that climaxes with the collapse of their row like a set of dominoes.

Find out more about the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall by checking out the Ann Murphy Collection finding aid.

The 2023-2024 season of Concerts from the Library of Congress came to a rousing conclusion on June 20 with a performance by New Orleans-based band Cha Wa. As final preparations are made for the 2024-2025 season announcement, the Music Division is pleased to share a multitude of concert and event videos that have been released since winter 2024. Enjoy The U.S. Air Force Band and pianist Simone Dinnerstein performing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” an exploration of restoring the choreography of Anna Sokolow, interviews with leading classical and jazz artists, and explorations of the Library’s performing arts collections through the American Musicological Society lecture series and more. Explore the entire digital collection of concert and event videos at loc.gov/webcasts.

Rhapsody in Blue at 100 

Dance: Spotlight on Anna Sokolow

Les Violons du Roy

Watch the artists in conversation 

Chamber Music 

Watch the artists in conversation 

Watch the artists in conversation 

Watch the artists in conversation 

Jazz

Exploring the Collections

Conversations with Artists

Please note the Library is unable to release all event videos online due to Copyright and licensing restrictions. Select videos are only available on loc.gov/webcasts and not available on YouTube. Some concert videos only include selections of repertoire from the event. Select videos are posted in perpetuity, while others have limited viewing periods.   

It’s the summer of 2018, and I’ve once again found myself at the Marina in Corpus Christi, TX, sitting with my father on his sailboat. Guitars in hand, we are playing a special concert for the seagulls and pelicans, our only true fans. The vibrations of our strings loft into the air in perfect harmony until—PLUNK-PLUNK-THUNK!—I hit another F chord. I throw my hands down in frustration as a gull lets out a loud laugh. Even after years of practicing, I still can’t quite get my small hands to stretch enough to play even basic things.

Dad takes a sip of beer. “Hey man–you should play tenor!”

“Ten—or eleven miles away from here?” I repeat his oft-told joke with an eye roll, thumbing through the chord again.

“No—the tenor guitar!”

I wasn’t getting it.

He tells me that he still remembers this odd little guitar his childhood music teacher showed his class. It only had four strings and a much slimmer neck. He was pretty sure it was called a “tenor guitar.”

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Referring both officially and unofficially to a variety of four-string guitars that hit their peak in the 1930s, almost no one comes to the tenor guitar as a first choice. Indie rocker Neko Case is an example of another musician who made the switch due to her small hands, while Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit came to four strings after years of experimentation (whether his custom low-tuned guitar fits the definition is up for debate, though I’m sure my father would have happily said he could “play tenor”). The instrument also came late for forefather of Chicago jazz, Eddie Condon (1905—1973), whose custom 1965 Gibson L-7 Plectrum tenor guitar was recently gifted to the Library by his daughter, Maggie Condon.

According to his memoir,  Condon played the tenor banjo then plectrum banjo in his early days as a professional a jazz musician in the 1920s. Derived from the five-string banjo, both were four-stringed instruments that came about as American social dance and jazz were gaining popularity in the early twentieth century. With their bright, percussive sounds, banjos were ideal for leading rhythm sections. These banjos, in particular, lacked a fifth drone string found on traditional banjos, which made it easier to strum through chord changes with a plectrum, or pick.

Though it is a rarely seen in modern jazz, the banjo was actually a popular part of jazz bands of the 1920s. It was especially prevalent in New Orleans jazz, which ignited Chicago’s Jazz Age when Black southerners moved to northern cities during the first wave of the Great Migration. Musicians in Chicago, such as Condon, imitated and drew inspiration from southern jazz musicians to create what is sometimes referred to as the “Chicago-style,” a variation of New Orleans jazz with a higher emphasis on soloing and virtuosity. Condon recalls being deeply inspired by Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five, which included the great New Orleans jazz banjoist Johnny St. Cyr:

It was hypnosis at first hearing. Everyone was playing what he wanted to play, and it was mixed together as if someone had planned it with a set of micrometer calipers…the music poured into us like daylight running down a dark hole.

After moving to New York in the 1930s, Condon discovered the tenor guitar. According to Karen Lynn, at this time, the guitar was quickly overcoming the banjo in jazz due to its technical innovations and changing trends in the sounds of jazz orchestras. Tenor guitars, tuned like tenor and plectrum banjos, made it easy for jazz banjoists to make the switch. Knowing the banjo was on its way out, Condon experimented with several instruments before an encounter with his bandmate’s tenor guitar seemed to strike the right chord:

Experimenting with Paul [Barbarin]’s four-string guitar tuned like a banjo, I had discovered resources which intrigued me. I decided to get a full-sized guitar, use four strings, and stick to banjo tuning.

Condon released his first album on guitar with Bud Freeman’s Windy City Five in 1935. Thirty years later, Gibson built his customized tenor guitar, which remained his primary instrument until his death in 1973 and now resides at the Library of Congress. Eddie Condon’s expert rhythm playing, founded on his early days of banjo, made him one of the most influential jazz guitarists of the twentieth century.

 

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Today I’m a long way from Texas, sitting in the Library of Congress Musical Instrument Vault in Washington, DC. In my hands is Eddie Condon’s custom 1965 Gibson L-7 Plectrum tenor guitar. With its carved spruce top and unblemished sunburst finish, I am terrified to play it, as if the slightest touch might shatter the whole thing into a million pieces. Still, I convince myself I know what I’m doing—I have been playing tenor for years now in various styles. I carefully place my fingers on the frets, which are meant to fit Condon’s hands and tuning, not mine. With a bit of courage, I press my fingers down on the strings and guess at my first chord, striking a sound that would make Condon roll in his grave.

As it echoes through the room, I can hear my father say, “Hey man—you should play tenor!”

Resources

Condon, Eddie, and Richard Gehman, eds. “Eddie Condon’s Treasury of Jazz.” London: P. Davies, 1957.

Condon, Eddie. “We Called it Music: A Generation of Jazz.” Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1970.

Dubois, Laurent. “The Banjo: America’s African Instrument.” Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2016.

Kenney, Wiliam Howland. “Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, 1904—1930.” New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Kenney, William Howland. “Eddie Condon.” Oxford Music Online, 2001.

Linn, Karen. “That Half-Barbaric Twang: The Banjo in American Popular Culture.” Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991.

Robinson, J. Bradford. “Chicago Jazz.” Oxford Music Online, 2001.

The following is a guest post by 2024 Junior Fellow Jacob LaBarge. I am Jacob’s project mentor for the project Mind the Gap: Taking Stock of Contemporary Composer Voices with the assistance of Music Specialist David Plylar. Jacob’s objective this summer is to inventory the Music Division’s holdings of select published contemporary music scores through three mini-projects: Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists from 1970-2024, the Meet the Composer Commissioning Music/USA grant program from 1996-2012, and living self-published women composers. Jacob holds a B.M. in flute performance from West Virginia University and has completed his first year towards a master’s degree in musicology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Contemporary music has been a focus of my research and the center of the music I played as a performer. I thought I had a good grasp on contemporary composers before my work on the Junior Fellow project Mind the Gap: Taking Stock of Contemporary Composer Voices. However, as I have explored lists of composers from Pulitzer Prize contenders to those commissioned through Meet the Composer’s Commissioning Music/USA program, I have found both a wealth of new pieces by composers I was already familiar with and new names I had never heard of before. Through this process, one name has continued to pop up. Surprisingly, they’re not a composer. Rather, it’s the Irish modernist writer James Joyce (1882-1941). This is not all that surprising to me, as Joyce has long been a source of inspiration for composers.

During the summer of last year, I read “Ulysses” for the first time. A year later, during the 2024 Junior Fellows Program, I looked at a first edition of “Ulysses” in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. The one I saw was particularly interesting because it was owned by musical theater composer Jerome Kern (1885-1945) – and the Music Division holds the Jerome Kern Collection.

As someone with an interest in musical adaptations, my odyssey to the Rare Book and Special Collections Reading Room caused me to deep-dive into the collection of Joyce-inspired works here in the Music Division. I love to see how composers and librettists alter a story to make new works. So, in honor of Bloomsday (celebrated annually on June 16th), I wanted to share some of the new-to-me music inspired by Joyce’s “Ulysses.”

I’ll begin with a composer who was completely new to me, Stephen Albert (1941-1942). A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1987, Albert’s “Flower of the Mountain” uses text from the end of the final chapter of “Ulysses,” Penelope. Told through stream of consciousness thoughts of one of the characters, this chapter includes the famous line, “yes I said yes I will Yes.” Albert’s rapid changes in tempo and emotion recreate this style perfectly. As for the text Albert uses, the soprano sweeps over the orchestra singing Molly Bloom’s reminiscences of her husband’s proposal. The composer even dedicated the work to his own wife!

The Music Division also holds a score for the companion work, “Sun’s Heat.”  The two pieces are part of a larger composition titled “Distant Hills Come Nigh.” Unlike “Flower of the Mountain,” “Sun’s Heat” pulls its text from multiple chapters in “Ulysses” such as Lestrygonians and Nausicaa. Here, the tenor sings of the same proposal Molly recalls, but from the perspective of her husband Leopold. The Music Division also has a handful of Stephen Albert’s other Joyce-inspired pieces like the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Symphony: RiverRun,” “To Wake the Dead,” and “TreeStone.”

I also want to touch on a new piece I’ve learned about by a composer I already know, Libby Larsen (b. 1950). In 2005, the Cassatt Quartet commissioned Larsen to write a piece to celebrate their twentieth anniversary. Part of the funds for the commission were from Meet the Composer’s Commissioning Music/USA program, one of the programs I am researching during the Junior Fellows Program. The result was the string quartet titled “Quartet: She Wrote” based on this passage from the Ithaca chapter of “Ulysses:”

What suggested scene was then constructed by Stephen?

Solitary hotel in mountain pass. Autumn. Twilight. Fire lit. In dark corner young man seated. Young woman enters. Restless. Solitary. She sits. She goes to window. She stands. She stands. She sits. Twilight. She thinks. On solitary hotel paper she writes. She thinks. She writes. She sighs. Wheels and hoofs. She hurries out.

This chapter, which is one of my favorites, is told through a series of questions and answers. Unlike Albert, Larsen does not directly use Joyce’s words. Rather, she responds to them. In the piece, she picks out the last handful of sentences (“She thinks. She writes. She sighs. Wheels and hoofs. She hurries out.”) and writes music to depict what happens between the sentences. These became the names for the movements: “What She Saw,” “What She Did,” “How She Felt,” and “And Then.” By doing this, Larsen takes the opportunity to answer the questions posed by Joyce’s simple sentences musically in the spirit of the text that inspired her.

These are just a handful of the countless Joyce-inspired scores that can be found in the Music Division’s collections. Whether you are a music lover or a Joycean, I hope you have discovered some great works just as I have. Now you can have some new music to get you in the Joyce-spirit the next time Bloomsday rolls around!