Sheet Music of the Week: Dark Shadows Edition

"In the shadows." Music by Herman Finck, lyrics by E. Ray Goetz. New York: Jos. W. Stern & Co., 1911.

Fans of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows were saddened by the death last week of star Jonathan Frid, who played the vampire Barnabas Collins.  This week’s featured sheet music does not speak of vampires or other shadowy figures. But its lyrical plea to “meet me in the shadows” is at once romantic and sinister, and the cover illustration of the spectral dancers awaiting you in the dark might encourage you to sit out this dance. For those in search of vampires, In the Muse does have plenty to offer.

 

 

Sheet music of the week: It’s STILL Cherry Blossom Time Edition

The following is a guest post by Sharon McKinley, Senior Music Cataloger. The blossoms themselves have been gone for weeks already; it was one of the earliest seasons ever. But the Centennial of the National Cherry Blossom Festival is still going strong, all the way through April 27, and we thought we’d help keep the …

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Sister Gregory Duffy: An Asset to the Abbey and the Theater

Within our nearly 600 archival collections in the Music Division lie not only scores, sketches, correspondence and iconography, but countless untold stories. Being able to piece together these stories and uncover a stranger’s personality and contribution to our cultural history is one of the greatest joys I get to experience working here. A few weeks …

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Pic of the Week: “That’s my Daddy!” Edition

The following is a guest post by Stephen Winick, American Folklife Center. Staff members from the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center (AFC) have identified a one-minute-long segment of silent color footage as film of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, shot by Alan Lomax for the Music Division in 1942. Although the meeting between Edwards and Lomax …

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Sheet Music of the Week: Titanic Centennial Edition

The following is a guest post from Music Cataloger Laura Yust. One hundred years ago, on April 14, 1912, the luxury steamship Titanic struck an iceberg and sank within just a few hours. Over 3,000 passengers and crew members were on board, and just over half of them died. It was one of the worst …

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Good luck Dee!

The following is a guest post by frequent blogger Denise Gallo, Head of Acquisitions and Processing. When I joined the Music Division staff in June of 2002, my supervisor took me to see the Treasures Vault. There I was, surrounded by the manuscripts of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Copland, Britten, and Gershwin – just a few …

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1750: Berlin on the Potomac

The following is a guest post by Daniel Walshaw, Music Division. Berlin – before the nightclubs and the heavy metal concerts, before the cabarets and the brettls, even before the Berlin Philharmonic – evening musical entertainment was centered on a vibrant and growing chamber music tradition, nurtured by King Frederick II of Prussia. C.P.E. Bach, Johann …

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(Motion) Pic of the Week: Country Music Edition

People sometimes ask if Library of Congress programs are available to view online. Copyright and other issues prevent us from making everything available online, but highlights from the Music Division’s great concert and lecture season are available on the Library’s webcasts page, including the lecture “Bernstein meets Broadway,” the late Jack Gottlieb’s revealing talk “Working …

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