Next Friday the Music Division will release another batch of images from the William P. Gottlieb Collection to Flickr Commons. What makes this particular selection of images special, and a little more poignant, at least for me, can be found outside the image. If you look closely at the edges of the color images in …
Saturday night the Music Division hosted a hand-clapping, foot-stomping evening with the Country Music Association‘s Songwriters Series. The assembled songwriters lined up on the Coolidge stage with just their voices and acoustic guitars, and although the Coolidge is not exactly a small venue, the spare instrumentation helped bring out a musical intimacy seldom found in …
This week in Five Questions, a new feature on In the Muse, we chat with Reference Specialist Lisa Shiota. Lisa, what are you working on these days? I’m working on maintaining a pleasant demeanor in the Reading Room when helping patrons. It’s actually rewarding work– when I smile, speak calmly, and listen to their needs, …
The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s recording of saxophonist Paul Desmond’s signature tune “Take Five” is one of the best known jazz compositions – even if you don’t know the name of it, you’ve heard it, anywhere from your local coffee shop to The Sopranos. Brubeck was the recipient of a Living Legend Award in 2003. Wish a …
Inspired by a regular interview feature on In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress; and modelled after a feature on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s blog, In the Muse brings you the first in a series of Five Questions. Our first participant is Solomon Haile Selassie, who works in the Music …
Free tickets will be available on Saturday evening, December 4, for the Country Music Association Songwriters Series featuring Little Big Town. The plantinum-selling vocal quartet is fresh off a wonderful performance at the CMA Christmas show, and will be joined at the Coolidge by songwriters Brett James (“Jesus, Take the Wheel,” recorded by Carrie Underwood; “When …
The Library of Congress just hosted the first of a new lecture series organized in conjunction with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the contemporary art arm of the Smithsonian Institution. Artist Maira Kalman spoke about, And the Pursuit of Happiness, an illustrated book that documents the author’s visit to Washington DC for the inauguration of …
In the Muse wishes you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving. Between mashed potatoes and halftime, the musically inclined among our readership may wish to celebrate the day in song with Geo. W. Morgan’s’ “National Thanksgiving Hymn,” dedicated to then President Rutherford B. Hayes. After dinner, take an invigorating constitutional to work off that second …
Today we release another one hundred images from the William P. Gottlieb Collection to Flickr Commons. This week’s selection offers iconic photos of the trumpet legend Louis Armstrong, clarinet player Sidney Bechet, composer Leonard Bernstein, and vocalist June Christy. And, as is often the case, there is something unexpected in the mix. This week’s surprise is a series of …
“Music has charms to soothe a savage breast.” That famous line was uttered by a character in William Congreve’s 1697 play The Mourning Bride. From the dance of the ancient Greeks, to the propulsive bass on the disco floor, to Dancing with the Stars, music goes hand in hand with the body. One of the …