Archive for the Sheet Music of the Week Category (71 posts)

Sheet Music of the Week: End Times Edition

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French, Clinton D. “The song of Armageddon.” Kansas City, Mo.: French Publishing Company, 1912.

Our colleagues at the Library of Congress blog have noted the trending topic of the end of the world, based on a reading of the Maya calendar that lays out the day of creation as Aug. 11, 3114 B.C., and the end of the world approaching on Dec. 21, 2012. Which is tomorrow. The Music Division does not endorse such a reading of the end times. However, the fact that this apocryphally crucial date falls on a Friday means that the world can party like it’s 1999.  And what better way to start the weekend or the apocalypse than with this week’s featured sheet music?   “The song of Armageddon” is misleadingly named, and speaks of battle not with Gog and Magog but of a historical campaign season. If one does subscribe to the idea of coming oblivion, you could do worse than hold on to this president’s signature teddy bear. For those looking forward to Christmas, recall previous In the Muse celebrations of the holiday season, with the help of composers like Serge Koussevitzky and Gerry Mulligan.

Sheet Music of the Week: Curiosity 1901 Edition

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The intelligent universe has been fascinated with the images coming from Tuesday’s landing of Curiosity, the new Mars rover.  Man’s fascination with celestial objects is as old as civilization itself, and 20th century musical ruminations on the planets range from Holst’s 1916 orchestral suite The Planets to jazz iconoclast Sun Ra’s “Interplanetary Music” on the …

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Sheet Music of the Week: Lollapalooza Edition

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines “lallapaloosa” as “something outstandingly good of its kind.” The term has its origins in American slang from the turn of the 20th century, but its most popular spelling variation is associated with a music festival of more recent vintage. Music fans converge on Chicago this weekend for the 2012 Lollapalooza. …

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Sheet Music of the Week: Now I Lay Me Down to Funk Edition

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The children’s prayer that begins,  ”Now I lay me down to sleep”  dates back to an 18th century New England primer, but its musical life has followed a surprising path over the more than two centuries since.  From heavy metal (Metallica)  to hip-hop (The Notorious B.I.G.) to indie rock (Liz Phair), the iconic words have …

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Sheet Music of the Week: Girl Scout Edition

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On Saturday, June 9th, the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capitol will host a song fest on the National Mall.  With 200,000 girls and adults expected, this will not be an ordinary songfest by any stretch of the imagination.  Rock the Mall , as the event is called, is a birthday celebration on behalf of …

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Sheet Music of the Week: Transit of Venus Edition

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As seen from the Earth, the planet Venus will move across the face of the sun on June 5, 2012. This week’s featured sheet music celebrates this rare orbit with John Philip Sousa’s commemorative march, part of a Transit of Venus presentation created in the Performing Arts Encyclopedia with the help of  NASA scientist Sten …

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Sheet Music of the Week: Dark Shadows Edition

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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 …

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

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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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