Women Composers: From the Middle Ages to the Present
Until relatively recent decades, women have had severely limited opportunities within Western art music especially composition. Unfortunately women were often encouraged as amateurs but not...
View Article10 Favorite Albums of the Year (So Far)
Daft Punk Random Access MemoriesRandom Access Memories, the fourth proper studio album from Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo delivers a mix of disco, soft rock, prog-pop, Broadway-style...
View ArticleA Note on the Upcoming Record Sale at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of...
On a rainy spring morning in 1984, over 800 visitors swarmed the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and purchased over 20,000 78s and LPs at the first Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of...
View ArticleThe Wonder Years: Music and References from Season One
What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?I don't know about you, but certain songs are for me forever associated with certain movies and television shows.What do...
View ArticleNumber One Hits for the Year: 1979
I was recently going through a box of old photographs and came across photos from the first concert I ever attended: Kiss. October 21, 1979. Houston Summit. I was 10.That got me to thinking of the...
View ArticleBest of Patron Requests: Music (September 2013 edition)
This list is a (sometimes) monthly compilation of my own personal favorite patron requests for music. I hope you will check out some of the great music that Library users have suggested we...
View ArticleReview of "Exploring The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records" LIVE at NYPL
The line formed early outside of Edna Barnes Salomon Reading Room as this particular event in the Live from the NYPL series was the hottest ticket in town on a cold fall night. Who would have thought...
View ArticleBest of Patron Requests: Music (November 2013 Edition)
The Exciting Wilson Pickett (1966) by Wilson PickettAn impressively consistent, upbeat, and danceable collection of '60s Rhythm & Blues. Every last track on this album is fantastic! In the '60s,...
View ArticleDecember Author @ the Library Programs and More at Mid-Manhattan
Have you ever wondered what happens when a ghetto is unmade? Or what the future of Saudi Arabia means to the rest of the world? Or how overachievers do it? Do you think you know what real New Yorkers...
View ArticleON THE AIR: Music Landmarks in NYC - Yankee Doodle to Jay-Z
Pearl Street Native/Indigenous AIR is a Native American and ancient colloquialism for music and voice, as heard upon the earth. Musicians and singers performed at festivals at sacred places like Pearl...
View ArticleFinding a Life at The New York Public Library: Emily Dickinson, the Avid...
December 10th is the birthday of Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), a beloved poet who in her youth was a talented pianist and active music collector. The collections of The New York Public Library serve to...
View ArticleEvery Song From The Morrissey Autobiography
I have been waiting for the release of Morrissey's Autobiography for quite some time. While reading this wonderful book I kept track of every song Morrissey mentions that was not part of his solo...
View ArticleHittin' Those Low Notes
When listening to female singers, it's often the sopranos that get all the attention! Well, not really... but although even Lady Gaga has been known to hit some deep notes, many low-voiced lady singers...
View ArticleHarnessing the Power of Music: Blog Posts by Subject: Music
Oliver Sacks once said in his book, Musicophilia:"The power of music whether joyous or cathartic must steal on one unawares, come spontaneously as a blessing or a grace..."Music has incredible power....
View ArticleRemembering Pete Seeger: Friend of the Children: Blog Posts by Subject: Music
We all remember Pete Seeger for his courage and his music (equally by turns). What some of us may not know, or may have forgotten, was how prolific the man was in the realm of children's books and...
View ArticleThe Holy Grail of the Percussion World, Part 1: Blog Posts by Subject: Music
Guest post for Ladies and Gentlemen... The Beatles, by Russ LeaseWilliam F. Ludwig himself put it best when he said, “On February 9th, 1964, a new musical event burst from the TV screens across...
View ArticleBest of Patron Requests: Music (January 2014 Edition) : Blog Posts by...
MTV Unplugged No. 2 by Lauryn Hill (2002)The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was released all the way back in 1998. That record was a bombshell. With its homage to an earlier book, The Mis-Education of the...
View ArticleThe Wonder Years: Music and References from Season One: Blog Posts by...
What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?I don't know about you, but certain songs are for me forever associated with certain movies and television shows.What do...
View ArticleThe Most Significant Drum Head in Popular Music, Part 2: Blog Posts by...
Part 2 of a guest post for Ladies and Gentlemen... The Beatles, by Russ Lease. Read Part 1.On September 14, 1994, my world changed again. I found myself in the unlikely position of being one of the...
View Article"She Loves You" b/w "I'll Get You" by The Beatles,...
In the summer of 1963, The Beatles were huge in Britain. But this was not the case in America. Two earlier singles that had done well in their home country—"Please Please Me" and "From Me to...
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