ritabentonmusiclibrary

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Musician on stage at the Iowa Memorial Union, The University of Iowa, 1950s

Creator: Kent, Frederick W.

Source: http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ictcs/id/29077

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Jindrich Feld, Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1989-90) 

 Photocopies of manuscript alto saxophone part and piano part 

 Donated by Eugene Rousseau 

 [Photo 1] This complex work for saxophone is well known for its employment of extended techniques. We received this working copy from saxophonist Eugene Rousseau, for whom the work was composed. 

 [Photos 2-3] We wonder what note most players sound for the "arbitrary high note" required in the Scherzo, but at least it's marked fortissimo and not pianissimo. 

 [Photo 4] This copy contains many performance markings, including fingerings for certain passages as can be seen on the Post-it note. 

 We'll be processing more scores from this donation over the coming weeks. No doubt there will be other items of interest to share.

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1918 Women’s Glee Club Concert Program, State University of Iowa

This concert program caught our eye for a couple of reasons. 

It features music by two women composers - Cecile Chaminade and Amy Beach, which is pretty great.

There are notes on the performance on the back of the program that read thus:

Ruth, Margaret and I went together. I like it all very much - only it made me feel more keenly than ever how worthless I was. I can’t play anything or sing anything. Miss Hamill’s violin solo was beautiful.

Hopefully Ruth and Margaret were able to cheer their companion up and make her realize that being an attentive and receptive audience member is of quite excellent value. 

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Seriously, what more could you ask for?

For those who have ever wanted to create a world-class pianist (with piano) out of Lego’s, we present instructions on creating a Lego Martha Argerich (complete with grand piano, and stage).

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When you’re reading a badly handwritten autograph score

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The Riot Grrrl Research Guide

What to learn more about women who rock? Use our research guides to delve into print, audio, and video resources on the artists.

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Music of the church. A collection of psalm, hymn, and chant tunes, adapted to the worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 3d quarto ed. New York, Published by Samuel F. Bradford Philadelphia, Printed by Peter C. Smith, 1830 [c1828] Dxxi, [3], 232 p. 23 x 27 cm. Compiled by J. M. Wainwright. For chorus (SATB) and organ.

Music for Passion Week and Good Friday

This 19th century Episcopal hymnal contains common tunes and a variety of texts that can be used with each tune. The index of texts is organized by Subject and also by Occasion. There are handful of texts available for Passion Week and Good Friday, including Hymn 65 which carries the subject “Awfulness of the Savior’s Death”.

As for the actually hymnbook, it’s been rebound in this - to use a phrase borrowed from a colleague in @uispeccoll - “marvelous marble”.

Now I’m off to find some rousing Easter day literature to share on Sunday!

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Performers in radio drama, the University of Iowa, 1920s

Photographer: Frederick W. Kent

Source: http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ictcs/id/5459

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O Haupt voll Blut und WundenGrosse Passionsmusik nach dem Evangelium Matthaei / von Johann Sebastian Bach ; vollständiger Klavierauszug von Adolph Bernhard Marx. Berlin : Schlesinger, 1830. 1571 Schlesinger 1 vocal score (190 p.) ; 26 x 35 cm. First ed. Text by C.F. Henrici.

Happy Birthday, Johann Sebastian Bach!

Today’s post therefore features a first printed edition (vocal score) of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, composed in 1727. For those unfamiliar with the work as a whole, it features the well-known hymn “O Haupt, voll Blut und Wunden”, which Bach uses throughout the Passion (one example can be seen in the second image above). 

In 1823, Felix Mendelssohn's grandmother gave him a copy of the St. Matthew Passion, and in 1829, he mounted a performance of the work at the Berlin Singakademie. Note that our piano score was published in the following year.

Look for additional Easter posts throughout this holy (hell) week. #amusicianslife

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The Thrush : a choice selection of the most admired popular songs, heroic, plaintive, sentimental, humorous, and bacchanalian / arranged for the violin, flute, and voice ; by the editor of the "Skylark."

London : T. Tegg, [1827] 1 score (vii, 327 p.) ; 20 cm. Added t.p., engraved, dated 1827. With unaccompanied melodies to most of the songs.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 

Today’s entry features a song titled “Éirinn go Brách” or “Erin Go Bragh” printed in an early 19th century songbook. The book, The Thrush, has a beautiful engraving on the title page, as well as a mix of tunes sourced primarily from England and Scotland.

This particular musical declaration of “Erin Go Bragh” is often subtitled “the exiled Irishman’s lament”. 

Its authorship was a matter of some dispute in 1844, when Thomas Campbell claimed to have written the song, though it was attributed to a George Nugent Reynolds. You can read the resulting exchange in the brochure, “Memoranda of Irish matters, by obscure men of good intention”, available via Google Books (the discussion starts on page 81). Members the Reynolds family and other acquaintances provide evidence that George indeed wrote the song. 

The memorandum concludes:

Some days after this memorandum had been sent to press, the melancholy intelligence of the death of Mr. Campbell arrived in Dublin. 

Upon this announcement, the first impulse of the writer of this Memoranda was to sup press altogether this paper, lest its publication might wound the feelings of the surviving relatives of the poet. 

But upon consideration he did not feel that he had a right to keep back the solemn declarations of the family and friends of Mr. Reynolds upon this subject, which had been entrusted to him for the purpose of publication. 

He has accordingly allowed that portion of the Memorandum which contains these declarations to be printed, and has suppress ed the remainder. He found it impossible, in the short time allowed for revision, so to re-mould his arguments as to avoid attach ing some blame to Mr. Campbell for his con duct in this matter, and this he could not bear to do so soon after the poet's eyes were closed in death.

Oh, and there’s a song called “Corn Rigs are Bonny”. #iowa

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Sing Out! Archival Collection Now Available!

This collection from the seminal folk magazine is now open to the public for research. Check out the finding aid to the collection, and contact us to schedule an appointment!

Sing Out! magazine grew out of a legacy of social commitment and a tradition of singing both to effect change and to share the pure enjoyment of songs. The original idea for the magazine was served up by the aspirations of a group of urban singers who believed in the power of song – musicians who raised their voices in harmony and against injustice.

Keep reading

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This post is for fans of spooky television: composer Harry Lubin worked on such shows as The Outer Limits and One Step Beyond. In the Harry Lubin Television and Motion Picture Music Collection, you can find original sheet music for these shows as well as other examples of Lubin’s work. Some of our favorites include “Scare Chords,” “Monster Theme,” “Menacing Suspense,” and, unpictured, “Weird Theme.”

You can learn more about Lubin and our recently updated finding aid here!

Harry Lubin Television and Motion Picture Music at UCLA Library Special Collections.

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From the Houghton Library Blog, sheet music by African-American composers and performers, for Black History Month. 

Sheet Music 225-226

Houghton Library, Harvard University

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Digitized Film Posters from the Neumann Jazz Collection

258 film posters from the James R. and Susan Neumann Jazz Collection in the Conservatory Library’s special collections have recently been digitized and made available online.  This selection of items includes some of the rarest and most fragile of the more than 600 film posters and lobby cards in the collection.  Dating between 1936-1988, these films feature jazz musicians both visually on the posters as well as sonically on the film soundtracks.

Among the highlights are two versions of the 1957 film Satchmo the Great, based on Louis Armstrong’s work as a cultural ambassador for the US State Department, and a poster for the 1946 film That Man of Mine, featuring the all-female big band the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

Additional items will be added to the collection in the future, including more film posters, as well as selections from the thousands of musicians’ photographs and autographs, concert and event posters, concert programs, sheet music, record catalogs, books, periodicals, and artifacts included in the collection. Together with the more than 100,000 jazz recordings that comprise the focal point of the Neumann Collection, these materials provide a thorough representation of the history of jazz from its origins in the early 20th century to the present.

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“Never Introduce Your Bloke to Your Lady Friend”, 1907.

Sheet Music 241

Houghton Library, Harvard University

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Clever perspective.

Laurie Anderson is fascinated by the Big Science of sound recording.

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YEEEESSSSSS...

Also check out National Jukebox from the Library of Congress and the Belfer Audio Archive from Syracuse University.

From cakewalks to carols, historic sounds of all kinds are preserved at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Cylinder Audio Archive, home to a vast collection of recordings. The UCSB Library first made this archive available online in 2005, but it recently launched a new website that now features over 10,000 cylinder recordings — all available to download or stream online for free.

An Archive of 10,000 Cylinder Recordings Readied for the Spotify Era