by | July 5, 2012 · 1:00 am

Le Carrousel du Roi

In 1612 France’s Queen Regent, Marie de Médicis, betrothed her son Louis XIII to King Philip III of Spain’s daughter Anne. Louis and Anne were both ten years old.

The engagement was celebrated with  Le Carrousel du Roi, a lavish public extravaganza that involved magnificently costumed processions, wild beasts, giants, acrobats, elaborate floats, numerous court musicians, and an elegant equestrian ballet. Approximately 200,000 people crowded into the Place Royale to watch the spectacle.

This according to “Dances with horses” by Carolyn Miller (Early music America VIII/2 [summer 2002] pp. 30–33). Below, music composed by Lully for a later royal carrousel.

Related article: Le ballet de la nuit

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by | July 2, 2012 · 1:00 am

Katharine Dunham and L’ag’ya

The peoples of the Caribbean welcomed Katharine Dunham and shared their dance cultures with her; her obligations toward them figure in her danced testimonies to their hospitality.

Her solo in L’ag’ya (1938) was not a collusion with colonial ideologies of appropriation—it was a testament to the immediacy of performance and the importance of maintaining a welcoming openness in the face of the overwhelming idea of infinity.

This according to “Hospitality and translation in Katherine Dunham’s L’ag’ya” by Ramsay Burt, an essay included in Proceedings: Society of Dance History Scholars (Stoughton: Society of Dance History Scholars, 2003) pp. 8–11. Above, Dunham with Vanoye Aikens in L’ag’ya in 1938; below, excerpts from Dunham’s solo from a silent 1947 film.

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by | June 30, 2012 · 1:00 am

Muziekschatten

Muziekschatten: Online Bladmuziekcollectie Muziekbibliotheek van de Omroep is a free interactive website featuring the treasures of the Muziekbibliotheek van de Omroep in Hilversum.

The collection contains nearly 6000 scores of classical, choral, and light and popular music. Users can download and print PDF files, and many of the entries are enhanced with sound recordings.

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by | June 28, 2012 · 11:26 am

Rousseau and Aunt Rhody


The American traditional song Go tell Aunt Rhody originated as a gavotte composed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau for his opera Le devin du village (1752).

An English version of the opera was produced in London in 1766; subsequently the melody attracted various English texts, including Sweet Melissa (ca. 1788), and inspired a set of variations by the London piano virtuoso Johann Baptist Cramer (Rousseau’s dream, 1812).

Around 1825 the tune—identified as Greenville or Rousseau—began appearing in U.S. hymnals. The Aunt Rhody version has appeared in numerous American traditional song anthologies, and is still often found in children’s song collections.

This according to “Go tell Aunt Rhody she’s Rousseau’s dream” by Murl Sickbert, an essay included in Vistas of American music: Essays and compositions in honor of William K. Kearns (Warren: Harmonie Park, 1999, pp. 125–150).

Today is Rousseau’s 300th birthday! Below, the classic Woody Guthrie recording of his immortal gavotte.

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by | June 27, 2012 · 1:00 am

Brahms and Breitkopf

Responding to enthusiastic recommendations from Robert and Clara Schumann, Breitkopf & Härtel published several of Brahms’s early works; but after the hostile public reaction to the 1859 premiere of his D-minor piano concerto the publisher became more cautious, accepting some works and rejecting others.

Brahms’s frustration reached a peak in 1865, when the publisher accepted his G-major string sextet sight unseen and then asked to be released from the obligation to publish it, citing outside opinions that were not attributed or detailed. Brahms responded with a furious letter and never submitted his work to the publisher again.

This according to “Brahms and the Breitkopf & Härtel affair” by George S. Bozarth (The music review LV/3 [August 1994] pp. 202–213). Above, the composer around the time of the decisive incident; below, the final movement of the sextet that the publisher spurned.

More posts about Brahms are here.

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by | June 25, 2012 · 1:00 am

Retalhos da música afro-luso-brasileira

In 2012 Editorial Estampa inaugurated its series Retalhos da música afro-luso-brasileira  with Quejas, Tchufe e Lobo: Reis crioulos do samba, fado e morna dos anos 30 by Alveno Figueiredo e Silva.

The book is a tribute to the memory of Fernando Quejas, Pedro Alcântara de Freitas Silva Ramos (Tchufe), and Antoninho Lobo, popular singers who combined influences from Cape Verdean, Brazilian, and Portuguese cultures.

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by | June 22, 2012 · 1:00 am

The Hill bow


In 1892 Alfred Hill, of the London violin-making firm W.E. Hill & Sons, got into an argument about Irish Home Rule with one of his employees. The argument escalated until the employee became enraged and walked out.

This confrontation had considerable consequences; the employee was the firm’s only bow maker.

At a loss, Hill took two men from the case-making department and told them to start making bows. William Retford, ca. 1902Neither William Napier nor William Retford (inset) had any experience as bow makers—but they went on to revolutionize the art of bow making, developing the fine and reliably consistent product that the violin world now knows as the Hill bow.

This according to “Industry meets art: The history of the iconic Hill bow” by Philip J. Kass (Strings XXV/4:187 [November 2010] pp. 61–64).

Related article: The Wonder violin

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by | June 20, 2012 · 1:00 am

A Springsteen resource

 

Library of hope and dreams: A comprehensive annotated bibliography of scholarship about Bruce Springsteen is a free online annotated bibliography of scholarship published in English about The Boss.

A continuously updated resource, as of 7 June 2012 the bibliography had 250 entries including books, book chapters, journal articles, conference papers, and web publications. All items are described in full bibliographic detail, abstracted, and indexed by subject keywords and by song and album when appropriate.

Library of Hope and Dreams was created by Denise D. Green at Staley Library, Milikin University.

BONUS: Read about this resource in Hungarian here.

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by | June 17, 2012 · 1:00 am

Stravinsky and Les Apaches

Stravinsky’s collaborations with the Ballets Russes were only a part of his life between 1910 and 1914; he was also involved with the Parisian avant-garde group known as Les Apaches (The Apaches), an interdisciplinary society that included Ravel, Falla, and the poet Léon-Paul Fargue.

Les Apaches’ support was vital for Stravinsky’s composition of Le sacre du printemps, and its aesthetic preoccupations helped to motivate his decision to set Trois poésies de la lyrique japonaise.

This according to “Stravinsky and The Apaches” by Jann Pasler (The musical times CXXIII/1672 [June 1982] pp. 403-407).

Today is Stravinsky’s 130th birthday! Above, the composer at work in Paris in 1911; below, Evelyn Lear sings the Trois poésies with members of the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Craft.

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by | June 14, 2012 · 1:00 am

Boomwhackers® music

The music department at the Deichmanske Bibliotek (Oslo Public Library) has recently developed a new package for music teachers in the Norwegian public school system. The service is based on Boomwhackers®, a set of colored plastic tubes that play various notes of the scale when struck.

Children quickly understand the simple notation system based on color, and under the guidance of a teacher begin quickly to play and even compose music. The package includes a set of Boomwhackers®, a detailed guide for teachers based on requirements outlined in the Norwegian national teaching plan of 2006, and a set of large-print sheet music of simple, well-known tunes.

The department also holds courses for teachers, in cooperation with the library’s department for school services, which is part of the Unge Deichman (Young Deichman) department.

This according to “Boomwhackers: A public library service for music teachers in the public school system in Oslo, Norway” by Ann Kunish (Fontes artis musicae LVII/3 [July–September 2010] pp. 291–95). Below, the Unge Deichman department demonstrates.

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