Bibliolore

by admin | April 21, 2011 · 1:00 am

Stravinsky the global dancer

Stravinsky the global dancer: A chronology of choreography to the music of Igor Stravinsky is a free online database that aims to list all dances choreographed to Stravinsky’s works, with references to about 100 compositions, about 1250 dances, and about 700 choreographers. Compiled by Stephanie Jordan and Larraine Nicholas, it is searchable by title of composition, year of composition, year of choreography, name of choreographer, dance company, and country.

Jordan’s “The demons in a database: Interrogating Stravinsky the global dancer” (Dance research XXII/1 [summer 2004] pp. 57–83) presents analyses of findings in the database regarding the distribution of new Stravinsky dance productions over the years, incidence of choreographing the narrative vs. the concert scores, distribution by choreographer, and distribution by country, along with case studies of the choreographic histories of Le sacre du printemps, Apollo, and Agon.

Above, the composer in his Ballets Russes days with Serge Diaghilev and Serge Lifar, who originated the role of Apollo. Below, the Houston Ballet performs an excerpt from Balanchine’s choreography for that work.

Related articles:

Stravinsky and recording

Stravinsky and Les Apaches

Le style Ballets Russes

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Filed under 20th- and 21st-century music, Dance, Resources

Tagged as Agon, Apollo, Ballet, Ballets Russes, Choreographers, George Balanchine, Houston Ballet, Igor Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Serge Diaghilev, Serge Lifar

by admin | April 19, 2011 · 1:00 am

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann, the largest group worldwide devoted to the preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

With hundreds of branches in 15 countries on 4 continents, the non-profit organization sponsors classes, concerts, and sessions in local communities. It also hosts a website, which accounts for its presence in RILM. A page on their site titled The music includes links to tracks from their CDs, recordings of sessions, and tracks from the Comhaltas Traditional Music Archive; video recordings of some of today’s foremost performers; selections from their own tune books, as well as other tunes from historical sources; a photograph archive; and Treoir, the Comhaltas journal.

Below, Emma O’Sullivan dances a reel at a Comhaltas event. Note that this is not the rigid-posture style popularized by shows like Riverdance, which is considered by many to be a more recent development; this style is known as sean-nós, which means “old style”.

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Filed under Dance, Europe, Resources

Tagged as Anniversaries, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann, Emma O'Sullivan, Folk music of Ireland, Irish dance, Music of Ireland, Riverdance, Step dance

by admin | April 14, 2011 · 1:00 am

Grooves: Edizioni di Musiche Audiotattili

Libreria Musicale Italiana inaugurated the series Grooves: Edizioni di Musiche Audiotattili in 2011 with Jelly Roll Morton, la Old qaudrille e Tiger rag: Una revisione storiografica by Vincenzo Caporaletti. The book explores the longstanding question of whether Morton composed Tiger rag, which he claimed he adapted from an old quadrille, despite its having been copyrighted by Nick La Rocca.

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Filed under Jazz and blues, New series

Tagged as Jelly Roll Morton, Nick La Rocca, Ragtime, Tiger Rag

by admin | April 9, 2011 · 1:00 am

Tablature in PDF and PostScript

Tablature in PDF and PostScript is a large collection of lute music in tablature form created by the lute player and computer technologist Wayne Cripps (above). Each entry is available as an EPS, PDF, and MIDI, file. This free online resource for lute players is hosted by Dartmouth College.

Many thanks to Roderic Leon for alerting us to this compilation!

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Filed under Baroque era, Renaissance, Resources

Tagged as Lute, Tablature

by admin | April 4, 2011 · 1:00 am

Soundscapes Rostock

A project based at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock and led by the ethnomusicologists Barbara Alge and Frances Wilkins in collaboration with students and staff at the Hochschule Wismar, Soundscapes Rostock is an exploration of sounds that in some way define the city and its suburbs.

The aim was to capture and record sounds, musical and environmental, that in some way identify the different areas of the city—anything from political rallies and street musicians in the city center to electric doors, the Christmas market, and industrial sounds. The project was carried out between October 2010 and February 2011, and is now a Web-based resource.

Below, the Christmas market with ambient accordion music.

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Filed under Resources

Tagged as Barbara Alge, Frances Wilkins, Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock, Hochschule Wismar, Rostock

by admin | April 1, 2011 · 1:00 am

Le ballet de la nuit

Le ballet de la nuit, a major ballet de cour, was organized by Louis Cauchon d’Hesselin and first performed in the Louvre’s Salle du Petit Bourbon in 1653. The event was notable for many reasons—not least, for the involvement of the young Louis XIV, who danced in five roles, including his most famous role as the Sun King, accompanied by chosen courtiers and professional dancers, singers, and acrobats.

Edited by Michael Burden and Jennifer Thorp, Ballet de la nuit: Rothschild B1.16.6 (Hillsdale: Pendragon Press, 2009) focuses on the exquisitely produced volume presented to d’Hesselin (who also performed in the work), which passed into the hands of the Rothschild family at Waddesdon Manor and is now in the ownership of the National Trust.

The book presents a full facsimile of the Waddesdon source along with the printed vers pour les personages, lists of performers, cues for special effects, the running order of the entrées, and essays by Burden, Thorp, Catherine Massip, and David Parrott that discuss cultural patronage at the Court of Louis XIV, the musical context, dances and dancers, and the costumes and scenography of this unique and extraordinary ballet. Also included is a modern edition of the surviving music prepared by Lionel Sawkins.

Above, an illustration from the book (click to enlarge); below, Lully’s overture.

Related article: Le Carrousel du Roi

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Filed under Baroque era, Dance, New editions, Visual art

Tagged as Ballet, Catherine Massip, David Parrott, Jennifer Thorp, Lionel Sawkins, Louis Cauchon d’Hesselin, Louis XIV of France, Louvre, Michael Burden, Pendragon Press, Waddesdon Manor

by admin | March 29, 2011 · 1:00 am

The Wanamaker organ

A National Historic Landmark valued over $57 million, the Grand Organ of Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia has 465 ranks, six manual keyboards, and hundreds of other mechanical controls. Designed by the renowned organ architect George Ashdown Audsley, it was built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

In 1909 John Wanamaker bought the instrument for his new emporium. Thirteen freight cars were required to ship it, and installation took two years. The Grand Organ was first heard in the seven-story atrium on 22 June 1911; later that year it was prominently featured when President William Howard Taft dedicated the store. During the following 20 years it was continuously enlarged under the direction of William Boone Fleming.

Daily recitals by store employees provided a harmonious environment for shopping, and special performances, such as annual Christmas concerts, provided outreach to the community. Today the store is owned by Macy’s, and the traditions continue.

This according to “The Grand Court organ” by Ralph Blakely (The musical times CXXX/ 1761 [November 1989] pp. 703–707). Below, Virgil Fox discusses and performs on the organ.

Publications of the Mantzaros Museum

The Filarmonikīs Etaireia Kerkyras (Φιλαρμονική Εταιρεία Κέρκυρας, Philharmonic Society of Corfu) launched the book series Dīmosieumata tou Mouseiou Mousikī “Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros” (Δημοσιεύματα του Μουσείου Μουσική ‘Νικόλαος Χαλικιόπουλος Μάντζαρος’, Publications of the Nikolaos Chalidiopoulos Mantzaros Museum) in 2010, in conjunction with the museum’s opening and the society’s 170th anniversary.

The first volume in the series, Exi meletes gia tī Filarmonikī Etaireia Kerkyras (Έξι μελέτες για τη Φιλαρμονική Εταιρεία Κερκύρας, Six studies on the Corfu Philarmonic Society), includes an overview of the society’s history, a report on its archive, and explorations of selected topics in its history.

Below, the Filarmonikīs plays for the Holy Friday procession, Easter 2010.

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Filed under Europe, New series

Tagged as Anniversaries, Corfu, Greece, Philharmonic Society of Corfu

by admin | March 22, 2011 · 1:00 am

Sophy and Mendelssohn

In 1833 Sophy Horsley, a well-heeled British teenager, wrote to her aunt “Mendelssohn took my album with him the night of our glee-party, but you have no idea how many names he has got me.” Over the following years Horsley and Mendelssohn Bartholdy, who was a family friend, collected musical works, illustrations, and autographs in a 144-page album measuring 1⅞ by 1¼ inches.

Composers who contributed works or snippets included Mendelssohn Bartholdy himself along with Bellini, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Paganini, and Clara Schumann. Drawings and paintings were contributed by Edwin Landseer, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, and Julius Hübner; inscriptions include contributions by Charles Dickens, Jacob Grimm, and Jenny Lind.

This according to “Sophy’s album” by Anne C. Bromer and Julian I. Edison, an article included in Miniature books: 4,000 years of tiny treasures (New York: Abrams, 2007); the book was published in conjunction with an exhibition at The Grolier Club, New York City, from 15 May through 28 July 2007. Many thanks to James Melo for bringing it to our attention!

Below, Rahmaninov plays his transcription of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s “Scherzo” from his incidental music for A midsummer night’s dream, written when the composer was a teenager himself.