Music

Beverly Sills musical scores have arrived at Lincoln Center in a venue in which she never sang: The Music Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. We take pride in announcing that we received the collection of her scores from her estate auction at Doyle's New York on October 7, 2009. (We also obtained two costume designs by Thierry Bosquet, a frequent designer for the New York City Opera, which I'll discuss in another post.)  read more »

"Everyone thinks it was because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that's true."

When Mia and her family go out for a drive that snowy morning, none of them realize everything is about to change in If I Stay (2009) by Gayle Forman. It was a freak accident. A random act. But suddenly, a truck swerves into their car. The next thing Mia knows she is staring down at the dead bodies of her mother and father. She can't find her younger brother, Teddy. What Mia does find is her own broken body being rushed to a hospital.

Before the accident Mia had a lot of decisions to make about her future. Should she follow her first love--music--to Juilliard in New York? Should she stay on the West Coast to be with her boyfriend? But after the accident, Mia only has one choice. Should she stay?  read more »

Michael Jackson’s sudden and tragic death has revealed the truly iconic status he had achieved in the world. While some of the news media has chosen to continually harp on what they have labeled as Michael’s eccentricities, especially what they have called his bizarre appearance and behavior over the last few years, his 40 years of unbroken creativity and musical genius have secured his enduring iconic status in the minds of an adoring global public. No death in the last century, including Elvis’s and Princess Diana’s has generated the kinds of spontaneous and sustained expressions of love, respect, and tribute that Michael’s passing has.

His musical genius and his iconic status have earned him a permanent and revered place in the hearts, minds, and memories of people of all races, colors, creeds, cultures, and genders throughout the world. The bigger than life icon that Michael Jackson became did all of that for him. Becoming an icon has its price however. Icons frequently consume, confuse, and destroy their hosts. They compete with and frequently engulf the real self. They rob the person of their identity and privacy, then turn them into objects of prey, subvert normal human relations, and induce aberrant behavior. (Witness icons like Elvis, Anna Nicole Smith, and most recently Heath Ledger.) Such was likely the case with Michael Jackson.  read more »

This year has seen many concerts marking the bicentennial of composer Joseph Haydn's death on May 31, 1809. As part of these events, the publisher, G. Henle Verlag of Munich has issued a facsimile of one of the Music Division's prized manuscripts, Haydn's Variations in F Minor, Hob. XVII:6. Composed in 1793, this work contains (in the words of noted musicologist James Webster): "arguably Haydn’s most original and concentrated double-variation movement, with a coda (added in revision) of Beethovenian power."  read more »

Economy has you down? Can’t afford to go away this summer? Cheer up! Plan a vacation right at home in New York City. Go library hopping and enjoy a plethora of high quality cultural performances at the New York Public Library - for FREE!

Last Saturday, I visited the Bronx Library Center (where a free performance is offered every Saturday at 2:30 pm), and was treated to the finest quality of Latin Jazz performed by an ensemble led by one of the masters of Latin Jazz – Edy Martinez. Edy Martinez is one of the developers of Latin jazz and an honoree of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.
He has won much acclaim for his cds Midnight Jazz Affair and Privilegio.

Edy Martinez and ensemble in concert at the Bronx Library Center →

This is just one of the many high quality free performances you can enjoy at the New York Public Library. Each month vast array of programs are offered. Here are a few highlights of what’s coming up:

Jose Obando – a Salsa Expert and Museologist and his ensemble will be performing at the following libraries:

Aguilar Library – Saturday, May 9 at 2 pm
Van Cortlandt Library - Saturday, May 16 at 2 pm
125th Street Library – Saturday, May 30 at 3 pm
Inwood Library – June 13 at 2:00 pm
Castle Hill Library - June 27 at 2:00 pm

Jose Obando’s performances are more than just music performances. He educates the audience by explaining the history and cultural context of the actual selections performed. Subsequently, individuals who have no formal knowledge of this music appreciate it all the more.

If you’re a theater fan – then you don’t want to miss Brief Shorts - A Tribute to Ionesco's Centennial by the Xoregos Performing Company, a talented group of actors.

← Xoregos Performing Company with Erin Jennings and Keith Carter.  Costumes by Carla Gant.

Brief Shorts, a quintet of unusual danced plays by five contemporary playwrights including its tribute to Eugène Ionesco. Celebrating the centenary of Ionesco’s birth, they will perform his 1953 playlet, Maid to Marry. The program also includes works by Adam Kraar and Adé Adémola, both living in Brooklyn, Rick Foster, who lives in Northern California and Curtis Zahn, a published Southern California playwright and poet.

Brief Shorts will be performed at the following libraries:

Yorkville Branch Library - Monday, June 29 at 6:30 pm
Muhlenberg Branch Library - Tuesday, July 7 at 6 pm
Morningside Heights Branch Library - Thursday, July 9 at 6 pm
96th Street Branch Library - Saturday, July 11 at 2 pm
Hamilton Grange Branch Library - Monday, July 13 at 5 pm
Webster Branch Library - Thursday, July 16 at 6 pm
Kips Bay Branch Library - Saturday, July 18 at 2:30 pm

To see more performances, please visit our calendar at http://www.nypl.org/calendar

Or just stay tuned to hear more about upcoming events … (Sneak preview: Circus in the library, shhh!)

Saturday, April 18, 2009 the St. George Library on Staten Island joined in the 6th annual Immigrant Heritage Week Celebration (April 17- 23), featuring tap and African dance to African drumming and percussion. The duo of Irene Koloseus and Andy Algire entertained, educated and engaged a lively audience of adults and children about the art of American tap dance and traditional West African music.

Irene Koloseus and Andy Algire played the Balafon, a xylophone type of instrument closely associated with Guinea and with Senegal and The Gambia. Ms. Koloseus challenged Mr. Algire in a competition to follow the beat of her tap dance steps by him playing the Balafon. The audience enthusiastically clapped to the beat of tap and Balafon.  read more »

Beginning in late September 2008, The Performing Arts Library (LPA) hosted two Duke Jazz Series concerts with Dafnis Prieto Sextet and Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto. The members of those groups were wonderful individuals with extraordinary talent. Every musician expressed their love for the music; we witnessed that excitement and burst of energy when they performed. My favorite musician was Jeff Busch from Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto who is the percussionist for that group. The piece that he stood out the most was “Feira Livre,” from Jovino Santos Neto’s album Canto do Rio.

We are pleased to start the New Year and our new Jazz season with Donny McCaslin, who is participating in our next Duke Jazz Series concert. Donny McCaslin who plays the tenor saxophone, will be performing on January 7, 2009 with David Binney, Scott Colley, Adam Cruz, Gonzalo Grau, Ben Monder, and featuring the vocals of Kate McGarry. The Donny McCaslin Group will be performing selected songs from McCaslin’s sixth album In Pursuit, described as “The concept of “pursuit,” single-minded devotion to a distant goal, marked by inventive exploration has characterized his music almost from the beginning.”

Some of the musicians who will be performing in upcoming Duke Jazz Series concerts are Jane Ira Bloom, Ben Allison, and Drew Gress, along with few others. All the performances will be held at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium, at 111 Amsterdam Avenue @ 65th Street. Doors open at 7:00, show at 7:30 p.m. Admission to this show is free, and is first-come, first-served.

I just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s new book Outliers. I also recently booked (through the summer) films for Jefferson Market’s Monday night film screenings, including some great music documentaries in February. I’ve been thinking about both Outliers and music a lot recently.

On Monday February 2nd at 6PM we are showing Let’s Get Lost, Bruce Weber’s 1988 documentary about Chet Baker. This is an amazing film that has yet to be released on DVD in the United States. The reason? Unknown! If you haven’t seen Let’s Get Lost this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. Watch for appearances by a young Chris Isaak and Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Also of note are interviews with Baker’s childhood friend Jack Sheldon who later voiced such School House Rock classics as Conjunction Junction and I’m Just a Bill.

On Monday February 9th at 6pm we are showing Is It Really So Strange? This documentary takes a look at an unlikely Morrissey fan base: Latino youths in East Los Angeles. The Smiths broke up in 1987 but Morrissey’s cult of adoring, devoted, and obsessed fans has never been more adoring, devoted, or obsessed. Johnny Marr has also remained busy with many side projects including stints with The Talking Heads, REM, and Modest Mouse. Much news was made about the reunion tours of famously disbanded acts such as The Pixies and Van Halen. Now if the songwriting team of Morrissey and Marr ever got back together, that would be cause for celebration. I know, I know, but never say never.

Lastly, on Monday February 23rd at 6pm we are showing Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen. My earliest recollection of the Arlen song Stormy Weather is from the May 8, 1987 episode of Miami Vice entitled Heroes of the Revolution. It wasn’t like I was even a fan of Miami Vice, but OK, I did watch a few episodes! I don’t know what it was about that song or why I remember the first time hearing it. To this day I can still picture Detective Gina Navarro Calabrese singing in a club with Crockett and Tubbs watching. Actually I don’t even remember if Crockett and Tubbs were in the audience. But they’re in the memory. As far as what I hear in my head when I picture this season three scene from Miami Vice it is now always Ella Fitzgerald’s version. For me, Ella’s is the definitive version of the song. Gina, Crockett, Tubbs, and Ella.

Which brings me to Outliers. The ideas in this book I found most interesting dealt with opportunities. Think about Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, or The Smiths. Each was at the right place and right time for what they were doing. Jazz vocals? You’d be hard pressed to find a better time and place than 1930’s Harlem. Jazz musician? Sure there was an East Coast/West Coast thing going on, but being a jazz musician on either coast in 1951? You can’t beat that time or place! How about a post punk British pop rock band headed by an incredibly talented guitarist and a lyricist well-versed in literature and poetry with a unique vocal delivery? The time and place would ideally be one where you could catch the ear of British DJ John Peel. Peel is singled-handedly credited with launching the careers of countless bands and musicians. If he liked your music then he played your music and you sold many records and became famous. Sure talent comes into play (see Gladwell’s discussions on the 10,000 hour rule) but you can’t ignore the idea of being at the right place at the right time and taking advantage of the opportunities available. Gladwell takes a unique look at computer programmers (Bill Gates, Bill Joy), Jewish lawyers, The Beatles, and hockey players and shows that opportunity (which involves the 10,000 hour rule and being at the right place at the right time) is the key to success. After reading Outliers, I’m convinced.

That got me to thinking. What about librarianship? Being a librarian circa 1880 with Melvil Dewey would have been quite an opportunity and being around for the computer revolutions circa 1980 and 1995 would have been equally as interesting. But in regards to technology, access to information and resources, and the quickly changing virtual landscape (aren’t these all opportunities?) when would be the perfect time to be a librarian?

How Soon is Now?

Librarians of the world, unite and take over.

WaFoo will be performing at the Tottenville Branch Library, 7430 Amboy Road, Staten Island, NY 10307, phone number 718-984-0945 this coming Saturday, July 12 at 2:30PM.

WaFoo, literally meaning "wind of Japan" or simply "Japanese style," is a group of talented musicians who have performed in many different countries across the world. WaFoo blends Japanese philosophy into a variety of music styles to create a lyrical, aesthetic and delightful sound to help regain energy for body and soul.

"WaFoo's amalgam of jazz and traditional elements is very, very easy to love."--Michael Fressola, Arts Editor for the Staten Island Advance.

WaFoo will also be performing at other Staten Island branches during the summer months. For more info you can check www.WaFoo.info

Many warm greetings and thanks to Sebastian Pryke who, in a reponse to one of my previous posts, revealed himself to be the great-great grandnephew of child prodigy James G. Speaight.

Sebastian and his brother Jonathan Pryke are apparently the great-great grandsons of James's brother Joseph Speaight (1868-1947) who was a British pianist, composer, and taught at Trinity College. According to Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians (7th edition), Joseph composed three symphonies, a piano concerto, and other works such as songs. The British Library catalog lists quite a number of songs and small works by Joseph Speaight.

Sebastian mentioned Joseph's unpublished orchestral work, "Vita Brevis," apparently written to commemorates the composer's younger brother. The newspaper article which was affixed to the manuscript is from the Boston Globe.

Here in the Music Division of The New York Public Library I could locate only one score, his string quartet entitled "Some Shakespeare Fairy Characters," published in 1916.

Coincidentally, the only recording of music by Joseph Speaight that I could locate was of the second movement of this quartet. Entitled "The Lonely Shepherd," it was recorded ca. 1927-1929 by the Spencer Dyke String Quartet as a filler side to their recording of Dvorak's Quintet in A major, Op. 81, for the privately financed and short-lived National Gramophonic Society.

Let's hope that an enterprising company like Naxos will someday record a CD filled with the music of Joseph Speaight.

If serendipity is a useful thing when browsing through the holdings of The New York Public Library, it's all the more true for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, whose extensive collection contain an enormous amount of ephemera (most of which does not appear in the catalog). Some years ago, in going through some of our extensive program files, a coworker found an intriguing flyer for the Town Hall (and possibly New York City) recital debut of Oliver J. Dragon, baritone.

The soloist was none other than Ollie, from the famed 1950s television show Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. The rear of the flyer offers many informative comments, and a warm picture with "a friend" -- Licia Albanese, soprano of the Metropolitan Opera.

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(You may be thinking this is some kind of joke, but bear with me -- I do have a point to make below.)

The reviews were singular. Writing in the New York Herald-Tribune of November 27, 1953, Jay S. Harrison wrote:

"Oliver J. Dragon, a distinguished baritone member of the Kuklapolitan Players, gave a recital last night in Town Hall. It was his debut. It was also mine. Never before had the present writer reviewed a singing dragon, and, if the fates oblige, he never will again."

From the same date in the New York Times, chief music critic and author Harold C. Schonberg wrote:

"He is a rather remarkable performer. The way he moves around the stage you'd think he was made out of cloth, or something. He is completely uninhibited. He even departed from the printed list, choosing what suited his fancy. Very unorthodox, very.

It is difficult to appraise his voice, a cross between a whiskey baritone and a basso chevalier. Part of this difficulty stems from the program he selected. Was Bach present? No. Hugo Wolf? No. And how can one assess a singer's musicality without any excerpts from the "Quellennachweissamlungantiphonariumromanusbuchstaben?"

The Music Division has an extensive run of programs from Town Hall, where I was able to find one for November 26, 1953:

The note on page one of the program is particularly interesting:

"Since it is undetermined, at the time of this printing, whether or not Mr. Dragon is going to be in the proper artistic frame of mind to cope with the program as listed, his managers have persuaded him to render his selections in any order he pleases. Consequently, we have numbered each individual song and Mr. Dragon will announce from the stage, by number, the actual order of appearance. Intermission will, in a like manner, be determined by the artist."

Page four of the program offers a unique view of the range of compositions, including composers such as the French Dragoneau through the Italian Dragoni to the "native songs" of Chicago:

A look through the finding aid of the Town Hall Archives (held in the Music Division, call number: JPB 88-26) did not reveal any documentation of this special recital.

So you may be wondering why highlight a children's tv character from the 1950s in a blog devoted to rarities from the Music Division?

Out of necessity (for example, whether by limitations of space, or preservation) most libraries need to make a distinction between materials that can and should be acquired, and those which should not be. For many years, the Music Division has been known for its excellent collections of classical music, but less so in the popular or non-classical areas. Observing current interests and trends in research, it's obvious that we should try to avoid such distinctions, and leave it to our patrons to make that determination for themselves. The value that accrues to objects and information is based on how it is used by the public and the meaning and significance they attach to it.

This recital of a then-leading television program character is certainly humorous, but it can also be seen as a gentle parody of other recitalists who eschew a strict program in favor of a selection and order that is determined on the spot. (Is that not suggestive of later trends in contemporary music, where the unplanned nature of a recital was akin to the creation of music? Think of John Cage.) From the point of view of Town Hall, it shows the democratizing influence of their management (which still continues a tradition of diverse programming).

Much can be learned from an examination of flyers and ephemera. And it's a pleasing thing when the materials are so entertaining.

A recent reference question asked what is the instrumentation of the stage band in act 1 of Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata. In case you've forgotten, the opera opens at the house of Violetta, who's giving a party to celebrate her recovery from illness. After Violetta and Alfredo sing the duet "Libiamo ne' lieti calici," the stage band (banda) begins to play, at which point the party guests exit to the next room to dance, leaving Violetta and Alfredo alone in order to fall in love.

It seemed like a simple question. I pulled the authoritative Works of Giuseppe Verdi edition and found the spot to examine the instrumentation. Surprise! The stage band was written on just two staves--like a piano score. No instruments were indicated at all. I looked at the back of the volume to see if it was included as a supplement. Not finding anything there, I went to the front matter.

I found editor Fabrizio Della Seta's explanation in the introduction, where he states: "Following the practice of his time, Verdi wrote a guida banda (a short score on two staves), leaving its realization to the leader of the banda in theaters staging the work. This instrumentation could vary from theater to theater." Additional reading explained that the editorial practice of the Works of Giuseppe Verdi edition is to transmit what came from Verdi's hand. Other hands, while possibly significant to performance practice, were not incorporated into the edition.  read more »

Welcome to the blog of the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts of the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. It’s my intention for this blog to serve as a way to make the Music Division (and The Library in general) a more accessible and welcoming place by featuring some of the treasures and unusual items we have. I encourage feedback and dialogue on any of the topics I present.

So what better to open a blog that with the frontispiece from a famous book: Athanasius Kircher’s Musurgia Universalis, published in Rome (by Corbelletti) in 1650.

The Special Collections Department of Glasgow University Library possesses a unique hand-colored copy of Musurgia Universalis, and they’ve provided a nice but brief description on their website. Although slightly tangential to his subject, Edward E. Lowinsky provided a more thorough discussion of this page in his article “Ockeghem’s Canon for Thirty-six Voices: An Essay in Musical Iconography” (in Essays in musicology : in honor of Dragan Plamenac on his 70th birthday, edited by Gustave Reese and Robert J. Snow, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, c1969 - ISBN 0822910985, 155-80), of which the following is taken.

There’s an enormous amount of imagery here–a Renaissance-influenced combination of religious and mythological symbols. Its energy reminds me of a sanitized version of some of Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings. At the foreground left, Pythagoras leans on an explanation of his theorem as well as Zarlino’s senario, while the lady holding the cornet on the right side is Music. Both figures have musical instruments at their feet (ancient and modern), while the men inside the opening in the center represent the earthly “musical instrumentalis” and are working on new musical creations. Above them in the distance of the beach are nine satyrs and eight sea-gods. Slightly off to the right, a shepherd speaks to a cliffside with a quote from Virgil “Pascite ut ante Boves” (”graze, cattle, as before…”) which, by means of a dotted line, bounces back as an echo “…oves” - no doubt signifying Kircher’s extensive interest in acoustics. Further to the right of that cliff, a long stone staircase leads to a landing on which is perched Pegasus, ready to take flight in service to the muses.

The central sphere contains signs of the zodiac and, in addition to the author, title and publication information, is emblazoned with a quote from Job “Quis concentum coeli dormire faciet?” (i.e. “Who shall still the harmony of the spheres?”), while Apollo sits on top carrying a kithara in his right hand and panpies in his left.

Like rush hour on a New York City subway, it’s a very amusing and hyperactive artwork. But what interests me most is the musical quotation on this frontispiece. It’s a 36-part canon by Romano Micheli (the Latin indicates that the solution to the canon can be found on page 587). The 36 parts are broken down into 4 groups of 9 voices (i.e. 3 x 3), an hommage to the significance of the three-fold divinity, as well as to the nine muses. More significantly, this canon pays hommage to a famous “lost” work, a 36-voice canon by a master of mensuration, Johannes (or Jean) Ockeghem. Though Lowinsky was convinced he had uncovered the piece (Deo gratia), most scholars agree that the work is lost, and some acknowledge that there is little evidence proving that Ockeghem ever composed such a work.

Nevertheless, when seen in context of the entire book, Kircher’s Musurgia Universalis stands as a historical testament, an exhaustive and fascinating effort by one of the last polymaths to encompass the universe of musical knowledge.

The Music Division holds two copies of Musurgia Universalis (call numbers Drexel 2670-2672), both part of the Drexel Collection (a founding collection of The New York Public Library), while a third copy is held by the Rare Books Division.