The LOC.GOV Wise Guide : Baroque and Bernstein and Bojangles . . . Oh My!

Baroque and Bernstein and Bojangles . . . Oh My!

The Library's Coolidge Auditorium has played host to world-renowned musicians, such as Pete Seeger, The Julliard String Quartet, Blind Boys of Alabama, Suzanne Vega, Dixie Hummingbirds, Dave Brubeck, Odetta, Thomas Hampson and the Kennedy Center Chamber Players, to name just a few. Since 1925, thanks to a generous gift by benefactor Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the stage has been the venue for newly commissioned works and world premieres.

Fritz Kreisler's most famous violin made in 1733 by Giuseppe Guarneri of Cremona, Italy

The 2007-2008 season promises the same excellence the Coolidge Auditorium has become known for, with concerts by Allen Toussaint, Roseanne Cash and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, along with a "West Side Story" tribute from Signature Theatre of Virginia.

The history of the Library's Music Division can be traced back to the collection of 13 books on music literature and theory that were contained in Thomas Jefferson's library, which Congress purchased in 1815. Some 80 years later, the division was formally created and physically ensconced in the Jefferson Building.

Following in Elizabeth Coolidge's steps was Gertrude Clark Whittall, who provided the foundation for the Music Division's instrument collections—five Stradivari, known as the Cremonese Collection. As part of Whittall's donation, she also provided an endowment to ensure professional in-house use of these instruments, which are typically featured as part of the Stradivari Anniversary Concert. For the 2007-2008 season, the Formosa Quartet has the honor during their Dec. 14 concert.

The cellos of Stradivari are the topic of a webcast featured on the Library's webcast site. The taped lecture was part of last year's Stradivari Anniversary celebration.

The Library's Strads aren't the only Cremonese strings in the Music Division's collection. Call it a tale of two violins: In 1952, Fritz Kreisler donated a violin made around 1730 to 1733 by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, another revered violin maker rivaled only by Antonio Stradivari. Guarneri made another violin around that same time from the same wood as the "Kreisler" violin. The instrument, named the "Baron Vitta" after its first known owner, was acquired by Szymon Goldberg in 1958. In May 2007, the "Baron Vitta" was given to the Library by Goldberg's wife, Miyoko Yamane Goldberg, ultimately reuniting these "twin" instruments.

For more information on the Music Division's various collections, visit "The Library of Congress Presents: Music, Theater & Dance," a performing arts digital library that allows you to view the division's available digital collections and search them according to your specific interests.

A. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. 1923. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Information: Reproduction No.: LC-USZ6-1186 (b&w film copy neg.); Call No.: No call number recorded on caption card [item] [Performing Arts RR]

B. Fritz Kreisler's most famous violin made in 1733 by Giuseppe Guarneri of Cremona, Italy. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Information: Reproduction No.: LC-USZ62-67586 (b&w film copy neg.); Call No.: Kreisler Collection [item] [Performing Arts RR]