The LOC.GOV Wise Guide : 'Song of America'

The Library of Congress' Song of America Tour features the renowned baritone, the "Ambassador of American Song" Thomas Hampson, who has joined with the Library of Congress to bring alive the Library's extraordinary American musical resources.

Three violins from a collection of seven Cremonese stringed instruments in the Music Division of the Library of Congress

A champion of the American song, Hampson's collaboration with the Library materializes as a 12-city concert tour across the United States, highlighting the Library's unparalleled collections of songs through concerts, recordings and Webcasts. Hampson's repertoire spans the gamut of the American song, from the 1700s to the present, and emphasizes its context in society, ranging from Psalm settings and hymns, folksongs and cowboy songs, to war songs and African American spirituals.

A new Web site devoted to the Hampson tour and related events and activities is now available. There, you can access the tour schedule and learn how to get free tickets. A "Resources for Teachers" section offers teacher-tested lesson plans for studying, though the use of primary sources, music in the classroom.

The Music Division of the Library of Congress has a collection of more than 12 million items, spanning more than 800 years of music history. "Library of Congress: Music, Theater, Dance," is an illustrated guide to these fascinating materials.

A. Thomas Hampson, who will embark on his Song of America Tour beginning this November. Reproduction information: Not available for reproduction.

B. Three violins from a collection of seven Cremonese stringed instruments in the Music Division of the Library of Congress (from left): Niccolò Amati, 1654 (the "Brookings"); Antonio Stradivari, 1704 (the "Betts"); Giuseppe Guarneri (del Gesù), 1733 (the "Kreisler"). (Photograph by Dane Penland). Reproduction information: Not available for reproduction.