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Voice: 202.707.2905
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Email: pao@loc.gov
Public contact: Donna Williams (202) 707-2329
Website: www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert
August 8, 2008
Library of Congress Announces 83rd Concert Season
Centennial Celebrations Honoring Carter and Messiaen, Library Commissions, Music and the Brain Project Mark Calendar
The 2008-09 Concerts from the Library of Congress season presents a stellar lineup of more than 40 free events inspired by the resources of the world’s largest music archive of more than 22 million items. Celebration is a key theme for the Library's 83rd season, with special projects honoring the 100th birthday of Elliott Carter, the centennial anniversary of Olivier Messiaen, major anniversaries for Franz Joseph Haydn and George Frederic Handel, and a 16-event series marking the bicentennial of Felix Mendelssohn.
New music remains a strong focus, with a long and distinguished commissioning tradition continuing to blossom in the premieres of new works by György Kurtág, Steve Antosca, Kevin Puts and Judith Shatin. To honor the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, the Library's Francis Scala Fund announces a trio of commissions for wind ensemble to Quincy C. Hilliard, Gay Holmes Spears and Paul W. Whear.
In December the Library continues its tribute to the 100th birthday of Elliott Carter. Kicking off the celebration was the performance of the Library's Carter commission, Quintet for Piano and String Quartet (with Music Accord, 1997), on May 29 with the Pacifica Quartet. This season features the Library's other Carter commission, the Duo for Violin and Piano (McKim Fund, 1974), performed by Sequitur. The Washington-based Verge Ensemble unwraps two new works commissioned by the Library in Carter's honor: Judith Shatin's "Tower of the Eight Winds"; and Steve Antosca's "Kairos."
February 2009 introduces a new Library of Congress Coolidge Foundation commission, when the eminent Hungarian composer György Kurtág appears at the Library with his wife Márta. The Kurtágs will give the world-premiere performance of his "Hommàge à Bartók," in an evening evoking Béla Bartók’s historic Library concert with Joseph Szigeti. Kurtág’s visit, his first to the United States with concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Library, is part of "Extremely Hungary: A Year of Performances and Exhibitions in New York City and Washington, D.C. Celebrates Hungary's Contemporary Arts and Impact on American Culture." The event is cosponsored by the Hungarian Cultural Center New York and the Embassy of Hungary.
Marking the centenary of Olivier Messiaen, a lecture by Messiaen authority Peter Hill introduces Christopher Taylor's performance of the "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus," and Tony Arnold sings Messiaen's "Harawi" song cycle. Screened at the Mary Pickford Theater will be "Apparition of the Eternal Church," a 2006 documentary by Paul Festa that captures the responses of 31 authors, musicians, filmmakers and dancers to Messaien's organ work of the same name.
"Mendelssohn on the Mall" presents an intensive season-long immersion in the music of Felix Mendelssohn, marking the bicentennial anniversary of his birth. The unique resources of the Library's Gertrude Clarke Whittall Mendelssohn Collection document his life and the cultural context for his music: original manuscripts, more than 300 letters, portrait engravings, watercolors and the Mendelssohn family scrapbook, to be displayed in February 2009. A highlight is a new work by Kevin Puts, co-commissioned by the Library, the Cypress String Quartet, the Lied Center of Kansas and the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center in Illinois. Project partners are the Library, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academy of Sciences.
Music and the Brain launches in October 2008, with psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison, one of the nation's most influential writers on creativity and the mind, as project chair. Presented through the generous support of the Dana Foundation, this two-year series brings together an impressive roster of scientists, physicians, anthropologists, composers, music theorists, psychologists and other experts, spotlighting the explosion of new research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music.
Concerts from the Library of Congress returns to the airwaves with a new radio season in Spring 2009, taking the Library's performances to more than a million listeners. Established with the inaugural Coolidge Auditorium concert in 1925, the radio series is the nation's longest-running chamber music series on the air, currently heard in more than 180 American cities. Conductor, composer and broadcaster Bill McGlaughlin, creator of the Peabody Award-winning program "Saint Paul Sunday Morning," is the host.
The Library's concert series is presented free of charge to the public but requires tickets for admission. Tickets are distributed by TicketMaster at (202) 397-7328, (410) 547-7328 and (703) 573-7328. Each ticket carries a nominal service charge of $2.75, with additional charges for phone orders and handling. Tickets are also available at TicketMaster outlets and online at www.TicketMaster.com. Although the supply of tickets may be exhausted, there are often empty seats at concert time. Interested patrons are encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to wait in the standby line for no-show tickets.
For further information on Concerts from the Library of Congress, please call the Concert Information Line at (202) 707-5502, or visit www.loc.gov.
CONCERTS and PROGRAMS from the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 2008-09
Unless otherwise noted, all concerts will be held at 8 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium, located on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street, S.E. Programs are subject to change without notice.
2008
Wednesday, Sept. 17
Homegrown Concert at Noon
The Bajich Brothers perform tamburizta music from Kansas.
The program is co-sponsored by the American Folklife Center and the Music Division in cooperation with the Kennedy Center Millennium State and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
No tickets required
Thursday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.
Lecture: Annegret Fauser, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
"After Pearl Harbor: Music, War and the Library of Congress"
The second lecture in a series by members of the American Musicological Society who have done significant research using the collections of the Library's Music Division.
No tickets required
Thursday, Oct. 2
Homegrown Concert at Noon
The Bar J Wranglers perform cowboy music from Wyoming.
The program is co-sponsored by the American Folklife Center and the Music Division in cooperation with the Kennedy Center Millennium State and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
No tickets required
Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.
"Soldiers of Music: Rostropovich Returns to Russia"
Film screening of the Emmy Award-winning 1991 documentary, Coolidge Auditorium.
No tickets required
Friday, Oct. 17
Collegium Vocale Gent, with Kristian Bezuidenhout, fortepiano
Performances from The Haydn Songbook, and solo keyboard works.
Tickets available Sept. 17
Friday, Oct. 24
Jim Hall Trio
World grandmaster of the jazz guitar makes a rare Washington appearance with his trio.
Tickets available Sept. 24
Saturday, Oct. 25
Christopher Taylor, piano
Messiaen Centennial Concert
A mathematician-turned-pianist, Taylor is admired for his blazing accounts of one of the great Herculean challenges of the piano repertory: Messiaen's "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus," the composer's contemplations on mystical love.
Tickets available Sept. 24
Preconcert presentation at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion: Peter Hill, University of Sheffield, discusses "Messiaen in War and Peace: from 'Vingt regards ...' to 'Harawi'; and the Tristan Trilogy."
No tickets required
Thursday, Oct. 30
Fireworks Ensemble
Founder's Day Concert
This young ensemble frolics, waltzes, swings, bounces, and rocks through 700 years of party music--from 14th-century dance tunes through Haydn, Johann Strauss Jr., Duke Ellington, Copland, the Bee Gees, David Byrne and New Order.
Tickets available Oct. 1
Saturday, Nov. 1
Tony Arnold, soprano, and Jacob Greenberg, piano
Messiaen Centennial Concert
Songs of Love and Death, including Messiaen's "Harawi" song cycle.
Tickets available Oct. 1
Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium: The Washington premiere of Olivier Messiaen's 1933 "Fantaisie pour violon et piano," published for the first time in January 2007. Presented by violinist and filmmaker Paul Festa.
No tickets required
Friday, Nov. 7
Tetzlaff Quartet
Mozart: Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Berg: Lyric Suite
Sibelius: Quartet in D minor ("Voces Intimae")
Tickets available Oct. 1
Noon - 2 p.m.: Master class with Christian Tetzlaff
Thursday, Nov. 13
Kuss Quartet
With its edgy "Kuss Plus" series at Berlin clubs, and close associations with composers like Helmut Lachenmann and György Kurtág, this German quartet offers a mirror to our modern music culture.
Haydn: String Quartet in D Major, op. 64, no. 5 ("Lark")
Lachenmann: String Quartet no. 3 ("Grido")
Schubert: String Quartet in A minor, D. 804 ("Rosamunde")
Tickets available Oct. 8
Friday, Nov. 14
Takács Quartet and Muzsikás, with guest artist Márta Sebestyén
A rollicking exploration of the folk and gypsy roots in the music of Béla Bartók, with Hungary's leading folk ensemble, Muzsikás, and its most famous folk singer. Bartók’s Fourth String Quartet, Violin Duos, the Sonatina and Rumanian Folk Dances are counterpoised with folk ballads and dances from Transylvania.
Tickets available Oct. 8
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Homegrown Concert at Noon
Surati performs classical and folk Indian dance from New Jersey.
The program is co-sponsored by the American Folklife Center and the Music Division in cooperation with the Kennedy Center Millennium State and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
No tickets required
Friday, Nov. 21
Rosanne Cash and Mark O'Connor
An evening evoking the life of the legendary Johnny Cash, with O'Connor's piano trio, Poets and Prophets, and selections from Cash's album "Black Cadillac," plus O'Connor's arrangements of Cash's songs.
Tickets available Oct. 15
Friday, Dec. 5
American Creativity: Chamber Music of Charles Wuorinen
Adding to the Library's gallery of composer portraits, an all-Wuorinen concert by a septet of distinguished artists, including Mark Steinberg,Alan Feinberg, Jo Ellen Miller, Lois Martin, Fred Sherry, Moran Katz and Michael Atkinson. Plus the composer will be conducting members of "The President's Own" Marine Band.
A Winter's Tale, for soprano and six players; Sonata for Violin and Piano (McKim Fund commission); The Winds
Tickets available Oct. 22
Thursday, Dec. 11
Verge Ensemble
Elliott Carter Centennial Celebration
Carter: 8 Pieces for 4 Timpani; Enchanted Preludes; Scrivo en Vento; A Mirror in Which to Dwell
Judith Shatin: Tower of the Eight Winds, for violin and piano
Steve Antosca: Kairos, for violin, harpsichord and computer
(World premieres; Library of Congress McKim Fund commissions)
Tickets available Oct. 29
Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion: Composers Steve Antosca and Judith Shatin.
No tickets required
Friday, Dec. 12
Sequitur
Elliott Carter Centennial Celebration
Carter: Duo for Violin and Piano (Library of Congress McKim Fund commission, 1974)
Carter: Double Concerto for piano, harpsichord and two chamber orchestras; also works by Harold Meltzer and Steven Burke
Tickets available Oct. 29
Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion: Composers Harold Meltzer and Steven Burke.
No tickets required
Thursday, Dec. 18
Harlem Quartet with Carter Brey, cello
Stradivari Anniversary Concert
Franz Schubert's sublime String Quintet in C major, D. 956, is the centerpiece of this program by the Harlem Quartet, first-place laureates of the Sphinx Competition.
Tickets available Nov. 5
2009
Friday, Feb. 6
Cypress String Quartet
The engaging and creative Cypress presents a new work by Kevin Puts--"an emerging young composer who is turning heads around the country"--written in "response" to Mendelssohn's first string quartet and Beethoven's last.
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in A minor, op. 13
Puts: Title to be announced (*world premiere)
Beethoven: String Quartet in F major, op. 135
Tickets available Dec. 24
*Co-commissioned by the Library of Congress, Cypress String Quartet, Lied Center of Kansas and the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center in Illinois
Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 pm in the Whittall Pavilion: Composer Kevin Puts talks about his new quartet.
No tickets required
Saturday, Feb. 7
György and Márta Kurtág, duo pianists
Keller String Quartet
Hommage à Bartók
A new work by György Kurtág, commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, pays homage to Béla Bartók. Kurtág’s performance with his wife Márta evokes Bartók’s legendary appearance at the Library in April 1940 with violinist Joseph Szigeti. The evening includes selections from Kurtág’s Jatékok (Games) and the Bartók Fifth String Quartet, also a Coolidge commission.
Part of "Extremely Hungary: A Year of Performances and Exhibitions in New York City and Washington, D.C. Celebrates Hungary's Contemporary Arts and Impact on American Culture."
Cosponsored by the Hungarian Cultural Center and the Embassy of Hungary.
Tickets available Dec. 24
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Mira Trio
Named after "Stella mira" ("wonderful star")--a red giant star also called Omicron Ceti--this trio led by pianist Byron Schenkman has designed a special program for the Library's Mendelssohn celebration. A rare opportunity to hear Fanny Mendelssohn's Piano Trio, along with her brother's Trio in C minor, op. 66, and Songs without Words by both composers.
Tickets available Dec. 31
Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion: Susan Clermont, Music Division
No tickets required
Friday, Feb. 13
Atrium Quartet
Prizewinner of the London and Bordeaux competitions, this young St. Petersburg group has won praise for a "unanimity of musical feeling and intuition that is only found in top-class quartets."
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in F minor, op. 80
Shostakovich: String Quartet in B-flat major, op. 92
Borodin: String Quartet no. 2 in D Major
Tickets available Dec. 31
Wednesday, Feb. 18
Trio con Brio Copenhagen with James Dunham, viola
With the violist of the famous Cleveland Quartet, this young threesome--a prizewinning ensemble of the 2005 Kalichstein Laredo Robinson International Trio Award--performs Beethoven's monumental "Archduke" Trio and Mendelssohn's Piano Quartet in B minor, op. 3.
Tickets available Jan. 7
Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion: R. Larry Todd, Duke University
No tickets required
Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
Lecture: R. Larry Todd, Duke University
"Reflections on the Mendelssohn Bicentenary"
Musicologist and author of the most recent comprehensive biography of Felix Mendelssohn, "A Life in Music," Todd shares his insights on Mendelssohn's reception in the 19th and 20th centuries and how different composers have responded to his music. Coolidge Auditorium.
No tickets required
Friday, Feb. 27
Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh
Betsy Burleigh, director
A century old in 2008, Pittsburgh's Mendelssohn Choir is its oldest continuously running cultural organization.
Psalm 55; Sechs Sprüche, op. 79; plus selections from Mozart, Handel and Haydn.
Tickets available Jan. 14
Thursday, March 5
Belcea Quartet
Noted for poetic musicality and an enviable color palette, the Belcea has gained a reputation for memorable collaborations with such artists as Ian Bostridge, Thomas Adès and Anne Sofie von Otter.
Haydn: String Quartet in F-sharp minor, op. 50, no. 4
Prokofiev: String Quartet no. 1 in B minor, op. 50 (Coolidge commission)
Schubert: String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden")
Tickets available Jan. 21
Friday, March 6
Biréli Lagrène and Sylvain Luc, duo guitarists
Biréli Lagrène makes a rare U.S. appearance with colleague Sylvain Luc, displaying an affinity for the legendary Django Reinhardt, playing off each other with "an almost telepathic ease and a delicate rapport ... turning pop songs into gorgeous jazz balladry.
Co-sponsored by the Embassy of France
Tickets available Jan. 21
Friday, March 13
Quatuor Ébène
"Interpreters of rare understanding and communicative flair," writes The Strad about this French foursome, top prizewinners and now considered one of the best young quartets worldwide.
Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, op. 10
Fauré: String Quartet, op. 121
Ravel: String Quartet in F major
Tickets available Jan. 28
Friday, March 27
New Zealand Quartet with guest artist Richard Nunns, traditional Maori instruments
Whitehead: "Sprouting to the Sky"; Puhake ki te rangi, for string quartet and Maori instruments
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E minor, op. 44, no. 2
Schubert: String Quartet in G major, D 887
Tickets available Feb. 11
Friday, April 3
Dominant Quartet
Founded in Moscow in 1995 and mentored by Valentin Berlinsky of the Borodin Quartet, the Dominant holds a top place among the young generation of musical ensembles in Russia.
Haydn: String Quartet in D major, op. 76, no. 5
Vainberg: Quartet no. 8 in C minor
Beethoven: String Quartet in E minor, op. 59, no. 2
Tickets available Feb. 18
Friday, April 17
Brentano Quartet with Peter Serkin, piano, and Richard Lalli, reciter
Considered one of the world's finest string quartets, the Brentano is the winner of both the prestigious Cleveland Quartet and Naumburg Chamber awards. Partnering with Peter Serkin, they premiere a new Wuorinen work this season.
Haydn: String Quartet in D minor, op. 76, no. 2 ("Quinten")
Wuorinen: New Piano Quintet (Washington premiere)
Schoenberg: Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, op. 41 for speaker, string quartet, and piano
Tickets available March 4
Saturday, April 18
Quatuor Mosaïques
At the peak of period instrument performance, the Mosaïques players command critical acclaim for their "richly sonorous, full-bodied sound, bold, revelatory interpretations."
Haydn: String Quartet in G minor, op. 20, no. 3; and String Quartet in F major, op. 77, no. 2
Schubert: String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden")
Tickets available March 4
Friday, April 24
Geringas Baryton Trio
A cellist's cellist, Lithuanian David Geringas reveals some of Haydn's interesting Italian and German connections, with violist Hartmut Rohde and cellist Jens-Peter Maintz.
Tomasini: Baryton Trio in C major; Rossini: Duo for 2 cellos
Paganini: Variations on a Theme by Rossini for viola and 2 cellos
Haydn: Baryton trios in C major, Hob. XI:82; and D major, Hob. XI:97
Tickets available March 11
Saturday, April 29
Cello Workshop with David Geringas
10 a.m., Coolidge Auditorium
No tickets required
Thursday, April 30 at 7 p.m.
Lecture/Recital: Ludwig Sémerjian
"Touching History--Pianos in Perspective"
Frank P. Baer, curator of historic instruments at Nuremberg's German National Museum, and fortepianist Ludwig Semerjian from Quebec share their experience of a journey into the land of the forgotten sound.
No tickets required
Friday, May 1
Ludwig Sémerjian, fortepiano
Schubert: Sonata in C major, D. 840 ("Reliquie")
Haydn: Sonata in E-flat major, Hob. XVI:52; Sonata in A-flat major, Hob. XVI: 46
Beethoven: Eleven New Bagatelles, op. 119
Tickets available March 18
Friday, May 8
Ethos Percussion Group with Bernard Woma, Ghanaian xylophone; and M'bembe Bangoura, Guinean drum
Steve Reich and Robert Levin--chamber works for percussion--alongside traditional and new African pieces.
Tickets available March 25
Wednesday, May 21
Trio Apollon
Founded by soloists from the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, this trio comprises clarinet, viola and piano, described by Robert Schumann as "the most romantic combination of instruments."
Schumann: Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales), op. 132
Matthus: Wasserspiele (Dedicated to Trio Apollon)
Bruch: Three Pieces from op. 83
Françaix: Trio
Tickets available April 8
Friday, May 29
Carole Farley, soprano, and John Constable, piano
Francis Poulenc's "La Voix Humaine"
Farley has claimed this tour-de-force role for her own. Gramophone magazine gave kudos to her double DVD of this work, paired with Menotti's "The Telephone."
With surtitles.
Tickets available April 15
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS IN THE 2008-09 SEASON
MUSIC AND THE BRAIN
All programs begin at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion, unless otherwise noted. No tickets or reservations are required.
The two-year Music and the Brain series centers on the rapidly expanding field of "neuromusic," new research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music, and is presented by the Library's Music Division and the Science, Technology and Business Division, through the generous support of the Dana Foundation. Kay Redfield Jamison, psychologist and professor of psychiatry at the Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University, is program chair.
Oct. 17
Ellen Dissanayake, University of Washington
"Homo Musicus: How Music Began"
Dissanayake suggests that the components of "baby talk," proto-aesthetic, temporally organized elements, are the origin of human music. Because infants are born ready to engage in these encounters and to prefer their visual, vocal and gestural components to any other sight or sound, she argues that humans are innately prepared to be musical.
Oct. 24
Dr. Charles J. Limb, department of otolaryngology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; faculty, Peabody Conservatory of Music
"Your Brain on Jazz: Neural Substrates of Spontaneous Improvisation"Many scientists have examined music cognition--how the brain permits music to be perceived and learned--but few have studied brain activity while music is being spontaneously created, or improvised. Limb's recent research with jazz pianists reveals increased brain activity during improvisation in the medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain linked with self-expression and activities that convey individuality. In addition, broad areas of the lateral prefrontal cortex, thought to be linked to self-censoring, were turned off, or deactivated.
Oct. 30
Jessica Krash, George Washington University, and Norman Middleton, Music Division
"Dangerous Music II"
Middleton and Krash explore the psychological and social issues associated with the human tendency toward censorship of musical expression, as well as what has been described as "suicide-by-music" and crimes that have been connected to musical genres.
Nov. 7
Aniruddh D. Patel, The Neurosciences Institute
"The Music of Language and the Language of Music"
Patel, author of "Music, Language and the Brain," discusses some of the hidden connections between language and instrumental music that are being uncovered by empirical scientific studies.
Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium
Daniel Levitin, director of McGill University's Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and Expertise
"The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature"
Levitin, best-selling author of "This is Your Brain on Music," blends cutting-edge scientific findings with his own experiences as a former record producer and still-active musician.
Dec. 5
David Huron, School of Music, Ohio State University
"Why Do Listeners Enjoy Music That Makes Them Weep"
Music-induced weeping represents one of the most powerful and potentially sublime experiences available to human listeners. Modern neuroscience provides helpful insights into music-induced weeping, how sounds can evoke sadness or grief, and why such sounds might lead to "a good cry."
Feb. 3, from 7 - 9:30 p.m.
Depression and Creativity Symposium
Kay Redfield Jamison convenes a discussion exploring the effects of depression on creativity with three distinguished colleagues from the fields of neurology and neuropsychiatry: Dr. Antonio Damasio, professor of neuroscience, neurology and psychology and co-founder and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California; Dr. Terence Ketter, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and chief of the Bipolar Disorders Clinic at Stanford University; and Dr. Peter Whybrow, director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Presented in cooperation with the Mood Disorders Center, Johns Hopkins University
March 5
Steven Brown, McMaster University
"From Mode to Emotion in Musical Communication"
Looking at the expression of emotion in both Western and non-Western music, Brown invokes the theory of Clore and Ortony, who posit three categories of emotions: "outcome" emotions related to the outcomes of goal-directed actions (e.g., happiness, sadness); "aesthetic" emotions related to the appraisal of the quality of objects (e.g., like, dislike); and "moral" emotions related to an assessment of the agency of individuals' actions (e.g., praise, scorn).
March 13
Jacqueline Helfgott, Criminal Justice Department at Seattle University, and Norman Middleton, Music Division
"Halt or I'll Play Vivaldi! Classical Music as Crime Stopper"
Helfgott and Middleton examine the use of classical music by law enforcement and other cultural institutions as social control, to quell and prevent crime. Their conversation touches on how classical music is viewed in contemporary culture and how it can be a tool for discouraging criminal activity and anti-social behavior, as well as its history as a mind-altering experience.
March 27
Michael Kubovy and Judith Shatin, University of Virginia
"The Mind of the Artist"
Debate has long raged about whether and how music expresses meaning beyond its sounding notes. Kubovy and Shatin discuss evidence that music does indeed have a semantic element, and offer examples of how composers embody extra-musical elements in their compositions.
INSIGHTS: EXPLORING THE COLLECTIONS
All events are in the Coolidge Auditorium, unless otherwise noted. No tickets required are required.
The Library's Music Division opens the vaults of its vast collections in a new educational initiative welcoming the music community and the wider audience of music-lovers interested in its public programs. The Curtis Institute and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University are this season's institutional partners.
Thursday, Feb. 26, at 8 p.m.
Curtis on Tour
Igor Stravinsky's "L'histoire du soldat" ("A Soldier's Tale"), is the focus, performed by gifted chamber players from the Curtis Institute. Also, a new work by composer and Curtis alumnus David Ludwig.
Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion: Dance curator Elizabeth Aldridge talks about the genesis of Stravinsky's 1928 ballet Apollon-Musagète, commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation
Saturday, May 9, at 2 p.m.
The Revolutionary ViolinThe French Revolution gave birth to completely new ideas of music and "violinists." The classicism of Marie Antoinette's violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti contrasted dramatically with the style of the arch-revolutionary Niccolò Paganini. Playing on the Library's instruments, British violinist Peter Sheppard-Skaerved illustrates how Viotti influenced his contemporaries, among them Pierre Baillot and Anton Reicha.
Saturday, May 23 at 2 p.m.
Bach in Cremona
Violinist and Borromeo Quartet founder Nicholas Kitchen discusses and performs excerpts from J.S. Bach's Sonatas and Partitas--with projections of the manuscripts. The program showcases five instruments in the Library's Cremonese Collection: the two Guarneris (the "Kreisler" and "Baron Vitta-Goldberg"); the "Brookings" Amati; and two of the Whittall Stradivari, (the "Betts" and the "Castelbarco").
FILMS AT THE PICKFORD THEATER
Reservations may be made by phone, beginning one week before any given show. Call (202) 707-5677 during business hours. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before showtime, after which standbys will be admitted to unclaimed seats. All programs begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted and are free, but seating is limited to 60 seats. The Mary Pickford Theater is located on the third floor of the Library of Congress Madison Building. For more information, visit the theater's Web site at www.loc.gov/pickford.
Oct. 31: "Apparition of the Eternal Church" (2006)
Rock 'n' Roll in the Fall at the Nation's Library: Nov. 17:"Heartland Reggae" (1980); Dec. 9: "A Labyrinth of Time" (2006); and Dec. 15: "Stop Making Sense" (1984).
Frank Zappa Mini-Film Festival: Nov. 24: "Uncle Meat" (1987); Dec. 1: "The Amazing Mr. Bickford" (1987) and "Does Humor Belong in Music" (1985); and Dec. 8: "200 Motels" (1971).
Jazz in the Spring at the Nation's Library
Wednesdays, April 1-22 (To be announced)
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PR 08-133
08/08/08
ISSN 0731-3527
