Author Archives: Anne Harlow

Introducing Classical Scores Library

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Temple University Libraries is pleased to announce the addition of Classical Scores Library, a new database containing the digitized printed music of hundreds of works. The current release of 1,075 scores includes works by 49 composers of in-copyright material from Boosey & Hawkes as well as material from the University Music Editions microfilm series. Examples of composers included in this first release are Copland, Britten, Stravinsky, and Rorem, and many others. Upon completion, the database will include the entire UME catalog, manuscript materials, complete works of major composers as well as lesser-known composers, and multiple editions of some works for comparison and analysis.

Access and use of the database are simple and practical. Users can search or browse by composer, genre, instrument, type of score, and time period. Scores can also be searched by duration, language, year of publication, and publisher. The scores are provided in pdf format and can be easily downloaded and/or printed.

An exciting feature of the database is cross-linking online scores to corresponding sound recordings with sister database Classical Music Library. Listeners can easily follow the score online in Classical Scores Library at the same time as listening to the music.

Please feel free to contact me, Anne Harlow aharlow@temple.edu, for further information regarding this new resource

New Audio Resources!

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Naxos Music Library / Naxos Music Library Jazz

Temple University Libraries is pleased to announce the
addition of Naxos Music Library and Naxos Music Library Jazz 
to our online streaming audio offerings.

The basis of the collection consists of the entire output of
the Naxos Recording Company. The mission of the company is
and has been since its inception in 1987 to provide the
widest possible range of repertoire to the widest possible
audience, resulting in an extremely extensive online musical
library.

All of Naxos’ recordings are available in the online service
whether they are out of print or still available for
purchase, and every new recording is included in the online
database as soon as it is commercially released. The
collection includes classical, jazz, blues, and world music.
The classical repertoire is thoroughly represented,
including unusual and contemporary works that cannot be
heard elsewhere such as the works of Joachim Raff, William
Henry Fry, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bohuslav Martinu, and
others. The strength of the Naxos collection is in its breadth. The
world music collection is particularly strong in the music
of East Asia. The content of the database grows not only by
the production of new recordings, but also by Naxos
negotiating with other recording companies to include
additional repertoire. Their website states that an
average of 39 CD’s per month were added in 2006.

The interface is easy to use and quite intuitive. Plenty of
online help is available, including a FAQ, User Guide, and
User Instructions. One can use the Advanced Search Feature
to search by keyword, disc or composition title, composer,
artist, record label, arranger, lyricist, performing group,
genre or music category, instrument, period, country, year
composed, and by mood or scenarios. In addition, the
collection is browsable by genres such as Classical,
Jazz/Contemporary, World/Folk, New Age, Chinese, Pop and
Rock and also by categories such as Ballet, Chamber Music,
Sacred Choral, Secular Choral, Composers, Concertos,
Educational, Film Music, Instrumental, Musicals,
Opera/Operetta, TV Music, Vocal, and Collections.

Naxos provides podcasts such as Classical Music Spotlight,
Choral Music of Thomas Tallis, American Jewish Music from
the Milken Archive with Leonard Nimoy, and interviews with
performers and composers.

Faculty can create folders for shared playlists for use in
classes, and provide persistant links to sound recordings in
course management software such as Blackboard .

Sound recordings provide an additional and enjoyable layer
of depth to the understanding of culture and history. The
Naxos Collection is invaluable for teaching history, ethnic
studies, world cultures, and African-American studies as
well as for music, dance, and theater.

Enjoy!

Anne Harlow


Digital Beethoven

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The Beethoven-House in Bonn has recently added to its Digital Archives the sketchbooks of Ludwig van Beethoven. The Archives include digitized first-edition scores, manuscripts, letters, and now sketchbooks. The sketchbooks are particularly important for scholars to understand Beethoven’s creative process. Beethoven had two types of sketchbooks. At his home, he jotted down ideas in large hardbound volumes. But, when he was not at home, he carried smaller, soft-bound books to capture ideas as he was on his way. After his death, many of the sketchbooks were taken apart and pages sold separately. Now, cooperation between many libraries has made possible and accessible a nearly complete collection of all of Beethoven’s extant sketchbooks, not only those kept at the Beethoven-House. Detailed explanations in English of each page of the pieces involved, watermarks, and history of the particular sketchbook enhance this already rich and interesting resource.

At the Beethoven-House Digital Archive, one can search for a specific piece of music and find a digitized first edition, perhaps a manuscript, as well as relevent letters and sketches. Letters are linked with sound files of audio versions. Some sound files of musical examples are also included.

Exploring the Digital Archive of the Beethoven-House is truly exciting, made even moreso by the addition of Beethoven’s sketchbooks.

Bravo Beethoven-House!

Beethoven Resources at Temple Libraries

Paley Library has a strong collection of books about Beethoven as well as scoresby him. To listen to music by Beethoven, go to Classical Music Library, a streaming audio service, access provided by Temple University Libraries.

–Anne Harlow

Digital Mozart

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The Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg together with the Packard Humanities Institute, in celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the birth ofWolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), have made the entire Neue Mozart Ausgabe, both scores and Kritische Berichte freely available on the web. Now, students, scholars, and the public have access to scholarly digitized scores of Mozart’s entire oeuvre for personal study or educational use. The printed version of these scholarly scores has been an ongoing effort of Bärenreiter Verlag since 1955. The works of Mozart arguably constitute some of the most beautiful, profound, and moving utterances of mankind. Would our world be more peaceful if more people listened to Mozart? I believe so! Enjoy!

Further Mozartiana

Temple University Libraries has quite a number of books about Mozart, and well over 1,000 music scores of his works.
To listen to sound recordings of Mozart’s music go to Classical.com, online access provided by Temple University Libraries.

–Anne Harlow

Gian Carlo Menotti, 1911-2007.

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Gian Carlo Menotti, renowned and beloved opera composer, died Thursday, February 1st, 2007, at the age of 95. Although born in Italy, Menotti is considered an American composer and studied with Rosario Scalera at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia where he graduated with honors in 1933. Some of his most well-known works are The Medium, The Old Maid and the Thief, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Telephone, The Saint of Bleeker Street, and The Consul, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1955. In 1958 Menotti founded the prestigious summer opera festival, Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of Two Worlds), in Spoleto, Italy, and opened its American counterpart in Charleston, South Carolina in 1977. (See theSpoleto Festival USA.) For more information see articles in the London Daily Telegraph, The Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

Music by Gian Carlo Menotti can be heard via streaming audio from Classical Music Library, and Ruckus.com.

Click here for a listing of works by Menotti held by Temple University Libraries.

Books about Menotti and his music in Temple University’s Paley Library include:

Ardoin, John. The Stages of Menotti. Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1985. Paley Stacks ML410.M52A85 1985

Grieb, Lyndal. The Operas of Gian Carlo Menotti, 1937-1972; a selective bibliography. Paley Stacks ML134.M533G7

Gruen, John. Menotti : a biography. New York : Macmillan, c1978. Paley Stacks ML410.M52G8

Hixon, Donald L. Gian Carlo Menotti : a bio-bibliography. Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2000. Paley Stacks ML134.M533 H59 2000

Tricoire, Robert. Gian Carlo Menotti, l’homme et son Oeuvre: Catalogue des oeuvres, discographie, illustrations. Paris, Seghers, 1966. Paley Stacks ML410.M52T7

Wlaschin, Ken. Gian Carlo Menotti on Screen : opera, dance, and choral works on film, television, and video. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Company, c1999. Paley Stacks ML410.M52 W6 1999

-Anne Harlow

Music Everywhere and Anywhere!

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Ruckus.com is offering its music downloads free (and legal) to students! Previously a subscription-only service, Ruckus changed its business model to advertising revenue. In addition to over 2.1 million tracks of music, Ruckus provides social software that enables students to create and share playlists, browse playlists of friends and classmates, read comments on message boards, and recommend music. In addition to popular music, Ruckus includes significant collections of jazz and classical music. An email address with “.edu” is necessary to access the free service. For more information see:

“Big Labels Offer Free Music to College Students” from the New York Times
“Ruckus Network Offers Free Campus Access to Downloads” from the Washington Post
“Ruckus Joins Internet2 to Distribute Files for Academic Use” from the Chronicle of Higher Education

In addition to Ruckus, the Temple University music-loving community has access to exciting free streaming audio services!

African American Song – Documents the history of African American Music, including blues, early jazz, gospel, ragtime, and more!

Classical Music Library – Look for your favorite composer here! Or, browse by playlists that include music for particular artistic movements, instruments, moods, and occasions, even a “Lover’s Guide!”

Smithsonian Global Sound – Travel the world with music! Every continent is represented as well as music from Oceania and the Caribbean. Escape the winter cold with a Calypso from Trinidad or a sizzling hot Tango!

Let music fill your mind and heart this winter, and always.

-Anne Harlow

Happy Birthday John Coltrane!

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To celebrate John Coltrane’s 80th birthday, a jazz-fest will be held on Saturday, September 23rd from 1:00 – 8:30 PM at the Awbury Arboretum in Germantown.

From the Tranestop press release:

“This free outdoor concert is part of the John Coltrane Jazz Festival – “Giant Steps Over Philly”, ! ; and is hosted by State Representative John Myers and State Senator LeAnna Washington.

This concert was rescheduled from September 2nd … which provided the TraneStop the opportunity to merge this festival with its annual celebration of Coltrane’s birthday. The event will still have two stages with international recording artist Billy Paul headlining the John Myers Blues Stage and internationally recognized jazz legend Archie Shepp headlining the John Coltrane Jazz Stage.”

Go to the Tranestop website for more information and additional artists that will be featured.

Directions:
“The Awbury Arboretum is easily accessible by train and bus both within and from outside the city. SEPTA’s R-7 Chestnut Hill-East/Trenton rail line stops at Washington Lane Station within feet of the jazz stage and a block from the blues stage. The R-7 connects at Trenton with New Jersey transit lines from New York and has stops at all three Philadelphia center city stations. Travelers from Washington, DC or the south or travelers who come into the city by bus, can pick up the R-7 at Suburban Station, 30th Street Station or Market East Station. The Saturday R-7 morning trains no. 1714, 1716 and 1718 will get you to the concert site by 11:59am, 12:59am and 1:59am, respectively and trains continue to run hourly thereafter. Departing R-7 evening trains no. 1731 and 1733 depart the concert site back to center city and Trenton at 8:41pm and 9:41 pm, respectively. The SEPTA bus route XH (connects at Broad and Erie) and route 23 also place riders right at the concert site on Washington Lane and Chew. TraneStop encourages participants to make good use of available public transportation to help make this an enjoyable and non-stres! sful experience for all involved. Call SEPTA at 215-580-7800 or visit the websites www.septa.org and www.thecommuterschoice.com for further information.”

Selected Library Resources for John Coltrane

Books

Biography and description of works from Grove Music Online.

Articles from International Index to Music Periodicals

From American National Biography.

Full-Text Articles from JSTOR

 

Citations to articles from Music Index.

Full-text articles from the New York Times. through ProQuest historical newspapers.

Articles from RILM (Repertoire International de Litterature de Musicale).

Internet Resources

John Coltrane website

PBS – Jazz, a documentary by Ken Burns, artist biography: Coltrane These videos are available at Temple University Library’s circulation desk (ML3506 .J399x 2000) and can be checked out.

John Coltrane, Avant Garde Jazz, and the Evolution of “My Favorite Things” by Scott Peterson

Hear and see John Coltrane, live, 1965, playing “Naimba”

The Tranestop

BBC Music Profiles – John Coltrane

Streaming audio of Coltrane music is available from CDigix. 
Requires Internet Explorer.
-Anne Harlow

2006 is Bertolt Brecht Year!

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Bertolt Brecht Manuscripts Discovered in Switzerland

Previously unknown manuscripts of Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), influential 20th century poet and playwright, have been recently discovered in Switzerland and delivered to the Brecht Archive at the Academy of Arts in Berlin. The playwright with arguably the most influence in shaping modern theater in the twentieth century, Brecht is a controversial social critic while at the same time his works entertain. The year 2006 is “Brecht year”, with many venues commemorating 50 years since his death. An article about the discovery of the manuscripts is available from Deutsche Welle , as well as other articles on his life and works.

Some resources at Temple University Libraries on Bertolt Brecht include:


Works by Bertolt Brecht at Temple University Libraries
Works about Bertolt Brecht

Books at Temple University Paley Library 
Both analyses and biographies.

*From “Contemporary Authors”
Nice works list, brief biography.

*From Grove Music Online
Brief biography emphasizing works put to music.
Criticism and Analysis

*International Index to the Performing Arts
A variety of sources including scholarly and popular press. Articles are full-text and full-image.

*JSTOR
Full-text articles from the Performing Arts, Language and Linguistics, and Music Collections.

*Literature Online (LION) – Bertolt Brecht, short biographies, links to articles with analysis, some full-text works.

*MLA International Bibliography – full-text articles on criticism and analysis. For more articles on Brecht, search the database MLA lists over 3,000 citations about Brecht.

*RILM – Criticism and Analysis about Brecht-Weill works in a database that is international in scope.
Internet Resources

International Brecht Society

Bertolt Brecht and the Epic Theater

“Bertolt Brecht: The Man Who Never Was” provides insight into the complexity of Brecht as a writer and a person.
* To access resources preceded by an asterisk off-campus, enter your AccessNet username and password.

-Anne Harlow


New, Fun, and Exciting Blog Section

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Welcome to the new Performing Arts Section to Temple University Libraries’ blog! Here you will find all the latest news about resources in Music, Dance, and Theater available to the Temple University community, including new electronic databases, DVD’s, audio resources, as well as books and reference sources. Don’t know what to do for the weekend? Check back for links to performances and arts activities in the Philadelphia area! Feel free to comment on posts and to inform us of important resources and events. Enjoy! -Anne Harlow

Classical Music Library

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Classical Music Library: streaming audio of beautiful music!

For listening pleasure, cultural stimulation, classroom enrichment, and study and research, Temple University Libraries are pleased to announce the addition of Classical Music Library to our electronic resources. Classical Music Library provides streamed audio of an extensive array of classical music repertoire. Listeners can browse composers’ works, or search for music by instrument, period, title, genre, or performer. The “folders” feature allows each person to construct their own individualized playlists, or to take advantage of ready-made “themed” playlists. These themed playlists include the major anthologies used to teach the history of music as well as playlists for specific artistic movements, composers, artists, genres, music appreciation, mood music, music for occasions, and period music. In addition, Classical Music Library contains a reference section with information and images about composers, music history, and musical terms.

Classical Music Library is available here.

For help using this service, questions, and/or feedback, contact Anne Harlow.

Enjoy!

—Anne Harlow