It must be the curse of losing THE WAR, that 'Bonnie Blue Flag' (and about
1000 other good Southern Songs) did not make it to that Yankee compendium of
so called "Sheet Music of the Civil War" era. Bummer.
While the ability to look up 19th century sheet music in the extensive
collection of the Library of Congress is great, there really should be a
highly advertised comparable ability to look up music published and
copyrighted in the Confederate Nation, 1861-1865. There is a lot at the
Library of Virginia and more at The Museum of the Confederacy. Given the
recent flury of activity of bringing to light Virginia music, I hope that
there will be a similary flurry to get the Confederate sheet music before
the eye of the public. Why I bet most people are not even aware of gems
like THE STAR SPANGLED CROSS AND PURE FIELD OF WHITE, or FAREWELL TO THE
STAR SPANGLED BANNER, or THE ALABAMA (the only piece of Confederate music to
extol the virtues of a ship and her captain.)
We have a wealth of musical heritage right here in our own backyard -- well
at least just off Broad Street -- and as our good Moravian friends down in
Winston Salem say, we should not only preserve it, but SHARE it and
CELEBRATE it.
Randy Cabell
----- Original Message -----
From: "ELIZABETH RODERICK" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 10:06 AM
Subject: Announcement of addition of Music for the Nation: American Sheet
(fwd)
> Hi - this might be of interest:
>
>
> > Sender: Material Culture in America <[log in to unmask]>
> > From: "danna c. bell-russel" <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: Announcement of addition of Music for the Nation: American
Sheet
> > Music, 1820-1860, to American Memory
> >
> >
> > The Library of Congress Announces a New Addition to American Memory,
"Music
> > for the Nation: American Sheet Music 1820-1860"
> >
> > The newest addition to American Memory, "Music for the Nation: American
> > Sheet Music, 1820-1860" <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/sm2html/>, consists
of
> > over 15,000 pieces of sheet music registered for copyright during the
pre
> > Civil War years. This collection, taken from materials in the Library's
> > Music Division, complements an earlier American Memory project, "Music
For
> > the Nation: American Sheet Music 1870-1885", as well as the "Band Music
> > from the Civil War Era" and "Sheet Music from the Civil War Era".
> >
> > This new installment of pre-Civil War music materials are available
through
> > a common "Music for the Nation" page
> > <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mussmhtml/>. Through this one page, sheet
> > music items are searchable via title, composer or subject for this new
> > collection, as well as the "Music For the Nation: American Sheet Music
1870
> > -1885" collection.
> >
> > The years 1820 to 1860 reflect a coming of age for American popular
song,
> > and many of the songs from this period are still well known
> > today. Included online are many songs by Stephen Foster (1826 64) who
> > composed such as favorites as "Susanna", "The Old Folks at Home" and
> > "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair". Other recognizable songs from this
era
> > include "There's Music in the Air", "Jingle Bells", "Long, Long, Ago",
> > "Sweet Betsy from Pike", and "Pop Goes the Weasel".
> >
> > Evident throughout the collection is the burgeoning popularity of the
> > polka, and songs that reflect the growing fame of performers such as the
> > singing Hutchinson Family and the first American tour (arranged by P. T.
> > Barnum) of soprano Jenny Lind, known as the "Swedish Nightingale". In
> > addition to songs, the collection also includes operatic arias, piano
> > music, sacred and secular vocal music, solo instrumental music, method
> > books and instructional materials, and some music for band and
orchestra.
> >
> > Complete page images for all the sheet music items are included in this
> > online collection, which also features two special presentations; one, a
> > listing of the "greatest hits" for the years 1820 - 1860, and a
historical
> > background essay on the development of American music in this period by
the
> > noted scholar, and longtime specialist in the Music Division, Wayne
Shirley.
> >
> > Over the years, Music Division staff selected items deposited for
copyright
> > and added them to the Division's classified collections. These were the
> > items by the best known composers of the day, or items that were
otherwise
> > thought to be interesting or important. Even so, much music material was
> > left in the Copyright Office and was not transferred to the Music
Division
> > until some time in the 1950's. It is a portion of those items (published
> > from 1820-60) that comprise this online collection. These 15,000 pieces
of
> > music, bound in three volumes, comprised nearly a quarter of items that
> > were transferred to the Library of Congress from the Patent Office in
1870.
> >
> > Please direct any questions to
<http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ask-memory.html>.
> >
>
>
> --
> Elizabeth Roderick email
([log in to unmask])
> Director, Digital Library Program email ([log in to unmask])
> The Library of Virginia phone (804) 692-3761
> 800 E. Broad Street fax (804) 692-3771
> Richmond, VA 23219
>
> *****************************************************
> http://www.lva.lib.va.us
> The LVA Digital Library Program
> *****************************************************
>
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