Listen: Cygnus Ensemble Premieres Mario Davidovsky's 'Ladino Songs'
On Mar. 7, 2012, the Cygnus Ensemble and soprano Elizabeth Farnum gave the world premiere performance of Mario Davidovsky's Ladino Songs in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress. In the...
View ArticleListen: Daniel Hope and Jeffrey Kahane 'Compare Notes' with Nico Muhly
On October 12, 2012, Daniel Hope and Jeffrey Kahane gave the world premiere of Nico Muhly's Compare Notes in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress. In the program note from the premiere...
View ArticleListen: Gregory Walker Premieres His Father George Walker's 'Bleu'
On April 20, 2013, violinist Gregory Walker gave the world premiere performance of Blue, for unaccompanied violin, by his father George Walker in the Collidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress....
View ArticleListen: Orchestra 2001 Premiere Chaya Czernowin
On May 3, 2013, Orchestra 2001 gave the world premiere performance of Chaya Czernowin's Slow Summer Stay II: Lakes in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress. Chaya Czernowin is an...
View ArticleListen: Amphion String Quartet Premieres Einojuhani Rautavaara
On Apr. 10, 2014, the Amphion String Quartet and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt gave the world premiere of Einojuhani Rautavaara's Variations for Five, Quintet No. 2 in the Coolidge Auditorium of the...
View ArticleListen: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Premiere Marc Neikrug
On Apr. 11, 2014, pianist Huw Watkins, violinst Alexandra Wood and cellist Ulrich Heinen of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group gave the world premiere performance of Marc Neikrug's Tiger's Nest at...
View ArticleListen: George Lewis, Washing Machines and Ensemble Dal Niente
On Oct. 30, 2014, violinist MingHuan Xu and pianist Winston Choi of Ensemble Dal Niente gave the world premiere performance of George Lewis' The Mangle of Practice in the Coolidge Auditorium of the...
View ArticleListen: Jefferson Friedman Premiere with Chiara String Quartet and Simone...
On Dec. 5, 2014, pianist Simone Dinnerstein joined the Chiara String Quartet for the world premiere performance of Jefferson Friedman's The Heart Wakes Into at the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of...
View ArticleListen: Premiere of Irving Fine's Two-Piano Transcription
On Dec. 6, 2014, pianists Oliver Hagen and Daniel Pesca gave the world premiere of the two-piano transcription of Irving Fine's Tocatta Concertante in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of...
View ArticleListen: St. Lawrence String Quartet Goes The Distance for John Adams
On Jan. 23, 2015, the St. Lawrence String Quartet gave the world premiere of John Adams's Second Quartet in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress. John Adams is an iconic American composer...
View ArticleListen: Jennifer Higdon's Viola Concerto with Soloist Roberto Diaz
On Mar. 15, 2015, conductor Robert Spano led the Curtis Chamber Orchestra and violist Roberto Diaz in the West Coast premiere of Jennifer Higdon's Viola Concerto at the Weill Hall at Sonoma State...
View ArticleDownload: Kaija Saariaho's 'Light and Matter' from the Library of Congress
I am so thrilled to bring you this Meet the Composer Bonus Track! We are extremely lucky to present this recording of Kaija Saariaho's piano trio Light and Matter, taped live at the Coolidge Auditorium...
View ArticleListen: World Premiere of Michael Hersch's 'Carrion - Miles to Purgatory'
On October 16, 2015, violinist Annette von Hehn and cellist Stefan Heinemeyer gave the world premiere of Michael Hersch's Carrion-Miles to Purgatory: thirteen pieces after texts of Robert Lowell, for...
View ArticleSly and the Family Stone Want You to Stand Up
In 1969, Sly and the Family Stone released their fourth studio album, "Stand!" It dropped at a moment of intense cultural and political change, a moment when many groups who were seeking equality — on...
View Article"Sorry, Wrong Number"
Before you could binge-listen to podcasts like “Welcome to Night Vale” and "Limetown," you had to wait for your weekly dose of radio drama. Often, even during the golden age of radio, these were...
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‘Ghostbusters,’ ‘Top Gun,’ ‘Shawshank Redemption’ selected for National Film...
Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray in a scene from the film “Ghostbusters” (1984). Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images“Ghostbusters,” “Shawshank Redemption” and “Top Gun” are among the 25...
View ArticleThe Return of the Worst Film Ever Made
Jerry Lewis is best known for over-the-top comedies of the 1950s and ‘60s, like “The Nutty Professor.” But in 1972, Lewis decided to take a serious turn by directing and starring in a movie called “The...
View ArticleSteve Martin’s “A Wild and Crazy Guy”
Steve Martin is a comedian, actor, writer, and banjo player — the consummate performer. But before he made a name for himself as a standup comedian, he wanted to be a magician. As a 15-year-old, Martin...
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Gene Luen Yang, Ambassador from the Land of Comics
The Boxer Rebellion is one of those historical events that you’re supposed to know about. Maybe you learned about it in high school, but by now the details are probably a bit fuzzy. And that’s OK,...
View ArticleOn-Demand: WindSync Premieres Paul Lansky's 'The Long and Short of It'
Listen to the world premiere in the audio above of Paul Lansky's quintet The Long and Short of It as performed on Oct. 24, 2015 at the Library of Congress by WindSync, alongside works by Adam...
View ArticleOn-Demand: Ensemble Intercontemporain Unleashes Hannah Lash and Matthias...
Listen to Ensemble Intercontemporain's performance of new works by Hannah Lash and Matthias Pintscher, alongside pieces for large ensemble by György Ligeti, Edgard Varèse and Alban Berg, recorded live...
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News Wrap: Another round of volleys over Supreme Court nomination
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioGWEN IFILL: Good evening. I’m Gwen Ifill. Judy Woodruff is on assignment.On the “NewsHour” tonight: the race for the White House moves from coffee shops to tarmacs, as...
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What long-dead whalers can teach us about climate change
SEATTLE – When the steamship Belvedere left San Francisco in the spring of 1897, its crew members couldn’t have known what a treacherous voyage awaited them.Their life-and-death experiences would all...
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Hear what’s in the newest sonic time capsule from the Library of Congress
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioIn our NewsHour Shares series, we show you things that caught our eye recently on the web. What about you? Leave your suggestions in the comments below, or tweet to...
View ArticleMahler, Weill and Schumann Recognized by Library of Congress
A repository of the most significant audio recordings in American history, the Library of Congress announced 25 inductees into its National Recording Registry on Wednesday. The clips, which span the...
View Article“Mary, Don’t You Weep”: the Life of a Song
In 1957, Reverend Claude Jeter wrote an arrangement of “Mary, Don’t You Weep” for his gospel ensemble, the Swan Silvertones. “Mary, Don’t You Weep” had been around as a spiritual since before the civil...
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Reviving an Old Moroccan Soundscape
Unique recordings of Moroccan music made by Paul Bowles are getting a new lease on life. Bowles was a composer and writer, who lived much of his life in Tangiers on the northern Moroccan coast. In...
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GOP reinstates usage of ‘illegal alien’ in Library of Congress’ records
The House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to retain the two-word phrase as a subject heading in the library’s catalog.WASHINGTON — Republicans on a powerful House panel Tuesday narrowly defended...
View ArticleListen: Frederic Rzewski, Jennifer Koh and Del Sol String Quartet at the...
Listen to a pair of world premieres by American composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski, recorded live at the Library of Congress.Rzewksi's String Quartet, composed in 1955, was performed for the first...
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Carla Hayden, first female and African-American Librarian of Congress,...
Photo courtesy Library of CongressWASHINGTON — The Senate has confirmed the longtime head of Baltimore’s library system to be the next Librarian of Congress. She is the first woman and the first...
View ArticleListen: Talea Ensemble Goes 'Wild' at the Library of Congress
Listen to the American premieres of wild new works by George Aperghis and Julian Anderson, performed by the Talea Ensemble at the Library of Congress on March 11, 2016.Commissioned by Talea, George...
View ArticleWATCH: Carla Hayden sworn in to lead Library of Congress
Carla Hayden from Baltimore became the 14th librarian of Congress on Wednesday. You can watch her full swearing-in ceremony above. The Senate confirmed the longtime head of Baltimore’s library system...
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The new librarian of Congress on the value of ‘free information’
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioGWEN IFILL: Finally tonight: The 14th librarian of Congress was sworn in last week to lead one of the nation’s oldest institutions into its next chapter.Jeffrey Brown...
View ArticleThe new Librarian-in-Chief picks her favorite children’s book
Carla Hayden, the new Librarian of Congress, tells Jeffrey Brown about her favorite children’s book. “Bright April” is a story about a young African-American girl named April who experiences racial...
View Article"I Will Survive:" The Best Song to Grace a B-Side
It was 1978. Gloria Gaynor wasn’t having a good year. Her first hit, “Never Can Say Goodbye,” never translated into staying power in the disco scene. Her recording contract at Polydor wasn’t being...
View ArticleMaking Fun of the Kennedys
The 1963 Grammy award for Album of the Year didn’t go to Tony Bennett, Stan Getz, or Ray Charles— all runners-up. It went to somebody named Vaughan Meader, whom no one had ever heard of before (or...
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Honored for songwriting, Motown legend Smokey Robinson proves he really got a...
Motown legend Smokey Robinson accepts the 2016 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Photo by Shawn MillerThe Library of Congress honored...
View ArticleClifton Chenier’s “Bogalusa Boogie”
“When it comes dancing to zydeco, all you have to do is move something,” says musician C.J. Chenier. “It don’t matter how you move it, where you move it, just move something and it all fits and it’s...
View ArticleSly and the Family Stone Want You to Stand Up
In 1969, Sly and the Family Stone released their studio album, "Stand!" It dropped at a moment of intense cultural and political change, and the album provided a soundtrack for that fight. "This was...
View ArticleThe Legacy of Clara Schumann
In 1972, one of the most celebrated chamber music groups in America, the Beaux Arts Trio, made one of the only recordings of Clara Schumann's piano trio. That recording has just been added to the...
View ArticleListen: Kati Agócs's 'Tantric Variations' at the Library of Congress
On Dec. 17, 2016, the Toronto-based Cecilia String Quartet presented the U.S. premiere of Kati Agócs's Tantric Variations at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.Tantric Variations was...
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Listen to the classic and groundbreaking recordings that made this year’s...
“Over the Rainbow,” the song made famous by Judy Garland in the movie musical “The Wizard of Oz,” is one of this year’s inductees.Recordings reflecting America’s diverse soundscape, from New York’s...
View Article68 – Tony Schwartz: 30,000 Recordings Later
Cab drivers, children’s jump rope rhymes, folk songs, dialects, controversial TV ads, interviews with blacklisted artists and writers during the McCarthy Era — Tony Schwartz was one of the great sound...
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George Carlin's "Class Clown"
George Carlin’s seminal comedy album “Class Clown” has just been added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress. The 1972 stand-up recording includes Carlin’s infamous bit, “Seven...
View ArticleSearching For Rosa Parks' Pancakes
The civil rights icon's unusual pancake recipe -- with peanut butter in the batter -- offers a glimpse into her personal life and reveals the history of a southern food staple.
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Disco deserves more respect. These 5 songs prove why
Photo by Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesDisco never got enough credit.Recognizing this, the Library of Congress launched “Bibliodiscotheque” in March, a disco tribute to a genre that...
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Watch new U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith read two of her poems
Tracy K. Smith was named the newest U.S. poet laureate. Screen image by PBS NewsHour.Tracy K. Smith, the nation’s newest poet laureate, says writing is not just about expressing emotion but also about...
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Tony Bennett named next recipient of Gershwin Prize
Singer and artist Tony Bennett poses for a portrait before an opening of his art exhibition in the Manhattan borough of New York. Photo by Carlo Allegri/ReutersTony Bennett is next in line to receive...
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4 poets you need to read, from new poet laureate Tracy K. Smith
Last week, the Library of Congress selected Tracy K. Smith as the new poet laureate. In a conversation with NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Brown, Smith said the position was a chance for her to...
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The Library of Congress opened its catalogs to the world. Here’s why it matters
The Library of Congress has made 25 digital catalog records available for anyone at no charge. Photo by Flickr user casajumpImagine you wanted to find books or journal articles on a particular subject....
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