[Thanks to Denise Shrout, Harvard ’11, for providing the basis for this post, with assistance from Martin M. Marks, MIT.] During the silent film era, it was standard to have live musical accompaniment for movies. Especially for feature films from the late teens on, accompanists would often use cue sheets that suggested mood, action, or…
Something I sang, that I don’t sing any more
[Thanks to Andrea Cawelti, Ward Project Music Cataloger, for contributing this post.] Gilbert Duprez was a superstar in the Bel Canto age of opera. The first tenor to sing a high C in chest voice, his darker, stentorian vocal technique ushered in the sound we now associate with dramatic tenor roles, and set in motion…
Newly digitized items for June
Our largest-ever new digitization post includes a collection of correspondence of Benedict Arnold, manuscripts of Thoreau and Henry James, a collection of early 19th century drawings of English theaters, and much more. [Thanks to Emilie Hardman, Public Services/Metadata Assistant, and Susan Pyzynski, Associate Librarian for Technical Services, for contributing this post.]…
New on OASIS in June
Finding aids for two newly cataloged collections, and a preliminary box list for one recent acquisition, have been added to the OASIS database this month, including an archive of correspondence and other materials from the Russian composer Dmitrii Shostakovich….