Send a Free Valentine's Day e-card from the British Library!

The first kiss of Lancelot and Guinevere in the presence of Galehot and the Lady of Malohaut, from Le Livre de Lancelot del Lac (French, c. 1316)

Click here to get started with your card!  Who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with love-letters? There are several Saint Valentines, one of whom was a Christian priest who lived in Rome during the third century.

According to one legend, the emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with families. He therefore outlawed marriage for young soldiers. Valentine defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered him to be put to death. This supposedly took place on the eve of the feast of Lupercalia (14 February).

New Digital Files Available in Smithsonian Global Sound - take a listen!

Smithsonian Global Sound just released 84 new albums (1,120 tracks) into Smithsonian Global Sound.

 Included in this release are the Mickey Hart Collection, a 25 CD collection that preserves and furthers the Grateful Dead percussionist’s endeavor to cross borders and expand musical horizons.  25 albums are drawn from “The World,” a series Hart curated that incorporated his solo projects, other artists’ productions, and re-releases of out-of-print titles. Six of the twenty-five albums form the “Endangered Music Project,” a collaboration between Mickey Hart and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, which presents recordings from musical traditions at risk.

 Other releases include material from Collector Records, Cook Records, Monitor Records, and the Smithsonian Folkways Special Series, which currently comprises a release of pianist Robert Prichard, and the release Haitiana.


Check it out, and have fun!!

Folklorist’s Global Jukebox Goes Digital

By LARRY ROHTER

Published: January 30, 2012

The vast collection of music, film, videotapes and photographs collected by the folklorist and ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax is being digitized for wider dissemination.  Read More

Huang Ruo (OC '00) Sings His Top Five Favorite Chinese Folk Songs

Huang Ruo (OC class of 2000), has written works for every conceivable format including orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano and the opera stage. While he employs Western instruments and techniques he also edited the anthology Selection of Classic Chinese Folk Songs.  Read more

Garbage Pickup Announced with Classical Music!

Garbage trucks in Taiwan have a curious way of announcing their presence: by loudly playing classical music standards like Beethoven’s Für Elise. It’s not unlike the bleating of ice cream trucks in the US every summer, universally recognized and calling people out of their homes and to the curb.

Although this has been going on for some time, it recently came to wider attention as several videos began appearing online.

The musical garbage truck scheme began in the 1980s when Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration was seeking a novel way to eliminate the vermin and odors that plagued the country's designated outdoor public trash disposal areas. This way, residents are notified to bring their rubbish directly to the trucks and the trash never touches the ground (unlike Mister Softee trucks, which seem to appear out of nowhere on hot summer days, the musical garbage trucks run on a set schedule).  More

Classical Music Played on Stricken Italian Cruise Ship

According to its Web site, Costa Concordia offered nightly Broadway-style shows, singers, acrobats and musicians playing everything from the latest popular dance hits to -- believe it or not -- classical music. It’s unclear if any classical performances were taking place at the time of the accident but several online videos show what appears to be a violin recital in the ship’s Atene Theater, its three-story, 800-seat venue.  Read more

Violinist Joshua Bell: 'French Impressions,' Yesterday And Today

When Joshua Bell was 21, he recorded an iconic piece of chamber music for piano and violin — the Sonata in A major by Cesar Franck. Today, Bell is 44 and he's recorded it again. It's on his new album, French Impressions, with pianist Jeremy Denk.  Read more and listen to the NPR story.