A full-length woodcut portrait of the composer Coclico at age 52, printed in 1552, was recently purchased. It includes music notation at upper left, with the text “Desperando spero,” and identification of the composer, “Adrian Petit Coclico Mvsico. Etat: LII,” at upper right. This inscription is the only known source that states his birth year.
The Music Library is fortunate to host Zhang Jihong, Associate Professor and Reference Librarian at the Shanghai Conservatory, as a visiting scholar for the 2014 calendar year. Jihong, who is here with her husband and young son, will focus her study on library management practices, collection development and organization, user services and instruction, digital resource development, care and handling of rare materials, and uses of technology in the music library setting. The Shanghai Conservatory, the oldest in China, is undergoing a major upgrade of their facilities, including the library.
Celebrate the life and works of the great American musician and activist Pete Seeger by listening to some of his recordings available in Smithsonian Global Sound (SUNeT ID required for access).
The Music Library, Green Library and the Archive of Recorded Sound also have books, scores and recordings by Pete Seeger, as well as books and videos about Seeger's life and music.
Using a feed reader is a highly efficient and effective way of staying current on topics of interest, and easily sharing items with colleagues and friends.
RSS (Rich Site Summary, or Real Simple Syndication) is a mechanism by which a digital information source sends out links to newly added content. A feed reader lets me gather, organize, and edit these various streams of new content links in a single, user-friendly interface (I use Feedly). When I subscribe to a feed, new content is automatically sent to my feed reader as soon as it is made available, 24/7. Oh, and it’s free!
During the fall of 2013, Stanford University Libraries (SUL) convened a working group to investigate the current state of access to audio and moving image materials held within its various collections, notably rare materials within its different special collections departments, along with those held at the Hoover Institution Library and Archives.
Following many weeks of investigation, the Media Access Working Group (MAWG) produced a report in December 2013 outlining its findings, along with various recommendations to help tackle the issues discovered. The group considered issues relating to use cases, copyright status, available technologies - including media streaming, and content usage.
The Winter Quarter exhibit in the Music Library features six string quartet scores. Two are fairly traditional examples (Boccherini and Mozart), and four are contemporary scores, notable for the imaginative treatments they provide (Crumb, Ferneyhough, Brown, and Stockhausen). QR codes link to audio files for each work.
The Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound has recently finished processing the William C. Lynch Dennis Brain Collection. This collection is believed to be the largest of its kind in North America, if not the most comprehensive and organized collection of recorded music relating to the British horn player Dennis Brain (1921-1957), anywhere in the world. A full itemized finding aid for the collection is now available online.
Stanford students, faculty and staff may enjoy free audio streams of a wide variety of holiday music, provided by our streaming media databases. Sample our recommendations, below. If you are off campus, you'll want to set up your browser for Stanford access. Happy holidays!
