Lewis Music Library
Building 14E-109
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
(617) 253-5689
(617) 253-3109 FAX
http://libraries.mit.edu/music

STAFF

Forrest Larson
Circulation & Reserves Asst.
(617) 253-0982
twiggy@mit.edu

Christina Moore
Collections & Processing Asst.
(617) 253-3974
csmoore@mit.edu

Peter Munstedt
Music Librarian
(617) 253-5636
pmunsted@mit.edu

CONTENTS

Roger Reynolds Page 1
New Grove Online Page 1
CD Sheet Music Page 2
MIT Museum Recordings
     Page 2
NEMLA Meeting Page 2
Bad Jokes Page 2
Donations Page 3
Ex Libris Page 3
Oral History Page 4

ROGER REYNOLDS TO VISIT MIT

Composer Roger Reynolds will visit MIT on April 26th-27th. This visit is a result of a cooperative collecting project involving the Boston Library Consortium (BLC). Through this project, the holdings of contemporary music will be strengthened and expanded within the BLC libraries while avoiding duplication among the libraries. In the fall of 1999, the MIT Lewis Music Library agreed to collect the printed music of three important contemporary composers: Libby Larsen, Roger Reynolds, and Osvaldo Golijov. Several BLC libraries agreed to purchase the music of other contemporary composers.

In addition to collecting this music, the music faculty and staff felt that the MIT community would benefit by meeting these composers. Ms. Larsen visited the library last year and Mr. Golijov will be invited in 2002. Such visits increase student, faculty, and staff awareness of these composers through their lectures, performances, and personal interaction.

Mr. Reynolds' music has won wide critical acclaim. He has written in many genres and his music is widely published, recorded, and performed. In 1989, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his

Whispers Out of Time. While he has written for traditional instruments, he has also incorporated electronic music into many of his compositions. Mr. Reynolds has also written books and articles on music and composition.

Roger Reynolds' visit will include a visit to the Media Lab, where he will speak and his music will be performed by students. He will also have a tour of the Lewis Music Library. Students, faculty, and staff will be given an exciting opportunity to meet this major composer.

NEW GROVE DICTIONARY ONLINE

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition contains over 29,000 articles written by the world's leading music authorities. The electronic version includes links to images and digital sound. It is updated quarterly and offers a variety of searching and browsing features. Four MIT music faculty members are contributors: Ellen T. Harris, Lowell Lindgren, Martin Marks, and George Ruckert. You can access the New Grove electronically through the Lewis Music Library's home page (MIT only), or come check out the non-electronic paper (yes, paper!) version in our reference section.

CD-ROM SHEET MUSIC

How much shelf space does it take to hold the complete solo piano works of Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann; the complete piano works of Grieg and Mendelssohn; the keyboard works and four-part chorales by J.S. Bach; the complete keyboard sonatas of Haydn and Scarlatti; the complete songs of Schubert; plus several hundred pages of standard vocal repertoire?

The Lewis Music Library recently acquired this music and it takes less than one foot of shelf space! Thanks to a generous donation from Leonard Bezark Jr., an MIT alum and a member of the MIT Council for the Arts, the library recently obtained 17 CD-ROMs which together contain all this music. They are part of a continuing series of printable scanned images of public-domain music published by CD Sheet Music. Users may check out the CD-ROMs for a week and print the music at their convenience.

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MIT MUSEUM RECORDINGS

The library recently received several hundred sound recordings from the MIT Museum. Included in these materials are LP records, reel-to-reel tapes, and even a few 78 rpm records. These recordings contain some of the major musical events at MIT such as performances of the Tech Show, MIT Symphony Orchestra, MIT Choral Society, MIT Glee Glub, MIT Concert Band, Chorallaries, Logarhythms, and others. Among the highlights of these recordings is the 1955 world premiere recording of Aaron Copland's Canticle of Freedom, a work commissioned by MIT.

The library will process this collection in the coming weeks. The older reel-to-reel tapes must be re-recorded before the sound is lost. Funding will be needed so that CD and archival tape copies can be made in order to preserve these priceless performances.

NEW ENGLAND MLA MEETING

The Lewis Music Library will host the New England Chapter of the Music Library Association (NEMLA) this May 18th. Over 50 music librarians from throughout New England are expected to attend. Talks will be delivered by Don Byrd (Univ. of Mass.), "Music Information Retrieval" and Paul Corneilson (Packard Humanities Foundation), "The C.P.E. Bach Edition and the Future of Scholarly Editions." There will also be a tour of the Lewis Music Library and lunch at the Faculty Club. The afternoon session will include a panel discussion, "Why Music at MIT?" led by Nina Davis-Millis with Lowell Lindgren, Marcus Thompson, and Evan Ziporyn. Forrest Larson will deliver a speech on the Music at MIT Oral History project and play excerpts from the collection. The meeting will conclude with a rendering of sheet music songs from the library's Inventions of Note Collection, performed by MIT Music and Theater Arts faculty members William Cutter, Kyle Hoepner, Margaret O'Keefe, Michael Ouellette, Charles Shadle (piano) and Pamela Wood. Please contact Peter Munstedt if you would like to attend some or all of this meeting.

DONATIONS SINCE OUR FALL 2000 NEWSLETTER (THROUGH MARCH 2001)

Nicholas Altenbernd donated a score and 2 CDs; the Boston Symphony Orchestra donated 2 commemorative books; Patricia Chute, daughter of the late MIT professor Roy Lamson, donated her father's thesis (PhD, Harvard University, 1935) and 14 scores; Stephen Erdely donated 2 CDs by the Erdely Duo; David Foxe '03 donated a video; Dr. and Mrs. Morton Grosser donated 12 CDs; John Harbison donated 5 CDs; Fred Harris donated 2 scores and a CD; Jennifer Hendrickson donated a CD; Eleanor Perrone donated her CD; Lowell Lindgren donated a book, 5 scores, and 11 CDs; Martin Marks donated 2 CDs; MITCAN (MIT African Music and Dance Ensemble) donated their CD; the MIT/Wellesley Toons donated their CD; the MIT Council for the Arts donated 11 CDs; MITHAS (MIT Heritage of the Arts of South Asia) donated 7 CDs; the Music and Theater Arts Section donated 13 CDs and 11 cassettes of performances by MIT music groups; Seth Perlman donated 18 CDs; George Ruckert donated a CD; the United States Marine Band donated a CD; Yesterday Service, Inc. donated 1996 music scores; and several anonymous donations were received.

Designated contributions were also received from several people: Leonard Bezark Jr. '49 (and MIT Council for the Arts) donated funds for the purchase of the CD sheet music series on CDROM; Susan Kannenberg '61

donated funds for the purchase of music by women composers before 1900; Dr. Brian E. White '61 contributed to the John N. Pierce '54 Memorial Fund for the purchase of blues and early music.

Additional monetary donations were received from Michael F. Brescia, Amy Davidson Plummer, Dr. and Mrs. Morton Grosser, Dr. Christopher Y. Kim, Peter D. Matthews, Dr. Andrew J. Silver, Dr. C. Robert Sprich, Dr. Barbara A. Swanson, and Jason Weller.

- Many Thanks! -

If we have inadvertently omitted your name from this list, please contact us!

DONATION FROM YESTERDAY SERVICE, INC.

Yesterday Service, Inc., a local classical music store, was bought by Cambridge Music Center in October 2000. Thanks to owner Esther Breslau, their extra inventory is being donated to some of their library customers. Nearly two thousand scores have been given to our library. This gift includes a wide range of music including both major and lesser-known composers. The large number of 20th-century pieces fits in well with the library's collection. Our users will enjoy this music, and we appreciate the generosity of Yesterday Service in making it available. Thanks also to Rob Bethel, who sorted and delivered the music!

NEW LIBRARY CATALOG

This summer, the MIT Libraries will launch a new computer operating system using Ex Libris library software. The system's many components include cataloging, acquisitions, circulation, reserves, and the public catalog. Library users will see a new and improved online catalog that will offer several features unavailable on the current system. Look for information and training sessions to be held this fall. Other Boston-area libraries are also using Ex Libris software, including Boston College and Brandeis University. Harvard University is scheduled to begin their new system with Ex Libris next year.

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ORAL HISTORY

The library has produced a 40-minute CD of selections from 5 hours of interviews with John Corley, conductor of the MIT Concert Band (1948-1999) and the MIT Symphony Orchestra (1956-1966). John talks about the beginnings of the MIT Concert Band and his reasons for programming only original works for band, which led to his commissioning over 50 new pieces. He also tells of experiences conducting the U.S. Army Band in Iceland during WWII, and being an active freelance trumpet player in Boston. These recorded interviews are a lasting tribute to John's vital creative spirit, wisdom and humor

that touched thousands of MIT students and many other musicians, conductors, and composers who had the good fortune to work with him over his long career. Excerpts from the CD were played at the MIT Wind Ensemble's John D. Corley Memorial Concert on March 16th. This CD is available for listening in the library.

In November, two interviews were conducted with Cherry Emerson, MIT class of 1941. Cherry related his experiences studying piano with Alfredo Barili in the 1930s, his years at MIT, his professional career in chemical engineering and later philanthropic support of music at MIT.

Occasional interviews are being done at the request of the Music and Theater Arts Office with MIT alumni who have pursued musical careers. To date these have been with composer Adrian Childs '94 and trumpet player and composer Rajesh Mehta '86 (who will be Artist-in-Residence at MIT April 25-28).

Forrest Larson is planning new interviews to be held this spring and summer. We hope to obtain funding so that all of the full-length interviews in this project can be available for listening in the library.

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