Aliens Are Attacking. Cue the Strings.

"Classically trained musicians are finding new outlets for their talents in the booming video game industry..."

The full article may be found in the New York Times
Photo by predatormc

A recent online resource that includes the Cambridge Music History series:
Cambridge histories online
http://histories.cambridge.org
Contains over 250 volumes published since 1960, including titles such as Cambridge ancient history and Cambridge history of the English language.

Check out this resource, it's not just for art historians:
ARTStor
http://www.artstor.org/index.shtml ARTstor is a digital library of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.

New Video Resources

The Libraries have recently subscribed to several new video packages (accessible via UWNetID login from off-site):
Opera in Video. http://opiv.alexanderstreet.com/ Opera in Video will contain 250 of the most important opera performances, captured on video through staged productions, interviews, and documentaries. Selections represent the world’s best performers, conductors, and opera houses and are based on a work’s importance to the operatic canon. The current release includes 42 videos.
Theatre in Video with BBC Shakespeare Series. http://washington.ativ.alexanderstreet.com/ Theatre in Video contains more than 250 definitive performances of the world's leading plays, together with more than 100 film documentaries, online in streaming video - more than 500 hours in all. This release contains 279 titles, representing hundreds of leading playwrights, actors and directors.
Dance in Video http://daiv.alexanderstreet.com/ Dance in Video will contain 250 dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Selections cover ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational dance, as well as forerunners of the forms and the pioneers of modern concert dance. The current release includes 109 videos.

Hours Update

The Music Library and Listening Center will close early at 3PM on Thursday, December 18 due to the weather. We hope to resume normal operating hours tomorrow.

Digital Concert Hall

"The Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the world’s greatest orchestras. But for the world to experience it live has – until now – required a visit to its home in Berlin or a trip to one of its tour venues. Beginning on 18 December 2008, there will be another way: the Digital Concert Hall."

Read the full article at http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/forum/titelgeschichten/detail/story/die-berliner-philharmoniker-live-im-web/

New Hours for Interim

The Music Library and Listening Center will be adjusting hours for the Interim break. From December 13-January 4 the Music Library and Listening Center will be open from 1-5PM Monday through Friday and closed Saturday and Sunday. We will be closed Wednesday, December 24 through Friday, December 26th and also on Thursday, January 1st. Regular hours will resume on Monday, January 5th. For a full listing of our hours, please visit the hours link on our website.

Free and Online: 62 solid days of classical music

"This week, the Canadian Music Centre launched Centrestreams, an audio-streaming service that makes the CMC's collection of 8,000 recordings, by about 700 Canadian composers, available online at http://www.musiccentre.ca."

Read more at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081213.COMPOSE13/TPStory/?query=bihl.

Photo by Ian Muttoo

Business of Classical Music

Bill Stensrud's daily blog post makes some interesting predictions about classical music record sales.

"The remaining 3 “major” labels – Universal, Sony and EMI - will be out of the classical business within 2 years. They will create no more than a handful of additional classical CDs. With the possible exception of a few “crossover” artists the labels will drop all of their classical artists..."

Read the rest of Stensrud's predictions for yourself at http://businessofclassicalmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/classical-music-after-cd.html.

Composing in the Style of Ives

Ever wanted to compose a piece in the style of Charles Ives? Now you can! Wesleyan University has created a composition contest as part of its "Ives Vocal Marathon" performance running January 29, 30, 31 & February 1, 2009. You are invited to complete Ives' unfinished work entitled "Smoke". Contest rules and the unfinished sheet music for "Smoke" may be found online at http://www.ivesvocalmarathon.com/interactive.php The winning composition will be performed at the "Ives Vocal Marathon".

Musical America

Looking for a wonderful source for music industry information? Look no further than Musical America Worldwide http://www.musicalamerica.com/ Search Musical America's database of contests/festivals and contact information for opera companies, schools of music and much more. Keep up to date with news articles on the music industry. We hope you enjoy exploring Musical America Worldwide.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses: Full Text

Connect to full text dissertations and theses online through our newest database ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. Content includes over 2.4 million entries with 930,000 full text dissertations and theses. Coverage ranges from 1637 to the present. Full text dissertations and theses are available in PDF format. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses can be found on the Music Subject page under the heading of "Dissertations".

New Music Library Materials

The November list of new books, CD's, DVD's, and scores has been posted to the Music Library website. Here is a sampling of what's new this month:

"Explorations of the Shadow World"
Videodisc DVD 513 v. 1-7

"Performing Arts of China the Opera"
Videodisc DVD 503

"Seattle's Most Wanted Music of the Pacific Northwest"
Compact Disc CD 10156

"From the Philip Glass Recording Archive"
Compact Disc CD 10121

Dave Brubeck "The Light in the Wilderness"
Music Stacks M2003.B88 L5 1968

Click on the "About the Music Library" link our Homepage to view New Item Lists from the past six month.

Getting to Carnegie via YouTube

From the New York Times:

Traditionally, auditioning for an orchestra means appearing alone onstage in a nerve-jangling performance before grizzled veteran musicians. In the Google way, it means posting on the company’s video-sharing site, YouTube, for online judging by the professionals and then, ultimately, the YouTube universe...

Follow the progress of the first collaborative orchestra on YouTube.

New Library Book Return

As you may have noticed, the Music Library has a new book return, located in the first floor corridor, between Rooms 19 and 21. You can return books and scores any time the Music Building is open. Please DO NOT return LPs, CDs, DVDs, or any AV material in this box. Thanks.

Digital Sales Surpass CDs at Atlantic

From the New York Times:

Since MP3s first became popular a decade ago, music industry executives have obsessed over this question: when would digital music revenue finally surpass compact disc sales?

For Atlantic Records, the label that in years past has delivered artists like Ray Charles, John Coltrane and Led Zeppelin, that time, apparently, is now...

Follow a blog discussion on the article.