Ukuleles were the “it” instrument in the 1910s and 1920s, and they got another bump of popularity in the late 1940s and 1950s. Ukuleles are hot once again.
Traditional Irish Music
Ireland’s musical tradition goes back well over a thousand years. For nearly all of this time, it’s been an oral tradition passed on from one musician to another. It’s only been fairly recently that the music has been recorded in written and audio forms. The music can be found played in homes, pubs, reception halls…
Women Composers in Turn of the Century Boston
In Arthur Elson’s “Woman’s Work in Music,” he names fifteen women who are in one way associated with Boston. These women were either educated here or wrote much of their music while living here. Of the fifteen, the Boston Public Library holds printed music for ten of these women: Amy Cheney Beach (Mrs. H. H…
Love Songs: Writing and Finding Them
For as long as there has been music, there have probably been love songs. The first love song is lost to the mists of time, and evidence of what ancient love songs sounded like is scant. However, some songwriters left behind lyrics for us to discover today. The most famous of these writers was the…
Silent Night, 200th Anniversary
2018 is the 200th anniversary of the first performance of the popular Christmas carol “Silent Night” (“Stille Nacht”). In 1816, Joseph Mohr wrote a six stanza poem and put it aside, not giving it much thought. But in 1818, when preparing for the Christmas Eve service, this Austrian priest discovered a problem. The church’s organ…
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