Tagged: music

New Acquisition: 1564 Spanish Antiphonary

Special Collections and University Archives has recently acquired a sixteenth-century Spanish antiphonary, a liturgical book containing the sung parts of the Divine Office. Chants include the antiphons sung with the psalms and canticles; the responsories of Matins and Vespers; and sometimes the hymns.

Page open to book of music.
[Readings for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, M2148 .L4 1564, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.]
The musical notation is in black nota quadrata on five line staves in red, with Latin text and rubrics. The book is printed on thick, imperfect parchment, bearing marks of stitched repairs and deep follicles. Illustrations include colored initials and decorative vignettes throughout. The book measures 51 x 34 cm. It is bound in embossed leather with intact bronze bosses (corner and center pieces) and clasps. The leather binding has been restored at the spine and foredges of the boards. A bookplate is pasted onto the interior of the back cover that reads, “Gabinetto di Restauro del Libro dell’Abbazia di Praglia,” which likely identifies the source of the restoration work. It is an imperfect copy, missing some leaves throughout.
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New Acquisition: The Revelers Vocal Arrangement Collection

Special Collections and University Archives has recently acquired a collection of handwritten musical scores for The Revelers, an American quintet composed of four male vocalists and a pianist popular on record and radio between 1925-1940.

This collection includes approximately 500 original vocal arrangements from The Revelers’ catalog of works performed in 1921-1939, including individual charts for each vocalist and master vocal scores. The arrangements are the work of two pianist-arrangers that worked with The Revelers: Ed Smalle (1887-1968) and Frank Black (1898-1969), with the latter forming the bulk of the collection. The scores include hand-written lyrics added by each vocalist for their part, as well as additional notes and annotations made by the arranger. Continue reading

Anniversary of Harry S. Stamper, Jr.’s Passing

StamperGuitar_smallMarch 9th, 2014 marked the two year anniversary of the passing of Oregon folksinger Harry S. Stamper, Jr.  His song “We Just Come To Work Here (We Don’t Come To Die)” became the unofficial anthem of the occupational health and safety movement, and it was designated a “classic labor song” by the Smithsonian Folkways record label. During his career, Stamper, who was from Coos Bay, performed at the Great Hudson River Revival, the Highlander Center, and the San Francisco memorial for legendary labor leader Harry Bridges. His work caught the attention of renowned folk musician Pete Seeger, influential folklorist Archie Green and a host of other journalists, documentary filmmakers, scholars and union activists.

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