Talbott Music Library - Rider University

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Talbott Music Library! See you in the New Year! :)

Check out the radio broadcast of this year's Readings and Carols on WWFM on Christmas Day!

Readings and Carols from Westminster Choir College The choirs of Westminster Choir College return to Princeton University Chapel for this traditional holiday performance.

Talbott now has a new books area! These newly added books can be found in the current periodicals section next to our book scanners. Come check them out!

It’s hard to believe it’s already finals time! Come by the Talbott circulation desk and grab a finals survival kit goody bag full of stuff we’ve prepared for you to get through your finals week. 🙂 And good luck on your final exams and papers!!

A graduate of Westminster Choir College (M.M, 2006)!

Q & A: Ashi Day on 'Waking The Witch' & Contemporary Opera - OperaWire As part of Opera America’s Opera Grants for Women Composers, her opera, “Waking the Witch” will receive its first performance December 9-10th at WNO.

https://www.wwfm.org/show/a-tempo-with-rachel-katz/2022-12-03/westminster-choir-college-honors-cherished-tradition-with-reading-carols-30th-anniversary-celebration

Westminster Choir College Honors Cherished Tradition with Readings & Carols' 30th Anniversary Celebration A Tempo this Saturday (12/3 at 7 pm) looks ahead to this year's Evening of Readings and Carols performances by the choirs at Westminster Choir College, which returns in full force after the pandemic and the college's relocation from its historic Princeton home to the campus of Rider University in La...

Rider Libraries now has a blog!

Librarians from both Moore and Talbott Music Library plan to post weekly over fun library-related news, specific informational topics, featured library tools, and more!

The blog can be found at https://guides.rider.edu/blog/. Stop by and check it out!

Our student workers made sure that the Talbott circulation desk looks festive for the holidays! Have you started putting up your holiday decorations yet?

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/23/opinion/thankful-libraries-books.html?smid=url-share

Opinion | Thankful for Libraries It was in these quiet spaces that I found myself, not only physically but spiritually.

Happening today! Join us for a lunch & learn (free pizza!) with the Kennedy Center in Library Classroom 1!

Can't make it to the Westminster Choir concert today? Join us via livestream! The concert will begin at 4pm.

Westminster Choir: Serenity of Soul The Westminster Choir presents their fall concert, Serenity of Soul.It will provide important lessons of life as we navigate living post-pandemic. This progr...

Westminster Symphonic Choir will perform ‘El Mesías: Handel’s Messiah for a New World’ with Orchestra of St. Luke’s on Nov. 20 Performance to feature Ruben Valenzuela as guest conductor, five guest soloists, singers from the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts and the Trenton Children's Chorus Chorale

WCC alumnus Donald Nally ‘87, founder and conductor of The Crossing, is a current guest artist at WCC!

Looking for an internship or next professional experience opportunity? Have questions regarding career trajectory, or what day-to-day operations look like within a performing arts organization? Looking to network with industry professionals?

Join the CDS team and Kimmel Cultural Campus in Library Classroom 1 on November 2nd from 12-1pm! This event will allow for small group chat with a member of Kimmel Cultural Campus. This event is open to all students. Free pizza for all who attend!

Interested in watching Chapel Choir's concert today at 3PM, but unable to be in-person? Watch the livestream from the link below!

Path to Joy

Talbott Music Library had some special visitors yesterday! The Westminster Jubilee Singers visited the Westminster Choir College Archives in the library to look at items for a special project for their upcoming 25th year anniversary concert on November 12th! The students got hands-on experience working with archival items. We really enjoyed getting to work with them, and we hope they enjoyed it, too!

If you have the opportunity, go hear Talbott Music Library/Moore Library's own Maggie Bergmark sing, in this monumental work of Beethoven!
https://www.capitalphilharmonic.org/currentseason

2022-2023 Season | Capital Philharmonic Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey (CPNJ) is bringing the best of symphonic music straight to you, including Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, The Nutcracker (with American Repertory Ballet), a new Emerging Artists Concerto Competition, and the exciting rhythms of Latin America - all hosted at the incompa...

New competition offers 6 full-tuition scholarships to music students Applications now open for Westminster Choir College Organ Scholarship Competition

Join us today at 12-1!

Join us on Thursday, October 13th from 12-1pm for FREE pizza and an informative Lunch & Learn with professionals from the Princeton Symphony Orchestra! The meeting will be held in Library Classroom 1 on the third floor of the library. We hope to see you there!

Angela Lansbury has passed away. What are YOUR favorite moments from her long, storied career? This is one of ours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqapHRAqnfk

Sweeney Todd - The Worst Pies in London

Join us on Thursday, October 13th from 12-1pm for FREE pizza and an informative Lunch & Learn with professionals from the Princeton Symphony Orchestra! The meeting will be held in Library Classroom 1 on the third floor of the library. We hope to see you there!

https://www.rider.edu/about/news/rider-announces-fall-2022-performance-schedule

Rider announces fall 2022 performance schedule See the University's talented students in nearly 20 performances open to the public

From Robert McCormick:

"Exciting news from Westminster!
There are six full-tuition scholarships available for organ study beginning in the 2023-2024 academic year.
There will be a scholarship competition on Saturday, February 4, 2023. I am working with the College and University to coordinate the competition and to help grow the organ program; please reach out to me with any questions at [email protected]."

https://www.rider.edu/academics/colleges-schools/college-arts-sciences/westminster-choir-college/programs-opportunities/organ-scholarship-competition

It appears that the post for day 4 of Banned Books Week only went through on Instagram yesterday, so here it is on Facebook, albeit a day late!

Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Premiered 1894, 1912)

Claude Debussy’s symphonic poem for orchestra, known in English as Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, debuted in December 1894, though a ballet, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes, was premiered in May 1912. The piece was based on the poem L'Après-midi d'un faune by Stéphane Mallarmé. In the poem, a young faun awakens from an afternoon nap and begins to flirt with and chase nymphs in a “dreamlike monologue.” The run time of the 1912 ballet was only 12 minutes, and is regarded to be one of the first modern ballets.

In a similar manner to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, the dance choreography proved to be controversial, with non-traditional and intentionally sensual dance movements. The premiere saw a mix of opinion, with both applause and booing. Music critic Gaston Calmette described the faun’s dancing as "filthy" and "indecent," and found the ballet to be “not artful, imaginative, nor meaningful.” The split between approval and disapproval of the ballet continued and even drew a presence from the Paris police due to the purported obscenity of the dance. This, however, boosted the popularity of the ballet, leading to sold out performances.

For the final day of banned books week, we chose to cover a genre instead of a single piece of music:

Rock ‘n’ roll and jazz in the Soviet Union (circa 1950s-1960s)

Though not referring to a specific work or piece, certain types of music faced censorship in the Soviet Union following World War II. Seen as “culturally corruptive” or “decadent,” the government cracked down on the importation of certain types of music. This stemmed from the Zhdanov Doctrine of 1946, which had a strict set of rules on what types of art and music that the government deemed appropriate.

Enter the “stilyagi,” or “style hunters.” Described as being similar to the current “hipster” trend, the stilyagi were young people who wore flashy clothing, listened to foreign music, and went against the status quo of what was considered acceptable for young people. Though the term was originally coined to shame them, the stilyagi wore the term with pride. Due to the crackdown on imported music, it was hard for the stilyagi to find new music or to find multiple copies of the music they already had. So, they took matters into their own hands by creating “bone records.” After finding discarded x-rays in hospital dumpsters, the stilyagi would copy a record onto the x-ray, then fashion the x-ray into crude discs, burning a hole in the middle with a cigarette to allow the discs to fit on their record players. Though the sound quality was not especially great, this allowed the spread of “inappropriate” Western music throughout the youth of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, it became illegal to copy and distribute records in this manner in 1958, and the government encouraged their peers to keep an eye out and report any person creating these bone records. However, by the 1960s, restrictions began to loosen on Western culture, which ultimately led to the decline of the bone records.

For day 3 of Banned Books Week, we chose:

John Cage’s 4’33” (Premiered 1952)

4’33” is a silent composition by American composer John Cage. Having previously included silence in his music, Cage’s 4’33” took it to the next level. Given to pianist David Tudor for its August 29th, 1952 premiere, the score simply reads “I Tacet, II Tacet, III Tacet,” indicating that each movement should have the performer be completely silent, and that the title of the piece be an indicator of how long the composition itself is performed. In doing so, this allows the environment in which the work is being performed to become the music (like the sound of an air conditioner, or a cough from the audience), thus meaning that each performance will be different. Many in the audience left the auditorium, likely in confusion and/or frustration. Those who were left at the end of the performance politely clapped at its conclusion.

Cage felt that the audience misinterpreted the piece, and is quoted as saying “They missed the point. There’s no such thing as silence. What they thought was silence, because they didn’t know how to listen, was full of accidental sounds. You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first movement. During the second, raindrops began patterning the roof, and during the third the people themselves made all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out.” Cage considered it to be his most important work.

For day 2 of Banned Books Week, we chose:

Erik Satie’s Parade (Premiered 1917)

Parade, a ballet choreographed by Leonide Massine, a one-act scenario by Jean Cocteau, costume and set design by Pablo Picasso, and music by Erik Satie, was commissioned for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and premiered on May 18, 1917. Many elements of this work drew attention, from the Cubist costume and sets by Picasso to the unusual sound effects used, such as typewriter clacking, milk bottles clinking, a foghorn, and more.

The audience at the premiere performance were unimpressed - it is quoted that this nearly caused a riot, with some audience members booing and hissing loudly. Another scandal attached to the work was between Satie, Cocteau, and music critic Jean Poueigh. Poueigh gave a less than stellar review to the work, to which Satie sent Poueigh a postcard with the following written on it: “"Monsieur et cher ami – vous êtes un cul, un cul sans musique! Signé Erik Satie" ("Sir and dear friend – you are an arse, an arse without music! Signed, Erik Satie.")” In turn, Poueigh sued and was successful in doing so. Cocteau was arrested in the courtroom for yelling “arse” repeatedly, and Satie ended up with a sentence of 8 days in jail. A very eventful work, indeed!

For our first day of banned and/or controversial music, we chose to feature:

Richard Strauss’ Salome (Premiered 1905)

Salome, a one act opera by Richard Strauss, is based on Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name. The main source of controversy for this work stems from the “Dance of the Seven Veils,” which refers to Salome's dance performed before King Herod Antipas. Though Strauss is believed to have suggested that the dance be “thoroughly decent, as if it were being done on a prayer mat,” many productions of the opera made the dance very risque and suggestive, especially for the time period. At the premiere of the opera, Marie Wittich, who played the title character Salome, refused to do the dance, leading to the use of a separate dancer being brought in. 

The press deemed the opera to be “diseased in mind and morals,” and “debauching and brutalizing,” combining biblical themes with murder and eroticism. Adding onto the already scandalous subject matter, the connection to Oscar Wilde, who had spent two years in prison for “homosexual practices,” furthered the scandalous nature of the opera. Many cities and opera houses refused to perform the opera due to these matters!

It’s Banned Books Week 2022!

Though these may not be books, we wanted to share some music that has been considered controversial or even banned throughout history. You’ve probably heard of the controversy that is attached to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, but you may not have heard of some of these! Throughout the week, we will post various musical works that caused scandal and, in some cases, were banned completely!

Stop by Talbott and see our physical display for Banned Books Week in the current periodicals area, near our book scanner.

Here are our Fall 2022 hours. We hope to see you at the library soon!

The faculty and staff of Talbott Music Library were saddened to hear of the passing of Donald McDonald. Dr. McDonald was a member of the Westminster Choir College organ faculty from 1952-1994, and made an impact on many WCC students throughout the years. See the link below to view Dr. McDonald's obituary.

https://www.waynebozefuneralhome.com/obituary/Donald-McDonald?fbclid=IwAR0ANpuP8E5C8BYCPnwSE3RBR1h6oWM63OzGyBFM6ABK8wWyL5USDEIvwPM

Throwback Thursday!

For our final Summer 2022 Throwback Thursday, we wanted to share some tour images from the 1920s-1960s! The choirs here at WCC have had incredible performance opportunities and traveled the world throughout the years. Here are a few from early on in the college's history!

1. Westminster Choir members waiting at the station on tour, 1920s

2. Choir standing on ship, ready to set sair for Russia, 1934

3. Westminster Choir in front of Pan Am plane, Cuba Tour, 1946

4. Williamsons and Westminster Choir standing near a plane, ready to depart during tour, 1956-57

5. Choir members in front of Westminster Choir tour bus, 1960s

If you’re interested in seeing more WCC images from decades past, check out the link below to visit our Westminster Choir College Photograph Collection!

This may be our final TBT post of the summer, but don't worry - we will be back this fall! Have a wonderful start of the semester!!

https://cdm15457.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16471coll2?fbclid=IwAR0rfjlQxbCg0O6rRHy-qiSACR4jdmBJXmDRRo0t48wBhie9yBsHfo2xPOA

Throwback Thursday!

This week, we wanted to showcase some images of Westminster's co-founder, John Finley Williamson!

Williamson, along with his wife Rhea, founded the original Westminster Choir School at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton, Ohio in 1926. The school was moved to Ithaca, NY in 1929, following a tour of the Westminster Choir that same year. Finally, in 1932, Westminster came to New Jersey, taking advantage of its close proximity to both New York and Philadelphia.

1. John Finley Williamson in an impromptu Westminster Choir performance, ca. 1956-60

2. John Finley Williamson teaching/conducting in a classroom, 1939

3. Rhea and John Finley Williamson aboard a ship while on tour, 1934

4. John Finley (in argyle socks) and Rhea B. Williamson seated with other people on a ship deck, August 8, 1928

5. John Finley Williamson conducting, in front of dark background, date unknown

If you want to learn more about John Finley Williamson and explore the John Finley Williamson Collection in our historical archive, see the link below!

https://guides.rider.edu/specialcollections/talbott-westminsterchoircollegehistoricalarchives -lib-ctab-18673087-1

Throwback Thursday!

For this week's post, we wanted to feature some names that may sound familiar. Each person featured this week has a special collection tied to their name here at Talbott! We will list the collection name following the photograph information for those interested in learning more about each collection!

1. Symphonic Choir rehearsal with Joseph Flummerfelt in the Playhouse, ca. 1975; Joseph Flummerfelt Collection

2. Erik Routley speaking at Commencement, 1976; Erik Routley Collection

3. Robert Shaw speaking at commencement, 1986; Robert Shaw Collection of Marked Scores

4. Warren Martin sitting at table in classroom, date unknown; Warren Martin Compositions

5. Leopold Stokowski conducting the American Symphony Orchestra, ca. 1960s; Leopold Stokowski Scores

If you would like to learn more about the Special Collections and the Westminster Archives at Talbott Music Library, visit the link below.

https://guides.rider.edu/specialcollections/talbott-specialcollections

Throwback Thursday!

This week, we wanted to share a few more famous visitors that WCC has had throughout the years.

1. Pierre Boulez and Westminster President Ray Robinson on the Princeton campus, ca. 1970s

2. Herbert von Karajan with students in the Bristol Chapel, 1958

3. Choir during performance with Arturo Toscanini conducting [though not pictured], ca. 1936

4. Signed photograph from Arturo Toscanini - inscription reads: "To Mr. & Mrs. John Finley Williamson, with the best good wishes and with cordiality, Arturo Toscanini, May 1942"

5. Sir Arthur Bliss, composer, on the Princeton campus, 1968

If you’re interested in seeing more WCC images from decades past, check out the link below to visit our Westminster Choir College Photograph Collection!

https://cdm15457.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16471coll2?fbclid=IwAR2epQtdXldU_MauEIc91b2I_DDMMk3SihBPNmcQByhf3q8hZxCZi-a_8Ck

Throwback Thursday!

Since we have featured photographs of Westminster students abroad, we thought it'd be fun to include some photographs of WCC from here in the US for this week’s post!

1. Dayton Westminster Choir at Haddon Hall, Atlantic City, N.J. Nov. 27, 1926

2. Westminster Choir at the White House with the Marine Corps Band and President and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965

3. Westminster Concert Bell Choir performing in Prescott, AZ at Shepard of the Valley Lutheran Church on 2022 Bell Choir Tour, May 21, 2022

If you’re interested in seeing more WCC images from decades past, check out the link below to visit our Westminster Choir College Photograph Collection!

https://cdm15457.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16471coll2?fbclid=IwAR0rfjlQxbCg0O6rRHy-qiSACR4jdmBJXmDRRo0t48wBhie9yBsHfo2xPOA

Throwback Thursday!

This week, we wanted to highlight some more of the famous visitors (in-person AND virtually) that Westminster Choir College has had throughout the years.

1. Benny Goodman and John Finley Williamson meet in Singapore, 1956

2. John Finley Williamson, Walt Disney, and Leopold Stokowski with 1939-1940 Westminster Choir at Disney Studios Fantasia session

3. Robert Shaw speaking at WCC Commencement, 1986

4. Eric Whitacre, Westminster Q&A (virtually via Zoom), May 6, 2020

If you’re interested in seeing more WCC images from decades past, check out the link below to visit our Westminster Choir College Photograph Collection!

https://cdm15457.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16471coll2?fbclid=IwAR0wQ2n6t_a3X9gHGo3aM4AkGn6KT2aW5cUwkXFcSikX_xnrQ-AR0JAN-gE

https://nafme.org/nafme-celebrates-50th-anniversary-of-naspaam-with-resolution/

NAfME Celebrates 50th Anniversary of NASPAAM with Resolution - NAfME On June 22, 2022, NAfME President Scott R. Sheehan announced at the 2022 National Leadership Assembly in Reston, Virginia, that NAfME would formally recognize the 50th anniversary of the National…

Throwback Thursday!

Westminster Choir College has had many wonderful opportunities for our students throughout the years, especially through touring and attending various choral events. As students and faculty travel for this year's Choral Institute at Oxford, we decided to showcase some images of Westminster in Europe!

1. Westminster Williamson Voices performed James Whitbourn's Luminosity and Peter Relph's Requiem as part of the 2018 Oxford International Choral Festival at St. John the Evangelist Church

2. Westminster Choir in front of Albert Hall, London, England, 1929

3. Choir for the second European tour, 1934

4. Westminster Choir in Oslo, Norway, 1934

If you’re interested in seeing more WCC images from decades past, check out the link below to visit our Westminster Choir College Photograph Collection!

https://cdm15457.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16471coll2?fbclid=IwAR2iemQXrZeC7kFeTU3FB_f5mWrrjShQQnTmzRE5TRAdxxvQFD5OnukHQZ4