“Pretty Saro” from the album Songs of Love and Politics by Peggy Seeger (SFW 40048)

A dominant figure in the folk song movement in the U.S. and England for more than 35 years, Peggy personally selected these traditional and original songs focused primarily on the themes of love and politics. Songs include “Freight Train,” “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” and “Gonna Be An Engineer.”

“21 tracks display the variety of Peggy’s repertoire, her range of styles, love of tradition and innovative songwriting prowess.” — Homespun Tapes

Click Link to download music

Music Library Hours

Monday-Thursday 8:00am-9:00pm
Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Saturday 1:00pm-5:00pm
Sunday 1:00pm-9:00pm

The Music library Holiday Hours are as follows:

December 19-20 Closed
December 21-23 8:00am-12:00pm 1:00pm-4:30pm
December 24-January 3 Closed
January 4-15 8:00am-12:00pm 1:00am-4:30pm
January 16-18 Closed
January 19 8:00am-9:00pm

Have a Happy Holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This gong displayed on the south wall of the Music Library was made by the Paiste Company, which is best known for the manufacture of cymbals. Originally founded by Michail Paiste in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1901, the company suffered the vicissitudes of European history in the Twentieth Century and moved first to Estonia, then to Poland and Germany and finally to Switzerland in 1957. It now has branches in Estonia, Spain, and the US.

The gong came to WIU thanks to the efforts of Jo-Ellen Zulas* who was a member of the marching band in 1974. Her family lived in Westmont, IL, and was acquainted with the family who owned the Ludwig Drum Company in Chicago, one of the world’s leading purveyors of percussion instruments. Realizing that the WIU Marching Band was lacking a gong of sufficient size and heft to do justice to one of the pieces it was performing at the half-time show that season, La Fiesta Mexicana, Jo-Ellen asked Mr. Ludwig if he had a gong they could borrow. He replied that he would lend one but it would have to be picked up from the factory. This is where Jo-Ellen’s parents and their camper trailer came in! They had no difficulty loading the gong, but the stand proved more difficult to accommodate and was eventually tied on to the back of the camper. When Jo-Ellen asked when he would like the gong returned, Mr. Ludwig replied that it should be considered “on loan” to WIU and that he knew where it was should he ever need it again.

Unfortunately, at some time the gong sustained serious damage and an effort to repair it was unsuccessful. After languishing in the band storage area for a number of years, it was offered as a decorative feature on loan to the Music Library in the fall of 2009.

Gongs of various shapes and sizes were developed at several centers in the Far East (China, Burma, Annam, Java) with a history going back at least 3,000 years. They were believed to possess certain magical qualities. Paiste gongs are hand-made in Germany by skilled craftsmen. This 60″ diameter example is the next-to-largest size the company makes (the largest has a diameter of 80 ins.).

An interesting tangent to the above story. We recently received the latest CD from the US Marine Band titled “Feste” which includes “La Fiesta Mexicana” by Reed H. Owen.

*Her daughter, Renée Douglas, is currently an Art Major at WIU and plays viola in the orchestra.

The Music Library was fortunate to receive two valuable bequests this fall.

The first is a collection of scores of viola and chamber music from the library of Walter Ekle of Hamilton who died earlier this year at the age of 86. He was an active musician in the region for many years as a member, among others, of the Quincy and Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestras, as well as performing concerts in chamber music groups and as a soloist. Walter was a WWII veteran and although he farmed and was a qualified electrician, it is certain that playing the viola was his first love. His bequest consists of major works by Sitt, Stamitz, and Telemann, as well as other solo items and several volumes of orchestral excerpts for viola. We are grateful to his wife Dorey and WIU viola professor Istvan Szabo for facilitating the acquisition of these worthwhile items to enhance the collection to benefit the present and future students of the viola.

The second is a gift of 190 scores from the collection of Marietta Dean, longtime teacher of voice at WIU, who retired in August. The collection consists of a selection of varied and valuable vocal repertoire, most of it new to the library, which will significantly strengthen our holdings in this area. The donation includes opera vocal scores (including Mozart’s Idomeneo, and a rare score of Albert Lortzing’s Der Waffenschmied), oratorios, solo songs and duets, collections, and vocal technique primers. Dean, who came to WIU in 1967, was trained at the Cincinnati Conservatory and later studied in France, Austria, and Italy. She appeared as a soloist in opera and concerts worldwide.

Following is the Music Library Thanksgiving break hours: Feel free to come in and visit!

Sat-Sun Nov 21-22 Closed

Mon-Wed Nov 23-25
8:00am-12:00pm
1:00pm-4:30pm

Thurs.-Sun. Nov 26-29
Closed

Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

If you have been on the WIU music library web page, you may have noticed the box on the right hand side of the page that says “Instant messaging” and “meebo.” We are now providing a means for you to ask us a question using Meebo, which is our instant messaging system. All you have to do is go to the WIU music library webpage and you are automatically signed in as a meeboguest. When you send us a message, we will try to answer immediately. This way you can ask questions from anywhere. We will be anxiously waiting for your questions. Hope to hear from you soon!

The Music Library Summer Hours are:

Monday- Friday 8:00am-4:30 pm
closed Weekends

We will resume our normal extended hours when classes start August 24.

IIMP (International Index of Music Periodicals) has recently been SFX-enabled. SFX is software (a link resolver) that integrates the online databases provided by WIU Libraries. Databases licensed from different companies do not interact with each other; SFX aims to resolve those differences. You are aware of SFX from the purple “Find it at WIU Libraries” button which now appears at the base of each citation. When you click on this button it takes you to an intermediate SFX page that lists all possible means of accessing this article in, or through, WIU Libraries. Most searches in IIMP give you the option of accessing a full-text article by clicking on a link. In which case, why do I need SFX, I hear you cry!

SFX adds extra capacity to searching for topics in music journals and saves time by not requiring you to do similar searches in different databases.

SFX is an enhancement to IIMP, which is a full-text database – mostly. IIMP began life as an index of articles in music periodicals and then gradually began adding the full-text of articles. Not every citation in IIMP gives the full-text of the article – much to the disappointment of students!

The following examples show how SFX can enhance your searches in IIMP:

Example 1. Article text not available at WIU.

A search for Charles Ives brought up a review by Charles Alburger of his Symphony No. 4 by the San Francisco SO in the journal “21st Century Music.” From the citation I learn that this review is not available full-text in IIMP. Clicking on the “Find it” button tells me that the only way I can obtain this article is through an interlibrary loan request, because it is not in any of our databases, nor do we subscribe to a print copy of this journal.

Example 2. Article text available only in print at WIU.

I search for an article on the flutist Maarika Järvi, a member of the famous musical dynasty. I find an article in “Flute Talk” magazine. From the citation I learn that this article is not available full-text in IIMP. Clicking on the “Find it” button tells me that the Music Library has a print copy (25:7, March 2006).

Example 3. Article text available in another database.

I search for “Charles Ives Life and Times” and find an article by Madeleine Ladell in BBC Music Magazine. From the citation I learn that this article is not available full-text in IIMP. Clicking the “Find it” button tells me that it is available, full-text, in the LexisNexis Academic database. Clicking the red “GO” button will take me to the article.

The Difference between full-text versions in HTML and PDF formats.

PDF format is a scanned copy of the original article as it appeared in the print version; it includes any illustrations, musical examples, graphs, etc. HTML format is simply the text of the article, no frills. In IIMP, most recent full-text articles are in PDF format. Older articles may offer both versions. Some offer only HTML. On occasion, professors will ask students to find PDF format because of the extra-textual matter. SFX can direct a searcher to a full-text version in PDF format in another database.

Example 4. Finding an article in PDF format.
In doing a music business search, I come across an article “Indie Insider: How To Win Friends And Influence People In The Music Business” by Bob Baker in Canadian Musician. IIMP tells me this is available full-text in HTML format. Clicking on the “Find it” button tells me that it is available full-text in Academic Search Premier in PDF format. I click the red “GO” button to access the article and choose the PDF format

Finally, a word or two of warning! SFX doesn’t always work seamlessly (there are still a few kinks). Sometimes the links don’t work, or say they will and then don’t, or take you into a different database where you must re-enter your search. Don’t be disheartened; for the most part SFX is A GOOD THING!

Rod

To celebrate Black History Month, the Music Library has mounted an exhibit featuring Black Jazz. On the display board we feature a number of book covers related to the topic, and on the table we display items from the collection related to black jazz musicians, in a variety of formats: books, scores, recordings, videos, CD-ROMS. The featured artists are: Canonball Adderley; John Coltrane; Duke Ellington; Dizzie Gillespie; Wynton Marsalis; Sarah Vaughan; and Nancy Wilson. This represents a tiny fraction of the materials that exist in the library’s collection.

The Music Library is also responsible for an exhibit at the east entrance of Malpass Library. This celebrates the inimitable Louis Armstrong, one of the kings of jazz.

These two exhibits will be displayed until the end of February.