Bibliorarities 2010-2011
The Conservatory Library's Special Collections are the focus of the year-long series of exhibits, Bibliorarities. The exhibits are on view in the cases adjacent to the Conservatory Library's Circulation Area during all opening hours.
October 2010-January 2011
L'Archet
This documentary presentation by Bernard Millant and Jean Francois Raffin, with assistance from Bernard Gaudfroy and Loic Le Canu, provides intricate detail on the design and history of bow- making in France from 1750 to 1950. The work features biographies of 116 bow-makers illustrated with richly detailed photographs of all elements that play a part in the making of the bows for stringed instruments. Correspondence and other records help describe their methods.
November 2010-February 2011
Gustav Mahler at 150:
Tenth Symphony in Facsimile
In May 1911, when Gustav Mahler was on his deathbed, he told his wife Alma that he wanted her to burn the manuscript of the Tenth Symphony. Alma did not destroy the manuscript, but instead kept the sketches under lock and key until 1924. At that point, apparently in financial trouble, she agreed to publish the manuscript in facsimile. The work has since been completed by a variety of composers, including Ernst Krenek, Alma's son-in-law, who created a performance edition of the first and third movements. The mystery, confusion, and controversy around the Tenth Symphony remain.
February-May 2011
Codex Chantilly, Ms. 564
This facsimile of the collection Epitome Musical features 99 songs in French and Latin as well as 13 motets from the late 14th c. Visually striking examples of ars subtilior, an experimental rhythmic notation, are evidenced here in compositions by Cordier and Machaut, among others. The work's manuscript has an unusual history; having originated in the south of France or Spain, then passing to a collector in Italy, it was found in the collection of Prince Henri d'Orleans, duke of Aumale. The manuscript remained in Florence until 1861, when it was brought to Chantilly's Conde Museum.
March-May 2011
The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan
Peter Sellars once said, "The most important nights in the theater were seen by only a tiny fraction of the population and yet they have passed into the history of the world." In The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan, a fascinating picture of each premiere is painted with the libretti from the first night of each of Gilbert and Sullivan's brilliant operettas. Essays place each of the operettas in broader historical and cultural settings, while facsimiles of the programs from opening night help recreate the mood. But most significant are the original libretti because they show the works as they were performed on opening night, allowing a modern performer to see how the standard script has changed over the years and passed into the history of the world.
Interested in past exhibits of the Conservatory Library? See:
Bibliorarities 2006-07
Bibliorarities 2007-08
Bibliorarities 2008-09
Bibliorarities 2009-10