Bibliorarities
2006‒2007
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 and November
To commemorate the 250th year of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, we feature an early printed edition of the piano and accompaniment parts to his Piano Concerto in d minor, no. 8, KV 466.
November and December
Have you ever wished you could leave the house with nothing but a book in your pocket? Check out the mini books you have been missing in the Con Library!
December and January
French organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll has been described in the Grove Dictionary of Music as "the true creator of the French Romantic organ." He influenced French organ composers including Franck and Messiaen, as well as builder C.B. Fisk who produced the Kay Africa Memorial Organ in Finney Chapel (left). View documents presented to the Conservatory Library by Oberlin College alumnus Fenner Douglass.
January and February
These four pieces published in Source, the avant garde music journal of the 1960s and 1970s, promotes tactile sensation with aural suggesting the performer listen as the fur is touched. Do not de-"fur" — try it now!
February and March
On Valentine's Day, view the letters of Clara and Robert Schumann drawn from the Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Best collection of autographs.
March and April
Las Huelgas Codex
Compiled sometime between 1300 and 1325, Las Huelgas Codex contains 45 monophonic and 141 polyphonic compositions used by Cistercian nuns at the Las Huelgas convent in Burgos, Spain. The richly-detailed facsimile of this codex was purchased by the Friends of the Library.
April and May
The Stravinsky-Oberlin Connection
In March 1963, Igor Stravinsky visited Oberlin as part of a contemporary festival. After hearing the students' rendition of his Septet, Stravinsky was so pleased that he took his rehearsal pencil and scribed his excitement on the plaster of Professor Wilbur Price's studio in the original Conservatory building. Professor Price rescued the plaster "excerpt" prior to demolition of the building that stood where Peters Hall currently stands.