Westport Public Library MOVIE & MUSIC Blog

Beginning with Sappho in the 7th century BC, women have been composing music. Although recognition of their efforts and accomplishments was not forthcoming for many years, women have made a noteworthy contribution to the history of Western music.

The Orchestra of St. Luke's is formally acclaiming the role of female composers with a series of three concerts entitled "Notable Women: A Celebration of Women Composers". These events, which were conceived and formulated by Composer-in-Residence Joan Tower, will take place at different venues throughout the first three weekends of June. Featured works by Amy Beach, Rebecca Clarke, Libby Larsen, etc. will be performed by musicians from the Orchestra of St. Luke's.

If you wish to read about female composers, the Library offers Christine Ammer's Unsung: A History of Women in American Music, Adrienne Fried Block's Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian, Julie Anne Sadie's The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, and Elizabeth Swados' Listening Out Loud: Becoming a Composer. Compact discs that showcase women's music include Lucille Field Sings Songs by American Women Composers, Bonnie Pomfret's De Toda La Eternidad: Songs of American Women Composers, and the collection Women of Note.

Whether you are an armchair traveler or planning an exciting vacation, the library has a wonderful collection of travel videos to explore. Recently added are films highlighting many of the 50 states including our neighbors Rhode Island and Massachusetts and DVDs on the Indian Ocean Islands and Venice.

And, we’ve just increased that collection by over still another 200 travel videos you can directly download to your computer through our new service MyLibary DV. (Follow this link to more information and directions for installing this service.) Tour the many films you can view through this service which might just be your passport to global destinations. A nice feature of this service is the ability to check a video’s length and size of the file you will download before you actually save the video to your computer. Journey to among many other spots, Budapest or Sicily with well known travel host Rick Steve’s. Trek to exotic locals such as Cameroon, nature’s stark Arctic Canada or luscious Bali with the Global Trekker series.

The library staff invites you to see the world through our videos. Call 291-4840 for further information.

May 26, 1907 - June 11, 1979

A handful of actors from the past can be considered icons of the American screen. John Wayne may top that list. At 6’4” with a propensity to wear lifts in his later movies to compensate for weight gain, he loomed bigger than life. Regardless of what you feel about his politics or even his acting talent, he was an instantly recognizable as the ultimate personification of an uncomplicated American patriotism. According to several sources, Wayne's fame reached far and wide. Nikita Khrushchev turned out to be a big fan and demanded to meet him, having watched the Duke’s films in as unlikely a place as the Kremlin. It is said that the Communist leader told the star that Stalin had a bounty on his head, but that he as the new head of the Communist state had removed it. Emperor Hirohito of Japan visited the United States in 1975 anxious to see two things, Disneyland and John Wayne.

John Wayne has been immortalized on stamps and both lionized and satirized in song. But in commemoration of his 100th birthday anniversary, the library recently purchased a set of recently released DVD versions of his movies. And naturally, we have many more on both VHS and DVD format.

I have a simple question for today. Name a younger modern actor who you feel will someday reach the iconic stature of John Wayne? A star who will be known by a simple nickname and recognized world over for more than his latest exploits. Love him or leave him, there was only one Duke.

As many of us go out for long walks in the parks and woods, we relax, unwind, and appreciate nature. We stroll by chipmunks, deer, and squirrels scurrying around and marvel at the acrobatics of the birds flying above.

Throughout history, classical composers have derived great pleasure and inspiration from the natural world, especially from the songs of birds. We can all imagine Ludwig van Beethoven madly gesticulating and wandering through the countryside while simultaneously hearing and humming the themes and rhythmic patterns from his symphonies. He successfully imitated nightingale, cuckoo, and quail calls in his Symphony #6, the "Pastoral Symphony." One may hear a nightingale's tones and trills in the finale of Gustav Mahler's Symphony #2. Richard Wagner's "Forest Murmurs" from his opera Siegfried reminds us of birds in their natural environment. Ottorino Respighi successfully used previously recorded nightingale sounds in his orchestral work Pines of Rome. The twentieth century French composer Olivier Messiaen had an extraordinary interest in birdsong which is evident in his work Oiseaux Exotique.

Please feel free to suggest your favorite pieces of music which pay homage to birdsongs.

"The Janus Films icon—the black and white image, the lettering, the two faces on the seemingly ancient coin—meant that you were going to see something special, something new, something completely different from anything you'd ever seen before." So declares Martin Scorsese in his tribute to the collector’s edition of 50 Years of Janus Films Art House Collection released this past winter. How amazing to realize that the library already had a very high percentage of these films on its shelves, and some quick ordering is beginning to fill in the gaps as films are released individually.

And what a collection it is! The earliest film featured in the impressive collection is W. Pabst’s Pandora Box, starring Louise Brooks as the showgirl in a downward spiral. Don’t forget to watch the interviews with Brooks which are featured as an extra on the DVD. The other choices reflect the international breadth and universal themes explored by the movies. Among the later films are two by Anthony Asquith’s The Importance of Being Ernest and Pygmalion. Other selections include films which pose strong moral dilemmas such as Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring and the British Film, Fallen Idol based on the Graham Greene short story. A wonderful choice for the grouping is the Spanish film Spirit of the Beehive directed by Victor Erice. Its set in the Castilian countryside shortly after Franco won the civil war. Made in 1973 it is an allegorical tale of an 8 year old girl, fascinated by her viewing of the classic Frankenstein movie and her relationship with a republican sympathizer she finds hiding in an outhouse.

Why not check out the classic collection of films available at the Westport Public Library?

I hope you had the opportunity to be outside this past weekend since spring has truly arrived. The sky was a wonderous blue, the weather was glorious, and the birds were lustfully calling, chirping, and singing.

People are often captivated by the sounds and trills of birds and often use birdsong as a way to identify them. Children and adults appreciate the creative vocalizations as much as the viewings of them in their natural habitats.

If you want to explore the world of birdsongs, the library can assist. Donald E. Kroodsma's The Singing Life of Birds, David Rothenberg's Why Birds Sing : A Journey Through the Mystery of Bird Song, and Don Stap's Birdsong guide you through the mysteries and significance of bird songs and sounds. Recordings of birdsongs include Echoes of Nature: Morning Songbirds, Soo-Roo: Birdsongs and Why Birds Sing.

One of the most recognizable motifs or themes in western music is the first four notes of Beethoven's Symphony #5. Its familiarity causes it to be used as background music for movies, radio spots, television commercials, and of course, parody.

I have to share a YouTube video clip that will give you a different perspective on Beethoven's magnificent Fifth Symphony.

Can you identify the people in it? The first person who provides the correct answer will receive a free drink courtesy of the Westport Public Library.

When Cate Blanchett won a Best Supporting Oscar for her dramatization of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, she became the first actress to win an Oscar portraying a true screen legend and Academy Award winning actress. When reviewing her performance, Rodger Ebert remarked, “Critically speaking Cate Blanchett has the task of playing Katharine Hepburn, who was herself so close to caricature that to play her accurately involves some risk.” The Oscar was proof that this risk paid dividends.

The next few days mark birthdays for both stars. The Australian born Cate will turn a mere 38 on May 14th, but May 12th marks the 100th anniversary of Hartford born Kate’s birth.

There is no arguing that Katharine Hepburn was a formidable presence in Hollywood. Her films appear on so many lists of the best and she consistently ranks in the very top of the many lists of best film actresses of all time. Cate Blanchett is beginning to lay claim to the same distinction. In fact, she just ranked number 10 in the recently published list of the Top 100 influential people.

Why not commemorate their birthdays by watching one of their films.

Today marks the 300th anniversary of the death of the composer and organist Dieterich Buxtehude. Your first reaction to this news may be Buxte-Who? Buxtehude was a renowned composer of organ, choral and instrumental music who influenced the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

After serving as an organist at several German churches, he attained the position of organist of the Marien Church at Lübeck, one of the most important in northern Germany on April 11, 1668. Besides completing official duties at church services, he composed keyboard, vocal, and instrumental music. However, he became famous for directing a concert series known as the Abendmusiken where he introduced sacred dramatic works to the programs. His musical contemporaries considered these works to be as good as operas.

Free performances of his organ works by John Scott will be held on May 12, 19 and 26 at 4:00 p.m. at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street in New York City. Before going, feel free to check out Buxtehude's music at the Westport Public Library.

This weekend the Norwalk Symphony is performing Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt. This unique performance not only showcase's Grieg's wonderful music but Henrik Ibsen's fantasy play Peer Gynt. This collaborative production features soprano Marjorie McGovern, actors Ezra Barnes and Kathryn Marchand, The Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut, and the New Canaan Dance Academy.

You may be familiar with some of the incidental music from this piece by growing up in America. Arranger and composer Carl Stalling utilized "Morning Mood" in Warner Brothers cartoons. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" permeated Peter Lorre's character in Fritz Lang's 1931 movie M.

If you would like to familiarize yourself with Ibsen's play or Grieg's music, feel free to check them out at the Westport Public Library.