The Stanford piano roll scanner has progressed from a prototype to a functional, production level machine since the last report in spring of 2017. As reported earlier, the scanner is based on a design by Anthony Robinson, a piano roll expert in England.
The Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound is pleased to announce completion of the portion from the Robert Baxter Collection pertaining to the American-born Greek soprano, Maria Callas (1923-1977). During her lifetime, Callas was a fervent interpreter of the bel canto technique in the works of Donizetti, Rossini, and Bellini at La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and other notable venues. Her dramatic interpretations of Verdi and Puccini are often regarded as some of the finest interpretations of all time.
Mimi Tashiro, Music Bibliographer, has announced her retirement from Stanford Libraries beginning September 21. Mimi is incredibly devoted and loyal to Stanford University having spent her entire career of just over thirty-eight years as a distinguished music librarian at the Stanford Music Library.
A pilot project in the Music Library to digitize sheet music and make images available in the SearchWorks catalog has produced its first collection, made up of 140 piano arrangements and transcriptions. Basic records for these items have long been in SearchWorks, and are now greatly enhanced with access to the digital images and options for close examination and download. This collection was chosen for scanning because the paper is too brittle to withstand the handling that results from practice and performance.
The Howe Collection of Musical Instrument Literature has now been processed and is available for research. The collection was created by Richard J. Howe, an oil company executive and mechanical engineer as well as a collector of mechanical musical instruments and associated literature. The Howe Collection of Musical Instrument Literature, one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of its kind, documents the development of the music industry and the manufacture of pianos, organs, and mechanical musical instruments. The materials in the collection include catalogs, books, magazines, correspondence, photographs, broadsides, advertisements, and price lists. The Howe collection was originally donated to the Institute of Piano Music at the University of Maryland and later transferred to Stanford to support the Player Piano Project.
Three massive and extraordinary volumes were recently donated to the Stanford University Libraries: Modern Opera Houses and Theatres: Examples Selected from Playhouses Recently Erected in Europe, with Descriptive Text, a Treatise on Theatre Planning and construction, and Supplements on Stage Machinery, Theatre Fires, and Protective Legislationby Edwin O. Sachs, 2nd issue (London: B.T. Batsford, 1897-1898).The volumes measure 58.5 x 42 cm.
The Chuck Black Endowment for Early Jazz and Blues promotes the study of early and traditional jazz, blues, and similar musical styles as they emerged and evolved from 1900-1950. In 2016-17 the Endowment acquired twenty-four rare blues recordings.
