Brand from Home | July 1, 2021

Contactless pickup services and in-person services are now available at Glendale Central Library, Brand Library, and Montrose Library.

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Music Playlists

Listen to a streaming playlist from Freegal Music, Naxos Music Library, Naxos Jazz Music Library, Hoopla or Music Online from Alexander Street free with your library card. Alexander Street will ask for an academic institution, use Glendale Public Library.

Today's recommending listening is DJ Khaled, Selina Ott, Contemporary Choral Music, Billy Bros. Swing Orchestra, Alicia Keys, and Abbey Lincoln.

There are quite a few musical holidays to celebrate in July! International Blondie Month, Blink-182 Day, International Reggae Day, National Country Music Day, Barbershop Music Appreciation Day, and Bagpipe Appreciation Day.

Read About Music

Oxford Music Online includes the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the Oxford Dictionary of Music and the Oxford Companion to Music. It is the world’s premier online music encyclopedia, offering comprehensive coverage of music, musicians, music-making, and music scholarship. Check out this new article on Arvo Part.

Are you interested in reading more about Frank Zappa? We have quite a few books in the collection on this amazing artist. Look for them in the library catalog.

Learn About Music

An Introduction to Music Appreciation is a self-paced class available for free via Universal Class using your library card. Sixteen one hour lessons providing 1.6 Continuing Education Units. Learn things like: How did 16th century music find its way to the top of the popularity charts in the 1980s? How did a fire bring about the first Broadway musical?

Music Podcasts

Tiny Desk Concerts from NPR is now available as a podcast! Hear their diverse assortment of artists such as Adele, Passion Pit, Tinariwen, Flatbush Zombies and more.

Get Birding is a new podcast hosted by ornithologist Mya-Rose Craig . Music host Jason Singh talks to DJs, producers, folksingers and more about bird-related musical topics.

Films Online

Portraits in Creativity are beautiful and evocative short films produced and directed by Gael Towey that document artists and their inspirations, revealing the course and curiosity that propel the creative act. Start with Gold & Rust: Unlikely Friends following Nancy Lorenz and Pamela Talese.

Explore AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions specializing in women artists. The biographies published online largely originate from the Dictionnaire universel des créatrices (Universal dictionary of female creators), published in 2013. This directory brings together women artists born between 1790 and 1972 working in visual arts, with no limitations on medium or country. Thematic courses on major art history subjects, animated series for children and podcasts offer entertaining ways to better understand and discover the lives and works of women artists.

Viewfinder is a charming animation about exploring the outdoors from the Seoul-based studio VCRWORKS. The peaceful short follows a central character on a hike in a springtime forest and frames their whimsically rendered finds through the lens of a camera. Watch the first episode, Blue Hour a similarly calming snowy adventure.

Checkout some art books from the library in person or using our Contactless Pickup Services. Look for them in the library catalog.

Brand Library Staff Reviews

The best fashion show is definitely on the street. Always has been, always will be.

Bill Cunningham was a prolific New York Times streetwear photographer—or in his words fashion historian—until his death in 2016. He was identifiable on New York streets by the modest blue French worker’s jacket he wore, his bicycle, ready 35mm camera, and wide grin. He shied away from any attention and preferred to stay in the background snapping away for his columns “On the Street” and “Evening Hours.” Despite his aversion to attention, Cunningham was interviewed for two documentaries about his life: Bill Cunningham New York (2010) and The Times of Bill Cunningham (2018). Bill Cunningham New York is a delightful portrait of Cunningham and his friends, including those who, like him, lived for decades at the famed Carnegie Hall artist studio apartments. It also shows Cunningham during a typical workday—on the street, at charity events, examining negatives, rushing to get photographs developed, and arguing layout with the art department. The Times of Bill Cunningham centers around director Mark Bozek’s 1994 interview of the photographer and is narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker. Bozek captures Cunningham at vulnerable moments and is incredibly moving until its rather abrupt ending, especially when discussing friends lost during the then-raging AIDS epidemic. If by chance you’ve never heard of Bill Cunningham, there’s no one quite like him. A watercolor-illustrated children’s book was even made about his life! -SB

Kaliedoscope Chamber Collective – American Quartets. The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective is a British group formed in 2017 and this is their first album. The real find on this release is the Piano Quintet in A Minor by Florence Price (1887-1953) which is rarely heard. Price was a black American composer who is finally being recognized for her fantastic music. It is a late Romantic piece full of expression and the influence of African American spirituals as well. It is a solid and exciting piece and deserves to be heard. The composition date is not known, the booklet suggests it may have been written anywhere from 1936-1952. Dover Beach (1931) by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) -- for baritone and string quartet-- had been recorded many times. Barber is one of the most important American composers and was a baritone himself. The text is from Matthew Arnold’s famous 19th century poem. It’s very dark and the ensemble does a wonderful job of expressing the mood of this piece. The F# Minor Piano Quintet by Amy Beach (1867-1944) has also been recorded many times before, there are 3 performances on CD in the Brand Library collection. This is a thoughtful and exciting performance and an excellent recording. So to be specific, this is an album of Twentieth Century American Romanticism. Price and Barber were writing Romantic music well into the 20th Century, a time when many composers were headlong into modernism. In any case, it’s all wonderful music with beautiful performances and recordings. Chandos includes a PDF of the booklet with lots of information. -BW

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