From Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade” to the 1950s romantic ballad “Blue Velvet,” fabrics like silk, satin, velvet, and cotton have loomed large in the poetry and lyrics of vocal music. This exhibit explores the interweaving of music and textiles with examples drawn from crowd-sourced suggestions from the Cornell community! Our displays feature materials from the Music Library’s Special Collections, including original sheet music, vintage LP album covers, special edition reproductions and facsimiles, book illustrations, CD/DVD liner notes, and musical anthologies. Display cases are on the 2nd floor of Lincoln Hall near the reference desk and 3rd floor near the Kahn Seminar Room.
“Drop the Needle” is the last of three “Fashioning Music” exhibits affiliated with Threads of History: Textiles at Cornell, a series of exhibits organized by Cornell University Library in honor of the acquisition of the library and archives of the former American Textile History Museum, whose mission had been to “tell America’s stories through textiles.” Highlighting materials from the former American Textile History Museum, existing items from Cornell’s collections, and original artwork, Threads of History honors the storytelling, history, and artistry of textiles and those who labor to create them.