Memories & Melodies
Memories & Melodies
Listen close: Libraries are louder than you’ve heard. Sitting silent in the stacks and vaults are the booming soundscapes of the past: scores of sheet music, recordings, concert posters, songbooks, and more.
Get noisy in the library this spring as the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) plugs into Philadelphia’s roaring history with a chorus of public programs.
All programs are $10 for HSP and Philadelphia Orchestra members, $15 for nonmembers. Tune-in for the whole series: Register for any three programs and get the fourth free.
Sponsored by The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Highlighted
On March 2, 1916, the Philadelphia Orchestra performed the U.S. premiere of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, also known as "The Symphony of a Thousand." The Orchestra - and Philadelphia - would...
 From the marches and minuets of the city’s colonial days, to WFIL’s American Bandstand, Hall & Oates, and the Roots, Philadelphia has been – and remains – a humming hub of music. |
 Music has been used both as a vehicle for reform and repression during the pursuits of American ethnic and racial justice |
 On March 2, 1916, the Philadelphia Orchestra performed the U.S. premiere of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8. Join HSP on March 8 - almost one hundred years to the day - for a panel discussion with the Orchestra's Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and others exploring the intimate connection between “The Symphony of a Thousand” and the international emergence of the Philadelphia Orchestra. |
 Discover the musical side of LGBT activist John Fryer, i.e. “Dr. Anonymous,” with HSP's Embedded Artist Ain Gordon. |