Rare Music is a lecture-demonstration series co-sponsored by DUMIC and the Duke University Libraries. Almost once per month (during the academic year) there is a program on a Friday afternoon at 4 PM in the Rare Book Room in Perkins Library. Each event includes a question and answer session and is followed by refreshments.

The schedule is as follows:

You can find parking information here.

For more information, contact Dr. Brenda Scott DUMIC Curator (919) 660-3320.

As many of you know, DUMIC’s flagship collection is the G. Norman and Ruth G. Eddy Collection, usually referred to as the Eddy Collection as the whole family was involved in the collection. After the death of his first wife, Ruth, G. Norman Eddy experienced what his granddaughter described as “a true fairytale” in a second marriage with Miriam Dalton Brown.

I am very sad to announce the passing of this remarkable woman, Miriam Dalton Brown Eddy. To quote Dr. Eddy’s granddaughter, Dr. Jennifer Eddy, Miriam Eddy “was an able hostess to many musical ‘soirees’ on Bowdoin street, and married my grandfather when he was 85 and she 80.” When the two were married, Miriam had already had “a rich life on her own – including 40 years in India with the UCC congregationalist church running an orphanage and teaching English literature at Lady Doak college.” Dr. Jennifer Eddy remembers her step grandmother fondly: “She was such a lovely person . . . [S]he was such a big part of the family and his collection for many years.”

As curator I offer my deepest and most sincere condolences to the Eddy family for this great loss. The Eddy Collection at Duke truly has strong family roots.

Rare Music Composition Competition: Rare Works: New Sounds, Old Instruments

Duke undergraduates, graduates, alumni, and all other members of the Duke community, including faculty and staff, are invited to submit original compositions for consideration for inclusion in a “Rare Works: New Sounds, Old Instruments” Rare Music program in April 2011. The compositions may be in any style, but pieces must be written for one of the following early instruments/ensembles: DUMIC’s regal, DUMIC’s portative organ, SATB crumhorns, SATB rebecs, or SATB baroque recorders. Composers of the selected pieces will be invited to have their composition performed and give a brief talk about his/her composition process at the Rare Music program in April.

Submission requirements:
• No more than two compositions may be submitted by any one composer.
• Compositions may not exceed seven (7) minutes.
• Compositions must be for DUMIC’s regal, DUMIC’s portative organ, SATB crumhorns, SATB rebecs, or SATB recorders.
• All entries must include a score and an MIDI audio recording in mp3 format.
• Duke undergraduates, graduate students, and members of the Duke community, including alumni, are eligible to submit compositions.

Evaluation criteria:
• Evaluation is based on four (4) broad criteria: compositional technique, overall musical appeal, originality, and suitability/idiomatic writing for the instruments.

Application information to include:
• Name, e-mail address, and Duke affiliation. Include a brief description of the composition.

Performance:
• If a composition is selected for performance at Rare Music, the committee will make every effort to have the work included in the April 22nd performance. Composers of the selected compositions are expected to attend the performance and speak for up to 10 minutes about the work.
• Works included in the April Rare Music will be recorded live and put on iTunesU.
• Composers whose work(s) are selected for performance will receive a $100 prize.

Submissions must arrive on or before midnight on December 10, 2010:
Dr. Brenda Scott
Curator, Duke University Musical Instrument Collections
Department of Music Box 90665
Biddle Music Building Rm 105
Durham, NC 27708-0665

Scores and recordings will not be returned, so please do not submit originals.

For further information about crumhorns, rebecs, and recorders, please click HERE. DUMIC has crumhorns, rebecs, and recorders in its holdings. For more information about the regal or the portative, for an opportunity to try these instruments, or if you have any more questions, please contact the DUMIC Curator, Dr. Brenda Scott at (919) 660-3320, or at brenda.scott@duke.edu

Hello, Friends.

I just wanted to let you know that this year you might notice a new name for the curator; however, the curator is the same.

Last month I got married and have officially changed my name from Neece to Scott. The old e-mail address still works, but there’s a new one as well: brenda.scott@duke.edu.

I hope your summer is going well. Things around DUMIC have been exciting with all of the building construction. We should be back to normal by fall semester. I am still giving museum tours, but only by appointment. Please just e-mail me to set up a mutually agreeable time.

Happy summer!

Dr. Brenda Scott (nee Neece), DUMIC Curator

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