WASHINGTON — Music has a way of bringing people together. It connects us to our memories and makes us feel a certain way. Awards like the Grammys are one way of recognizing musical excellence, but when it comes to preserving the soundtrack of our lives, the Library of Congress has a big role to play. We got an inside look at its massive music collection, and efforts to preserve the history behind it.
So many stories start with jotted down notes. Sometimes those notes are from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
James Wintle, with the Music Division at the Library of Congress, gave us a peek at the private thoughts of the prolific composer.
"He's writing to his sister," Wintle says of one piece of writing in the library's collection. "He's talking about music in an incredibly sophisticated way."
Wintle also showed us an early copy of Mozart's timeless work.
"He writes Don Giovanni, which in some people's minds — in my mind — is his masterpiece of opera," Wintle said.
It sits alongside evidence of his abiding influence. That includes a manuscript from Ludwig van Beethoven transcribing Mozart's work. It's perhaps an early example of sampling.
Those stories continue to resonate with people today thanks to the preservation efforts of Wintle and others at the Library of Congress.
"The Music Division was created through the work of the American people," Wintle said.
He is one of the people charged with caring for dozens of millions of items in the collection, which aims to record history's musical influencers, and inspire the next generation.
The collection includes scores of scores, including music from Louis Armstrong and other big names. Even some names that didn't want to be so big. The collection features a piece of music by Bernard Webb — a pseudonym of The Beatles' Paul McCartney.
"McCartney wanted to write a song and see if it would be a hit if his name was not on it," Wintle said.
Musicians continue to amplify the art itself, even as technology improves.
"The preservation of those creations is the primary function of the Library of Congress. Of all the libraries across the country, it's enhanced by our existence on the internet. The entire history of entertainment is at a person's fingertips. We don't have to live in the moment," Wintle said.
So what will future generations of music historians be excited about?
"History takes time," Wintle said. "Was it innovative in some way? Did it inspire others? Did it inspire people to feel and act a certain way, or make more art? All of those things come afterward."
Our collective music story is still being written, note by note.
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