Music & Musical Instruments - Overview
The Museum's music collections contain more than 5,000 instruments of American and European heritage. These include a quartet of 18th-century Stradivari stringed instruments, Tito Puente's autographed timbales, and the Yellow Cloud guitar that belonged to Prince, to name only a few. Several of these rare instruments can be heard in performances of the Smithsonian Chamber Players and in other public programs. Music collections also include jukeboxes and synthesizers, square-dancing outfits and sheet music, archival materials, oral histories, and recordings of performances at the Museum. The vast Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated Sheet Music is a remarkable window into the American past in words, music, and visual imagery. The Duke Ellington and Ruth Ellington Boatwright collections contain handwritten music compositions, sound recordings, business records, and other materials documenting the career of this renowned musician.
"Music & Musical Instruments - Overview" showing 2317 items.
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Osborne Brothers
- Description
- After performing individually with Jimmy Martin, Bill Monroe, and other headliners in the 1940s, Sonny (b.1937) and Bobby (b. 1931) Osborne became one of the most popular and innovative bluegrass groups of the postwar era. Experimenting in the mid-1960s, they added piano, steel guitar, and electric instruments. While these ventures angered traditionalists, their innovative sound attracted a new younger audience to country music.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1974
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.040
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.040
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Fans with Carl and Pearl Butler
- Description
- Carl and Pearl Butler pose for photographs with fans.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1973
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.090
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.090
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Couple grilling
- Description
- Some fans traveled great distances to participate in music festivals, and would camp nearby. This couple brought a grill to make a meal or two.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1972
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.097
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.097
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Popping the Question
- Description
- Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
- These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
- This colored print is a three-quarter length portrait of man and woman seated indoors. The woman is dressd in a long dress with lace trim, gloves, and a jewel on her forehead. The gentleman wears a dress coat and plaid trousers. Room furnishings include: an ornate table and side chairs,an open jewelry box and vase on a table and a guitar under table. Fancy lace curtains, draperies, and a carved mirror decorate the room.
- The print was produced by Sarony & Major. Napoleon Sarony (1821–1896) was born in Quebec and trained under several lithography firms including Currier & Ives and H.R. Robinson. Sarony was also known for his successful experiments in early photography, eventually developing a cabinet-sized camera. In 1846, Sarony partnered with another former apprentice of Nathaniel Currier, Henry B. Major and created Sarony & Major Lithography firm. Joseph F. Knapp joined the firm in 1857. Sarony, Major & Knapp earned a solid reputation for lithography and the company was especially known for its fine art chromolithography. Unfortunately, by the 1870s, the firm shifted focus to the more profitable area of advertising. It also expanded to become the conglomerate known as the American Lithographic Company, successfully producing calendars, advertising cards and posters. In 1930 they were bought out by Consolidated Graphics.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1846
- maker
- Sarony & Major
- ID Number
- DL*60.2277
- catalog number
- 60.2277
- accession number
- 228146
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Bomba Drum
- Description
- This wooden-cask drum was used to play bomba, one of the oldest forms of music in Puerto Rico. One end of the drum is covered in animal skin with a fur fringe. This is held in place by a wooden band that is tensioned with fiber ropes hooked on four wooden pegs driven into the sides. Bomba was created on the plantations of Puerto Rico by enslaved Africans and their descendants in the 1680s. Like the Cuban rumba, bomba must include dance in its performance, reflecting its west African musical origins. Bomba ensembles usually feature three differently pitched drums and a single maraca.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1983.0686.01
- accession number
- 1983.0686
- catalog number
- 1983.0686.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
J.D. Crowe & the New South
- Description
- Fans cover the hillside enjoying the performance of J.D. Crowe (b.1937) and his band, The New South.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- n.d.
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.009
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.009
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Bartender
- Description
- Bartender Wanda Lohman, known as "Miss Wanda," worked at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge from 1960 to 1984. The walls of Tootsie's became a kind of community scrapbook. Tootsie, like her patrons, was a fan of country music. She collected autographs, posters, record albums, and photographs. Patrons, family, and friends contributed their comments and added photos.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1974
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.107
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.107
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center