Bamboo and metal qeej (pronounced kheng) made by Shong Ger Thao of St. Paul, Minnesota in 1999.  A qeej is a free-reed musical instrument with multiple pipes.  Though Chinese in origin, the instrument is played by Hmong as well as Dong musicians.

For details, view the qeej in our online collections database.

Bob Dylan’s album Blonde on Blonde, released in 1966 by Columbia Records. This double album contains songs “I Want You,” “Rainy Day Women #12 $ 32,” and “Temporary Like Achilles.” Today, May 24, 2011 is Dylan’s 70^th birthday. Bob Dylan was born in Duluth and raised in Hibbing.

One of the first times in my career that I asked myself A) do I really get to do this for a living? and B) will I get my butt fired for buying this? was when I purchased a Bob Dylan manuscript. The item in question was Dylan’s lyrics to “Temporary Like Achilles.” Dylan recorded perhaps his best work ever on the double album Blonde on Blonde and when he was finished he handed his manuscripts, including this one, to the Nashville studio engineer Charley Bragg. Bragg later auctioned off the work through a London house and the Historical Society picked up “TLA” from a rare book dealer in Hollywood, CA in 1988. A thing of beauty, isn’t it? (Click to enlarge.)

Patrick Coleman, Acquisitions Librarian

This Civil War-era (1861 – 1865) wooden snare drum has skin snare heads, rope tuning chords and leather ear tugs. The device on the front of the shell is a Federal eagle below a sunburst motif. The drum was made by W. Raymond of Winona, Minnesota, a manufacturer of snare and bass drums, banjos, tambourines, and more.  This drum was among contents of the Meighen Store in Forestville, Minnesota.

Metal fife owned by Joseph Renshaw Brown, fur trader, territorial legislator, editor of Minnesota Pioneer newspaper, Indian agent and Major during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.  Fife has six finger holes and a lead “cheater” or fipple mouthpiece attached with a brass screw. Cork plug above mouthpiece is still present. Circa 1850s.

Over the years the Minnesota Historical Society has collected the sheet music that documents Minnesota’s musical heritage. This month sees the publication of a new sheet music finding aid; two others were published over the summer. Many of the pieces of music in these collections have been digitized and can be viewed from their finding aids.

Do you feel like singing a rousing chorus of Rah! Rah! Ski-u-mah! for the University of Minnesota football team, cutting a rug with the Minnesota Cadet Lancers , or calling the steps for the Minnesota Shake-Down?

Or browse through all three finding aids for a tuneful reminder of Minnesota’s past at:

Collection of Songs and Music about Minnesota Places, Institutions, Businesses, and Themes

Collection of Songs and Music by Minnesota Composers

Collection of Songs and Music by Minnesota Women Composers

The digitization of this portion of the Minnesota Sheet Music Collection was funded in part by a grant from the Bean Family Fund for Business History.

Sarah Quimby, Library Processing Manager

Bass drum used by Grant Hart of the influential Minnesota punk/indie band Hüsker Dü. Made by the Ludwig Drum Company in the late 1950s, the head has handwritten lyrics to the song “Diane” from the album Metal Circus, released in 1983.

Ticket to Prince’s First Concert at the Capri Theatre, Minneapolis, January 5, 1979.

Prince, the hometown and international legend, was born as Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This circa 1893 guitar is wonderful in its own right, but it’s also a connection to what was once one of St. Paul’s most venerable institutions: the musical instrument retailer W.J. Dyer & Bro.

William John Dyer was born in London, England, in 1841, and made his way to Faribault, Minnesota, in 1869. After a brief stint as a music teacher, Dyer and his brother, C.E., opened a music store. Two years later, the brothers moved to St. Paul.

The Dyer store grew quickly, opening a Minneapolis location in 1880, and advertising the sale of everything from pianos and organs, to guitars and mandolins, to band instruments and music books. By 1891, Dyer was said to be the largest music store west of Chicago. The firm even branded its own line of instruments, though they were built by other companies. All told, Dyer catered to Minnesotans’ musical needs for more than 70 years.

As for this particular instrument, it’s a Size 1-21 parlor guitar made by C.F. Martin & Company of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The guitar features a Brazilian rosewood body with a spruce top, and is decorated with an ornate herringbone pattern in the rosette around the soundhole. At 37 1/2 inches long by 12 3/4 inches wide, the guitar is small by today’s standards. (The modern Martin D-28 measures 40 3/4 inches long by 15 3/4 inches wide.) As the “parlor” name implies, this instrument was meant for quiet playing at home, and did not need the volume that comes with a larger body. The guitar probably sold for around $40.00, and came complete with a wooden case – also in our collection.

Though W.J. Dyer & Bro. may be a memory, C.F. Martin remains in business, having just celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2008. The company’s guitars continue to be some of the most respected in the industry.

Matt Anderson, Picker and Objects Curator