HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today …
We play some music by Miles Davis …
answer a question about the Library of Congress …
and, tell about a famous religious building in the nation’scapital.
Washington National Cathedral
HOST:
Last week, more than three-thousand people attended the funeralfor the owner of the Washington Post newspaper, Katherine Graham. Itwas held in the National Cathedral in Washington. Shirley Griffithtells us about the historic building.
ANNCR:
The Washington National Cathedral is one of the largest and mostfamous religious centers in the country. It belongs to the EpiscopalChurch. The official name of the building is the Cathedral Church ofSaint Peter and Saint Paul. But everyone calls it the NationalCathedral because people of all religions are welcome to pray there.
The National Cathedral was built with money from privatecitizens. The work started in Nineteen-Oh-Seven. The first stone waslaid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt. EveryPresident of the United States since then has attended services orvisited the Cathedral.
The Cathedral was not completely finished until Nineteen-Ninety.It was built on seven-thousand hectares of land on one of thehighest places in the city. It looks like many of the greatreligious centers built in Europe about eight hundred years ago. Thebuilding is shaped like a cross or the letter T. In the center is abell tower ninety-one meters high. Two more towers stand at thebottom of the cross.
Two-hundred windows are set high in the walls of the NationalCathedral. Most are made of many pieces of colored glass. They colorthe sunlight as it enters the building and spills across the floor.Some windows have flower designs. Others have images from Christianstories or from American history. In one window is a rock that wasbrought back from the moon.
The National Cathedral also celebrates American heroes. It hasstatues of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, forexample. And more than one-hundred-fifty famous Americans are buriedthere. They include President Woodrow Wilson, business leader AndrewMellon and writer Helen Keller.
The Washington National Cathedral is open to all people for manyreligious events throughout the year. The Cathedral also holdsChristian religious services, family activities, weddings, funerals,concerts and educational programs for children.
Library of Congress
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes in an e-mail fromVientiane, Laos. Khachonesack Douangphoutha asks about the Libraryof Congress in Washington, D.C.
The Library of Congress is America’s national library. It hasmillions of books and other objects. It has newspapers, popularpublications and letters of historical interest. It also has maps,photographs, art prints, movies, sound recordings and musicalinstruments. All together, it has more than one-hundred-millionobjects.
The Library of Congress is open to the public Monday throughSaturday, except for government holidays. Anyone may go there andread anything in the collection. But no one is permitted to takebooks out of the building.
The Library of Congress was established in Eighteen-Hundred. Itstarted with eleven boxes of books in one room of the Capitolbuilding. By Eighteen-Fourteen, the collection had increased toabout three-thousand books. They were all destroyed that year whenthe Capitol was burned during America’s war with Britain.
To help re-build the library, Congress bought the books ofPresident Thomas Jefferson. Mister Jefferson’s collection includedseven-thousand books in seven languages.
In Eighteen-Ninety-Seven, the Library moved into its ownbuilding, across the street from the Capitol. Today, three buildingshold the library’s collection.
The Library of Congress provides books and materials to theUnited States Congress. It also lends books to other Americanlibraries, government agencies and foreign libraries. It buys someof its books and gets others as gifts. It also gets materialsthrough its copyright office. Anyone who wants copyright protectionfor a publication in the United States must send two copies to thelibrary. This means the Library of Congress receives almosteverything that is published in the United States.
Computer users can learn more about the Library of Congress andits collection on the Internet Computer network. The address isw-w-w dot l-o-c dot g-o-v. Again, the Library of Congress webaddress is w-w-w dot l-o-c dot g-o-v.
Miles Davis
HOST:
An art gallery in New York City is now showing paintings anddrawings by the famous American trumpet player Miles Davis. He diedten years ago at the age of sixty-five. Miles Davis played jazz foralmost fifty years with some of the best musicians in the world.Now, the Columbia record company has released all the music herecorded for them. Bob Doughty has more.
ANNCR:
Miles Davis said he decided to become a jazz musician afterlistening to records by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. InNineteen-Forty-Four, he was studying music in New York City. He metboth these great musicians and joined them in concerts andrecordings. Here they play a song written by Charlie Parker, “Now’sthe Time.”
((CUT 1: NOW’S THE TIME))
Miles Davis began leading his own groups at the age oftwenty-two. During that time, he recorded a historic album called”Birth of the Cool”. Critics praised it for a new kind of jazzcalled be-bop. Here is a song from that album, “Move.”
((CUT 2: MOVE))
Miles Davis was always searching for new ways to play jazz. Hismusic was considered revolutionary. And he sometimes addedelectronic instruments. We leave you now with an example of thiskind of Miles Davis jazz. The song is called “In a Silent Way.”
((CUT 3: IN A SILENT WAY))
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And Ihope you will join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’sradio magazine in Special English.
Remember to write us with your questions about Amerian life. Wewill try to answer them on future programs. Listeners whosequestions are chosen will be sent a Random House Webster’s CollegeDictionary.
Send your questions to American Mosaic, Special English, Voice ofAmerica, Washington, D.C. two-zero-two-three-seven, USA. Or use acomputer to e-mail your question to Mosaic at V-O-A dot G-O-V.Please include your name and postal address. This AMERICAN MOSAICprogram was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our studio engineer was TomVerba. And our producer was Paul Thompson.