Royal Academy of Music Museum

Strings gallery, Royal Academy of Music Museum

The Royal Academy of Music's museum (previously known as the York Gate Collections) is a museum of musical instruments and artefacts and research centre of the Royal Academy of Music in London, England.

The building

The building was designed in 1822 as part of the main entrance to Regent’s Park, and was an important feature in John Nash’s architectural designs for Regency London. The interior of York Gate was largely destroyed by bomb damage in the 1940s, but the Nash exterior has Grade 1 listed building status. The Royal Academy of Music moved to Marylebone Road in 1911, and held a lease on part of York Gate during the 1920s and 1930s. A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund enabled the Academy to acquire and refurbish the building to house studios and practice rooms and a museum.

The galleries

The Museum has three permanent galleries, alongside regularly changing displays and exhibitions. Together they cover an array of eras, instruments and subjects, from the finest 17th-century Cremonese violins to the cast of a 20th-century conductor’s hand. The galleries act as a showcase for the work of performers, composers, instrument makers and scholars from a wide range of musical and other relevant disciplines.

The Ground floor gallery

Items from the working collections of famous musicians associated with the Academy include batons, a stopwatch and scores owned by Sir Henry Wood, percussion instruments selected and played by James Blades and the restored Alexander horn which was played by Dennis Brain, damaged in the crash which killed him, and subsequently restored by Paxman of London. The Ground floor gallery also houses regularly changing temporary exhibitions.

Kenny Wheeler: Master of Melancholy Chaos

A new temporary exhibition - 16 April 2013 – 5 April 2014, Ground floor gallery. This exhibition turns the spotlight on the quiet genius of a much-loved jazz trumpeter and composer, Kenny Wheeler. Tracing Wheeler’s varied career via seven milestone albums, the exhibition draws on many previously unseen items from his musical archive acquired by the Academy in 2012. Handwritten sketches and scores illuminate his creative process, from his very early arrangement of the jazz standard ‘Stella by Starlight’ to manuscripts from his latest big band offering ‘The Long Waiting’, among many other unique exhibits. The displays are also enriched by unprecedented access to Wheeler’s personal memorabilia and recordings of recent interviews with him. This exhibition is complemented by an exclusive video featuring behind the scenes footage of his latest Big Band recording session, and new interviews with singer Norma Winstone, saxophonist Evan Parker and trumpeter Dave Douglas recounting their musical memories both old and new.

The Strings gallery

A selection of Cremonese instruments is on display in the Strings gallery. The exhibition features examples of instruments by esteemed makers such as Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri and Rugeri, as well as historical information, prints and engravings. The exhibition includes the ‘Viotti ex-Bruce’ violin by Stradivari which was famously saved for the nation in 2005. The instruments on display form part of the Royal Academy of Music’s fine collection of over 250 stringed instruments from the violin family. These have been acquired for the benefit of students and recent alumni and are carefully maintained in playing order by the Academy's resident luthier. The collection includes examples of the work of the finest and most influential makers. These instruments are frequently played in concerts and recordings but are normally kept in the Academy. The present form of the collection can be said to date from 1890 when John Rutson (1829–1906) gave an important group of instruments to the Academy. The Rutson Collection includes the Archinto viola (1696), the Rutson violin (1694) and the Maurin violin all by Stradivari, as well as instruments by members of the Amati family, Pressenda and other influential makers. Other benefactors have given instruments or provided help with suitable purchases to form an outstanding playing collection.

The Piano gallery

This exhibition demonstrates the technical development of the grand piano in England during the first half of the nineteenth century and contrasts it with the daintier, Viennese style of instrument. A sequence of English square pianos traces the history of the instrument through half a century of changes responding to the demands of composers and players. The instruments, which have been selected to illustrate the creative relationships between players, composers and instrument makers, are all kept in playing condition and are used for demonstrations and research. The exhibition features pianos generously placed on loan by Kenneth and Mary Mobbs, Oswald de Sybel, Andrew Hunter-Johnston, the Beare family, and the Stodart grand piano bequeathed by Frank Brown.

The collections

Since its foundation in 1822 the Academy has acquired important collections of instruments, manuscripts, letters, performance editions, artworks, teaching materials, memorabilia and other objects. Within this are many collections named after individuals, including those relating to the conductors John Barbirolli, Otto Klemperer, Henry Wood and Charles Mackerras, pianist Harriet Cohen, the concert agent Norman McCann, lutenist and scholar Robert Spencer, composer Arthur Sullivan, jazz star Kenny Wheeler and the Foyle Menuhin Archive. The collections also include items concerning the history of the institution such as student registers, programmes, prizeboards, certificates, medals and commemorative photographs.

Manuscripts

The Academy houses original manuscripts by Purcell, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brahms, Sullivan and Vaughan Williams, musical memorabilia and other exhibits.

String instruments

The Academy holds a collection of more than 200 stringed instruments from the violin family. These have been acquired for the benefit of students and recent leavers and they are maintained by the Academy's resident luthier. The collections include several instruments of the Stradivarius family, including the violins ex-back (1666), the Rutson (1694), Joachim (1698), Kustendyke (1699), Crespi (1600), Viotti-ex-bruce (1709), Maurin (1718), violin by Omobono Stradivari (c.1727) and the Habeneck (1734), violas Archinto (1699), and Kux-Castelbarco (1714), celli Markevich-Delphiro (1709) and Marquis de Corberon-ex-Loeb (1726). Other instruments include Nicolo Amati violin (1662), violin (c.1620) and violin (1671 ), violin by Antonio and Girolamo Amati (1629) Joseph Guarneri cello (1692), Andrea Guarneri viola (1690) and violin (c.1665) and a Hieronymus Amati violin (1719). In 2005 the Academy acquired the famous "Viotti ex-Bruce" violin, made by Stradivarius in 1709, on behalf of the nation.

Other collections

Other collections include the Foyle Menuhin archive (letters, music, photographs, artworks and more collected by Yehudi Menuhin over his lifetime), Jenny Lind (1820–1887) Collection, David Munrow (1942–1976) Collection, the Priaulx Rainier (1903–1986) Collection and The McCann Collection.

External links

• Royal Academy of Music museum website