The year 2004 was a successful period for the teaching, research, and other activities of EUCHMI.
The Collection of Historic Musical Instruments has acquired a unique double set of saxophones made by the inventor, Adolphe Sax. The instruments will not only greatly enhance the gallery display but also have the potential to provide valuable primary material for the University Musical Acoustics Research Group. The purchase has been made possible by grants from the National Fund for Acquisitions (administered for the Government by the National Museums of Scotland), the Pilgrim Trust, the Hope Scott Trust, the Russell Trust and anonymous donors.
A very early English piano by Johannes Zumpe which has been on loan for several years has been purchased with grants from the National Fund for Acquisitions, the National Art Collections Fund, and the Friends of St Cecilia's Hall & the Russell Collection.
In the course of the year, the Collection was given instruments and other items by Mrs E.M. Barrett-Ayres, N. Bennett, Dorothy Taylor, and Mrs D.-K. Thomas. Archival documents relating to the late Christopher Monk were donated by Craig Kridel, and archival documents relating to the the clarinet and clarinettists were donated by Miss Pamela Weston.
The cataloguing programme continued to advance: Two fascicles of descriptive text were published, these cover (1) Bows for Stringed Instruments by Brenda Neece; and (2) Large Mouthpieces for Brass instruments (second edition) by Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks. In addition to the printed edition, they were also published electronically. Further pictures of Collection instruments have been added to the Collection's website
bringing the total number of images freely available to 216 (of 236 instruments).
Three further technical drawing has been published: of the 18th-century harpsichord by Francis Coston, drawn by John Raymond, of the anonymous German fretted clavichord prepared by Darryl Martin to replace an old drawing, and of the Luigi Legnani model guitar by Johann Georg Staufer, Vienna (1829) also prepared by Darryl Martin. This bring the total number of instrument These bring the total number of instrument workshop drawings on sale from the Reid Concert Hall to 46, and the total number of instrument workshop drawings on sale by the Friends of St Cecilia's Hall to 13. Accompanying photographs were provided by Raymond Parks.
A textbook on musical instruments written by Murray Campbell, Clive Greated and Arnold Myers was published by Oxford University Press illustrated by many Collection instruments. A DVD The Technology of Music on the technology of brass instruments was produced by the Open University with significant input from Arnold Myers and Murray Campbell, and showing several instruments from the Collection. Recordings were made by Trevor Pinnock using the Jean Goermans/Pascal Taskin double-manual harpsichord, these will be issued commercially.
Consequent on the convergence of the two instruments museums, the web presence was overhauled to reflect the new names and structure. By the end of December the Collection's welcome page had received over 370,000 visits.
The condition of 426 instruments, all the bows for stringed instruments, and all the mouthpieces for brass instruments in storage was monitored and their locations checked; the findings were recorded in the Collection's documentation and the items were re-packed. This work was carried out by Emily Peppers.
At the Reid Concert Hall, 15 showcases were fitted with new backcloth, the instruments in 6 showcases were mounted on bespoke mounts, and all showcases were fitted with new locks. The Collections Support Officer was assisted in the re-lining by an intern, Anne Yates; the mounts were designed and installed by Darryl Martin. The Scottish Museums Council supported this gallery upgrade. The label text for the instruments on display in these cases was revised and the existing labels were replaced by new labels in a larger font size.
The anonymous German fretted clavichord was restored to playing order by John Raymond, who also carried out all necessary maintenance, re-voicing and tuning of the playing early keyboard instruments.
Recently-acquired archival material at the Reid Concert Hall and the archival material at St Cecilia's Hall were catalogued and stored in new boxes on newly-installed shelving at St Cecilia's Hall. This work was carried out by Emily Peppers, with the support of a grant from the University of Edinburgh Collections Committee.
Both musical instrument museums and the Talbot Rice Gallery marked Museums and Galleries Month Launch Day (May 1st) with a programme of special activities Transports of Delight. This was co-ordinated in the two musuems by the Collections Support Officer, and the Friends of St Cecilia's Hall & the Russell Collection. The regular period of extended opening hours at the time of the Edinburgh International Festival was brought to a successful conclusion with a meeting of the British Clavichord Society at St Cecilia's Hall at the end of August. The 2004 "Doors Open Day" in September was very successful in both Museums, with visitors welcomed by the Friends and by a team of organology and other students.
The Collection has been used for teaching purposes by University Staff, in particular for courses on Organology, Ethnomusicology and Musical Acoustics. Several parties made organised visits, and various scholars and instrument makers have visited to study particular instruments. An increasing number of enquiries were answered, many by e-mail.
In June the St Cecilia's Hall Museum of Instruments was awarded the status of Fully Registered Museum (Phase 2) by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in recognition of long-term commitment to good practice.
The Director presented a paper at the International Symposium on Musical Acoustics (Nara, Japan) in April and presented an invited paper at the 75th Anniversary Meeting (147th Meeting) of the Acoustical of America (New York) in May, both with support from the School of Arts, Cuture and the Environment Research Fund. The Director also gave an invited paper at the 25th Musikinstrumentenbau-Symposium in Michaelstein, in October. In 2004 he was voted to the position of the Vice-Chair of the Commission Mixte of the Répertoire International d'Iconographie Musicale.
A group of clarinets is on loan to the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung Preussischer Kulturbesitz for the exhibition "Faszination Klarinette" being shown from 30 September 2004 to 28 February 2005 in the Berlin Musikinstrumenten-Museum. The eight instruments of the New Violin Octet were made available for a concert including the première of a new composition, given at Aust (near Bristol).
Through ERI, the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments is participating in a bid for funding from the EU "Culture 2000" programme. The partners - including the National School of Engineers in Applied Sciences (Toulouse), and Schloss Kremsegg Museum (Kremsmünster, Austria) - propose to carry out "virtual restoration" of historic keyboard instruments and provide hands-on installations in collaborating musuems for students and the general public.
A new post of Curator was created, with responsibilities for collections management, teaching and research in both musical instrument museums. Following keen international competition, the position was offered to Dr Darryl Martin, who took up duties in 1st December.
Further information about the activities of EUCHMI can be found on the website:
Arnold Myers, Director, 31st December 2004
[ Report for 2005 ] [ Report for 2003 ]
© Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments, 2004.
This article was re-published on 23 December 2022