A metal oboe by Kohlert with original case and single-reed mouthpiece was purchased with the assistance of a grant from the National Fund for Acquisitions (administered for the Government by the National Museums of Scotland). In the course of the year, the Collection was also given instruments by Sir Nicholas Shackleton, Sir Gerald Elliot, Ernest Marquez, Mrs Noel Whamond, Mrs Katharine Thomson, Martin Brett, and the City of Edinburgh Band.
The first EUCHMI Guest Curator, Heike Fricke, worked with us in 2005. Her work in Edinburgh, grant-aided by the Scottish Museums Council, consisted of three related tasks: (1) Preparing a new edition of our catalogue of clarinets and related items, (2) Creating a website interpreting and improving access to our clarinet collection, (3) Re-arranging and re-labelling the clarinet display in the Reid Concert Hall Museum of Instruments. This was carried out in the course of two periods in Edinburgh. The photography for the website was carried out by Raymond Parks. She also gave a seminar on 6th October entitled The Elusive Chalumeau - New Light on the Origins of the Clarinet as part of the Music Research Seminar series. The new website can be visited at:
The cataloguing programme continued to advance: two further fascicles of descriptive text were published, these cover (1) Small Mouthpieces for Brass instruments (second edition) by Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks;, (2) Clarinets (second edition) by Heike Fricke. In addition to the printed edition, they were also published electronically.
A professionally-designed leaflet advertising both museums as visitor attractions was produced and a distribution routine set up.
At the Reid Concert Hall, 14 showcases were fitted with new backcloth and the instruments in them were mounted on bespoke mounts. The existing labels were replaced by new labels in a larger font size. This work was carried out with the support of a grant from the Scottish Museums Council. The condition of all the instruments on display and in storage was monitored and their locations checked; the findings were recorded in the Collection's documentation.
A significant part of the sound archive relating to both museums was digitised and stored in archive grade media. This work was carried out with the support of a grant from the University of Edinburgh Collections Fund.
A record number of five new organology PhD students commenced their doctoral studies this year. The Collection has been used for teaching purposes by University Staff, in particular for courses on Organology and Musical Acoustics. A new evening class on musical instruments taught by Emily Peppers and organised by the University's Office of Lifelong Learning also used the Collection. 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.
The 2005 "Doors Open Day" in September was very successful in both Museums, with large numbers of visitors welcomed by the Friends of St Cecilia's Hall and by a team of organology and other students.
A welcome initiative from the Music Department has been the inception of a new series of "St Cecilia's Weekends", taking place twice a year, once in each semester. The first was held in September-October. These weekends include concerts with the opportunity to combine these with symposia.
The double-manual harpsichord by Falkener was restrung by John Raymond. John Raymond also carried out all necessary maintenance, re-voicing and tuning of the playing early keyboard instruments, including those used for the second CD of Instruments from the Russell Collection played by John Kitchen and recorded by Delphian Records Ltd.
The Director and the Curator represented the University at the meeting and conference of CIMCIM (the International Committee of Musical Instrument Museums and Collections) in Germany.
Arnold Myers presented a paper at Forum Acusticum in Budapest, and Darryl Martin presented a paper at the International Symposium, Instrumentenbauschulen um 1600, in Michaelstein, Germany.
Revised Acquisitions Policies for both museums were written. Updated plans including the "Statement of Purpose and Strategic Aims" for both museums for the period 2005-10 were written. An Audience Development Plan for both museums was written.
Further information about the activities of EUCHMI can be found on the website:
Arnold Myers, Director, 31st December 2005
[ Report for 2006 ] [ Report for 2004 ]
© Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments, 2005.
This article was re-published on 23 December 2022