On March 15th at St Cecilia's Hall, the Principal conferred the honour of Benefactor of the University on Dr Rodger Mirrey. Many of the Friends of St Cecilia's Hall and the University community attended the ceremony. After the laureation and the conferrment, there was a short recital given by Dr John Kitchen using three of the Rodger Mirrey Collection Instruments donated in 2005, followed by refreshments in the Laigh Room. Brief descriptions and some pictures of the instruments comprising The Rodger Mirrey Collection can be viewed via:
A most significant acquisition was the bequest of the Sir Nicholas Shackleton Collection of Clarinets and Other Instruments, now housed at the Reid Concert Hall. This had been the finest collection of clarinet family instruments in private hands and is a resource of international significance, assembled by the late Professor Sir Nicholas Shackleton over his lifetime. An endowment for the upkeep of the collection forms part of the bequest. Preparations have been made for the display and inauguration of the Sir Nicholas Shackleton Collection in June 2007.
In the course of the year, the Collection was given instruments and other items by M. Hill, G. Nicholson, and the Horniman Museum.
The cataloguing programme continued to advance: two fascicles of descriptive text were published: (1) French Horns and Cornophones (new edition) by Paul Lewis, Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, and (2) Bugles, Cornetts and Ophicleides (new edition) by Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks. In addition to the printed editions, they were also published electronically.
A history, City of Edinburgh Band 1925-2005 by Eugenia Mitroulia was published, and launched by the Principal at a ceremony at the Reid Concert Hall on August 6th at which many former members of the band were present. A handbook for the Festival exhibitions, Violin Making in Scotland 1750-1950, edited by Emily Peppers, was also published on August 6th. A centenary memorial volume celebrating the contribution of Professor Sidney Newman (1906-1971) to the University and the instrument collections in particular was prepared for publication.
Both museums were featured in a "People's Museum" TV programme broadcast on June 1st. A harpsichord played by John Raymond and two contrabass brass instruments played by Clifford Bevan were featured in a TV programme in the series How Music Works broadcast on December 9th.
For the first time, EUCHMI exhibited at the Early Music Exhibition, Greenwich, with the support of the Friends of St Cecilia's Hall.
EUCHMI mounted two exhibitions for the Festival period. City of Edinburgh Band: the Exhibition at the Reid Concert Hall curated by Eugenia Mitroulia included many of the instruments donated by the Band when it wound up in 2005. A major exhibition, Violin Making in Scotland 1750-1950, curated by David Rattray, was mounted in the Laigh Room at St Cecilia's Hall. This exhibition was organised in collaboration with the British Violin Making Association. A series of four Scottish Violin Concerts was organised, and a successful one-day colloquium The Violin in Scotland was also held at St Cecilia's Hall. Daily gallery talks were given.
The "Doors Open Day" on September 30th was very successful in both Museums, with visitors welcomed by the Friends and by a team of organology and other students.
A very successful Clavichord weekend was organised by EUCHMI in October, with strong international representation. It included a Symposium with eight papers, six recitals, and a workshop.
The Scottish Museums Council funded a pilot study into the education role in the two museums. A report was completed by Emily Peppers and will form the basis for further work bringing the Collection to a wider public.
A new display of harps, lutes, guitars and citterns was inaugurated in the Laigh Room at St Cecilia's Hall. The new showcases and display were installed with the support of the Scottish Museums Council, Dr Joy and Dr George Sypert, the Russell Trust, and Click Netherfield. A ceremony in which the Principal opened the new gallery and thanked the donors was held in June, and was followed by a short recital using a lute and guitars from the collection.
The double-manual harpsichord by Baillon and the virginal by Guarracino were prerpared for public performance by John Raymond. John Raymond also carried out all necessary maintenance, re-voicing and tuning of the playing early keyboard instruments used in concerts throughout the year.
The Director, the Curator, and the part-time Assistant Curator represented the University at the meeting and conference of CIMCIM (the International Committee of Musical Instrument Museums and Collections) in Vermillion, South Dakota.
In February the Director attended the meeting of the Commission Mixte of the Répertoire International d'Iconographie Musicale (RIdIM) in Paris. Arnold Myers participated in the French Acoustical Society meeting in Tours, and gave a presentation at the Musical Acoustics Network meeting in Bradford. Arnold Myers and Darryl Martin (and four doctoral students) gave papers at the joint American Musical Instrument Society / Galpin Society conference in Vermillion, South Dakota. Darryl Martin gave a seminar at the University of Oxford.
The Collection has been used for teaching purposes by University Staff, in particular for courses on Organology 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.
The application for renewal of the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council Recurrent Grant for Museums, Galleries and Collections was made successfully. Both museums achieved the status of Accreditation under the scheme organised by the Council for Museums, Libraries and Archives in recognition of long-term commitment to high standards of good practice. They are so far the only two university museums in Scotland to have been awarded this status. The successful cases for SFC funding and Accreditation status were prepared by Jacky Macbeath.
Further information about the activities of EUCHMI can be found on the website:
Arnold Myers, Director, 31st December 2006
[ Report for 2007 ] [ Report for 2005 ]
© Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments, 2006.
This article was re-published on 23 December 2022