A new understanding

The Song Detectorists will see Radio 3 presenter Matthew Bannister working with music experts from Newcastle University and Royal Holloway, University of London, to discuss a wide range of musical treasures in the county archives of Northumberland, Norfolk, West Yorkshire, Cornwall and Hampshire.

The programme is based on the researchers’ pioneering Music, Heritage, Place project, which has uncovered more than 600 musical materials in local archives across England. Much of this music heritage is previously unknown and changes our understanding of music-making from the 16th to the mid-19th centuries.

Funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, the project investigates the music made and used in England’s regions to create a new, decentralised understanding of English music and reveals previously untold stories about local identities, meanings of place, and the men and women active in musical life during past centuries.

Kirsten Gibson, Professor of Early Modern Music and Culture at Newcastle University, says: “This project is vital for reframing our understanding of the musical lives of people beyond London and for telling new stories about music-making beyond the well-studied musical centres and with a broader range of people not studied before.

“At a time of investment in the music industry in the North-East, I am delighted that this project is illuminating understanding of the long and rich musical history and heritage of the region”.”

Principal investigator Professor Stephen Rose, Head of Royal Holloway’s Department of Music,  says: “Working with local historians and archivists, we are discovering treasures in county record offices that show how music flourished across England in past centuries. We’re gaining a new picture of the diversity of music across England, including outside the usual centres studied by music historians, and how men and women in England’s villages had musical connections stretching far beyond their local regions”.

Musical treasures

In his programme The Essay, Matthew Bannister will travel across the country to meet the project teams at Newcastle University - Professor Gibson, Nancy Kerr, Dr Steph Carter and Dr Andrew Frampton - and Royal Holloway - Professor Stephen Rose and Dr Caro Lesemann-Elliott - alongside local historians all dubbed the ‘Song Detectorists’ – to discuss a wide range of musical treasures. The broadcasts feature the Melrose Quartet performing music and song from these collections, reimagined for the 21st century by folk musician and academic Nancy Kerr.

Nancy Kerr says: “It has been a delight for myself and the others in Melrose Quartet to begin reshaping the archival discoveries for 21st century audiences and connecting new generations of music makers with this rich and diverse repertoire of music and song.

“From the histories of sacred song, industry and global migration uncovered in Cornwall’s village carol collections, to a 17th-century coal merchant’s “bible” of classic Northumbrian fiddle tunes, across five counties and three centuries – we are sure listeners will hear something new in these musical gems”.

The research teams are also working to connect the musical heritage their project has uncovered with the communities where the music originated. They are co-creating a wide range of public engagement events including workshops, educational resources, concerts and festival appearances by the Melrose Quartet, to rework these musical discoveries for present-day audiences and to inspire a new generation of musicians.

BBC Radio 3’s The Essay will be broadcast from Monday 12 May at 21:45, Monday to Friday. It will also be available on BBC sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002br0p

The BBC Radio 3 broadcast is one of many engagement activities being undertaken by the Music, Heritage, Place project team, with the Melrose Quartet performing at folk festivals across the country this summer. Further information is available on the project website: https://www.musicheritageplace.uk/. Project partners are Cumbria Archives, the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Hampshire Archives, Hampshire Archives Trust, IAML (UK & Irl), Music Partnership North, Northumberland Archives, RISM, The RISM (UK) Trust and Surrey History Centre.

Keep up-to-date with the project via the website or the @musicheritageplace accounts on Bluesky and Instagram.

The radio broadcasts are a Rhubarb Rhubarb Production for BBC Radio 3.