Music, Heritage, Place
Unlocking the Musical Collections of England’s County Record Offices.
A collaborative project uncovering the music manuscripts and printed music held in England's local archives, dating from c.1500 to c.1850
By investigating the music made and used in England’s regions, we're challenging the dominant historical narrative of English music being based in major cities and cultural centres.
We're creating new, decentralised understandings of English music and revealing untold stories about those active in musical life during past centuries.
The project documents the musical sources held in local archives by creating catalogue records in the database Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM)
This cataloguing allows music to be located by tune and shows whether tunes are unique or shared with other sources.
We're adding summary descriptions of the musical heritage in local archives to the Cecilia database. This is run by project partner IAML UK & Ireland (International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres).
Collaborative “Archive-to-Live” arrangement methods are bringing the music to life, contributing to such outputs as:
- a commissioned 5-programme series for BBC Radio 3
- live performances
- public workshops
- community and Key Stage-specific legacy materials
This way, professional and amateur musical communities are encouraged to explore a span of 300 years of past music-making, by making music now.
Performances and educational workshops arising from the research are in collaboration with project partners the English Folk Dance and Song Society and Music Partnership North.
To connect this heritage with the communities where the music originated, we are co-creating public engagement events with project partners Cumbria Archives, Hampshire Archives, Northumberland Archives and Surrey History Centre. See our Events page for more details.