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The Royal Academy of Music Museum (previously known as the York Gate Collections) is a museum of musical instruments and artefacts and a research centre of the Royal Academy of Music [1] in London.
The building was designed in 1822 as part of the main entrance to Regent's Park, and was an important feature in John Nash’s architectural designs for Regency London. [2] The interior of York Gate was largely destroyed by bomb damage in the 1940s, but the Nash exterior has Grade 1 listed building status. The Royal Academy of Music moved to Marylebone Road in 1911, and held a lease on part of York Gate during the 1920s and 1930s. A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund enabled the Academy to acquire and refurbish the building to house studios and practice rooms and a museum.
The Museum has three permanent galleries, alongside regularly changing displays and exhibitions. Together they cover an array of eras, instruments and subjects, including stringed instruments from the 16th century onwards. [3] The galleries act as a showcase for the work of performers, composers, instrument makers and scholars from a wide range of musical and other relevant disciplines.
The Museum has recently undergone refurbishment [4] and now contains a 'History of the Academy' display that includes items from notable musicians associated with the Academy: one of Sir Henry Wood's conducting batons, letters by Felix Mendelssohn [5] and the restored Alexander horn which was played by Dennis Brain, damaged in the crash which killed him, and subsequently restored by Paxman of London. [1]
The Ground floor gallery also houses regularly changing temporary exhibitions. These have included "Yehudi Menuhin: Journeys with a Violin", which was drawn from the extensive Foyle Menuhin Archive held by the academy. It accompanied the 2016 Menuhin Competition in London and marks 100 years since the birth of Yehudi Menuhin.
A selection of Cremonese instruments is on display in the Strings gallery. The exhibition features examples of instruments by makers Stradivari and Amati, [6] as well as historical information, prints and engravings. The exhibition includes the ‘Viotti ex-Bruce’ violin by Stradivari which was saved for the nation in 2005. The instruments on display form part of the Royal Academy of Music's fine collection of over 250 stringed instruments from the violin family. The collection includes examples of the work of the finest and most influential makers. These instruments are frequently played in concerts and recordings but are normally kept in the academy. The present form of the collection can be said to date from 1890 when John Rutson (1829–1906) gave an important group of instruments to the academy. The Rutson Collection includes the Archinto viola (1696), the Rutson violin (1694) and the Maurin violin all by Stradivari, as well as instruments by members of the Amati family, Pressenda and other influential makers.
The exhibition features pianos placed on loan by Kenneth and Mary Mobbs, [7] Oswald de Sybel, Andrew Hunter-Johnston, the Beare family, and the Stodart grand piano bequeathed by Frank Brown.[ citation needed ]
Since its foundation in 1822 the academy has acquired important collections of instruments, manuscripts, letters, performance editions, artworks, teaching materials, memorabilia and other objects. Within this are many collections named after individuals, including those relating to the conductors John Barbirolli, Otto Klemperer, Henry Wood and Charles Mackerras, pianist Harriet Cohen, the concert agent Norman McCann, [8] lutenist and scholar Robert Spencer, [9] composer Arthur Sullivan, jazz star Kenny Wheeler and the Foyle Menuhin Archive. [10] The collections also include items concerning the history of the institution such as student registers, programmes, prize boards, certificates, medals and commemorative photographs.[ citation needed ]
The academy houses original manuscripts by Purcell, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brahms, Sullivan and Vaughan Williams, musical memorabilia and other exhibits. [11]
The academy holds a collection of more than 200 stringed instruments from the violin family. These have been acquired for the benefit of students and recent leavers and they are maintained by the academy's resident luthier. The collections include several instruments of the Stradivarius family, including the Rutson (1694), Kustendyke (1699), Viotti-ex-bruce (1709), Maurin (1718), and the Habeneck (1734), violas Archinto (1699), cello Marquis de Corberon-ex-Loeb (1726). Other instruments include Nicolo Amati violin (1662), Girolamo II violin (c.1671) and violin (1719), violin by Antonio and Girolamo Amati (1629) and a Hieronymus Amati violin (1719). [12] [6] [13] In 2005 the academy acquired the famous "Viotti ex-Bruce" violin, made by Stradivarius in 1709, on behalf of the nation. [14]
Other collections include the Foyle Menuhin archive (letters, music, photographs, artworks and more collected by Yehudi Menuhin over his lifetime), [14] [10] Jenny Lind (1820–1887) Collection, David Munrow (1942–1976) Collection, [15] [16] [17] the Priaulx Rainier (1903–1986) Collection and The McCann Collection. [8] [18] [19] [1]
Amati is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nicolò Amati are valued at around $600,000. Because of their age and rarity, Amati instruments are mostly kept in museum or private collections and are seldom played in public.
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial Strad are terms often used to refer to his instruments. It is estimated that Stradivari produced 1,116 instruments, of which 960 were violins. Around 650 instruments survive, including 450 to 512 violins. His instruments are considered some of the finest ever made, and are extremely valuable collector's items.
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin,, was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the great violinists of the 20th century. He played the Soil Stradivarius, considered one of the finest violins made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari.
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of Wellington.
The Guarneri, often referred to in the Latinized form Guarnerius, is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati and Stradivari families.
The Soil Stradivarius of 1714 is an antique violin made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona (1644–1737). It is one of 700 known existent Stradivari instruments. The instrument was made during Stradivari's "golden period" and is named after the Belgian industrialist Amédée Soil. The current owner of the violin is violinist Itzhak Perlman.
The Viotti; ex-Bruce Stradivarius of 1709 is an antique violin constructed by luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona (1644–1737). It is one of only 700 known extant Stradivari instruments.
Sir Curtis Alexander Price, KBE was the Warden of New College, Oxford, between October 2009 and September 2016. He was previously principal of the Royal Academy of Music from 1995 to 2008 and Professor of Music in the University of London. He retired as the warden of New College at the end of August 2016.
Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and for many prominent players and collectors his instruments are the most coveted of all. Instruments made by Guarneri are often referred to as Del Gesùs.
Arthur Edward Smith, known as A. E. Smith, was an English-born Australian violin and viola maker whose violins and violas are prized for their 'excellence of tone' and 'decorative elements'. According to some musicians, "it is his violas that have the greatest reputation, being easily counted amongst the greatest ever created, regardless of era or nationality."
Stewart Pollens is an expert on historical musical instruments. His work includes restoration, analysis, and scholarly publication; and it embraces keyboard instruments as well as historical stringed instruments such as the violin and cello. Andrew Manze has called him "one of the world’s foremost authorities on musical instruments."
Alberto Lysy was a prestigious Argentine violinist and conductor of Ukrainian ancestry.
Nicola Amati, Nicolò Amati or Nicolao Amati was an Italian master luthier from Cremona, Italy. Amati is one of the most well-known luthiers from the Casa Amati. He was the teacher of illustrious Cremonese School luthiers such as Andrea Guarneri and Giovanni Battista Rogeri. While no clear documentation exists for their being apprentices in his shop, Amati may also have apprenticed Antonio Stradivari, Francesco Rugeri, and Jacob Stainer, as their work is heavily influenced by Amati.
The Lady Blunt is a Stradivarius violin made in 1721 by the renowned Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari. It is named after one of its first known owners, Lady Anne Blunt, the British co-founder of the Crabbet Arabian Stud.
Andrea Amati was a luthier, from Cremona, Italy. Amati is credited with making the first instruments of the violin family that are in the form we use today. Several of his instruments survive to the present day, and some of them can still be played. Many of the surviving instruments were among a consignment of 38 instruments delivered to Charles IX of France in 1564.
Luz Leskowitz is an Austrian violinist, founder of the Salzburg Soloists music ensemble. He is an owner of the ex-Prihoda Stradivarius violin made in 1707.
The Violin Museum, formerly the Stradivarius Museum, is a musical instrument museum located in Cremona. The museum is best known for its collection of stringed instruments that includes violins, violas, cellos, and double basses crafted by renowned luthiers, including Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù.
Maxim Viktorovich Beitan known as Max Beitan, is a Latvian cellist. He is the winner of 18 international competitions five of them Grand Prix Awards. Max Beitan tours and performs extensively in Europe, the US and Asia and is famous by his virtuosic repertoire. Beitan currently resides in Lugano, Switzerland.
Bein & Fushi, Inc. is a stringed instrument dealership and repair shop in Chicago founded in 1976, known internationally for its dealership of antique string instruments such as those made by luthiers Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri. Bein & Fushi includes the Stradivari Society, known for lending rare violins to young aspiring artists.
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