The Royal College of Music's Museum of Instruments, forming part of the Centre for Performance History, houses an internationally renowned collection of over 800 instruments and accessories from c.1480 to the present (700 European, keyboard, stringed and wind; 100 Asian and African). Gifts since the foundation of the College in 1883 include important collections from the Rajah Sir Sorindro Mohun Tagore (1884), the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII (1886), Sir George Donaldson (1894), A.J. Hipkins (1911), E.A.K. Ridley (1968), Geoffrey Hartley (1985), Amaryllis Fleming (2002), Richard Walton (2003) and Crispian Steele-Perkins (2003). The collection was re-housed in a new museum in 1970, made possible by the generosity of Trusts and donors.
The Museum also has on display some of the most famous paintings from the College's collection, including two - portraits of Jan Ladislav Dussek and George Henschel - purchased with support from the National Art Collections Fund and other Trusts and donors.
It has become a unique resource for research and education, to members of the RCM and researchers and groups from all over the world.
Lecture tours with live and recorded demonstrations, seminars, lecture recitals, concerts and other events are given for students and members of the public. Recent research by members of Museum staff includes studies on the acoustics of keyboard and wind instruments (with Imperial College and the Open University respectively) and the development of instrument manufacturing in late 18th-Century Britain.
Jenny Nex - Curator, Museum of Instruments
Michael Mullen - Assistant Curator, Museum of Instruments
Dr Andrew Earis - Research Associate, Museum of Instruments
Publications
Royal College of Music Museum of Instruments Catalogue
» Part 1: European Wind Instruments by E A K Ridley (London, 1982)
» Part Ia: European Wind Instruments: Addenda by E A K Ridley, edited by Elizabeth Wells (London, 1998)
» Part 2: Keyboard Instruments edited by Elizabeth Wells, with John Budgen, William Debenham, Jenny Nex, Christopher Nobbs and Lance Whitehead (London, 2000)
» Part 3: European Stringed Instruments by Elizabeth Wells and Christopher Nobbs (London, 2007)
Postcards
Plans of instruments
Opening times & admission
The Museum of Instruments is open during term time to members of the public (admission: free) on Tuesdays to Fridays from 11.30am to 4.30pm.
RCM staff and students may visit during public openings, and at other times by appointment.
Group/special visits (£5 per person) can be arranged by appointment with the Curator.
Research access to the Centre's collections is by prior appointment only.
For further information, please see http://www.cph.rcm.ac.uk.