Victoria & Albert Museum's instrument collection to close

[Philidor]

Humph. Some of it's going to the Horniman museum in South London but it's not the same. It's making way for an expanded display of the museum's fashion and costume holdings.

The collection includes Venetian virginals owned by Elizabeth I, an ivory oboe, a tortoiseshell recorder that belonged to the composer Gioachino Rossini and two pianos owned by the Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones, decorated by the artist himself.

One of the collection's greatest assets is its visual attractiveness. The V&A was founded as and remains primarily a museum of decorative arts and its musical instrument collection developed around pieces striking for aesthetic as well as historical reasons. As most people visit museums seeking instruction and entertainment for the eye, the collection has for years played a unique role, by appealing first to the eye and then opening an imaginative window on past musical worlds.

Source

The V&A has one of the most important collections of European musical instruments in the world. They range in date from a harpsicord by Jerome of Bologna of 1521, to an octave spinet by Robert Goble of 1950. As well as harps, wind instruments, and a 1699 violin by Antonio Stradivari, they include one of the earliest banjos, a particularly large Double Bass that was played by the eccentric virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti (1763–1846), and a recorder and oboe from the collections of Gioacchino Rossini (1792–1868), the famous composer of light opera.

Source

[fivelive]

II have just been sent the details of a petition which you can access via the link below to stop the dispersal of the collection of instruments.



http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/VandAchange/


Your petition reads:


We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that
all members of the public have continued, free and open access
to the complete historic and valuable musical instrument
collection entrusted over generations to the Victoria and
Albert Museum, and currently exhibited in Room 40 (Jan 2010).


The V & A are intending to place in long-term storage its
collection of historic musical instruments, which is
unparalleled in the UK. The reason for this destruction, given
by a V & A spokesman, is so that "the gallery can be redesigned
to show the fashion collections." Musical instruments have been
part of the collection since its inception in 1851: the museum
has received adverse comment on this plan from curators
worldwide. The removal is to take place in Spring 2010, and is
a short-term decision which will have long-term negative
results for scholars and music lovers alike.


Thanks for submitting your petition.


-- the ePetitions team

[Philidor]

Signed. Thank you!

[Philidor]

3,990 have signed the petition. It's mentioned in an article in today's Times:

... the V&A's crass attitude towards its beautiful harpsichords and virginals isn't an isolated aberration. It is typical of the way that music (especially classical music) is so often snubbed by the British Establishment, even the part of it that is supposed to be promoting serious culture. (I presume that the V&A's trustees - a weird gallimaufry of investment bankers, interior designers and fashion models - still claim to do that.)

[stephen w]

All very sad. Signed.

[micrologus]

Sorry but I can't sign this petition.

[Philidor]

Originally Posted by micrologus

Sorry but I can't sign this petition.

That'll teach you not to have a British passport.

[micrologus]

Originally Posted by Philidor

That'll teach you not to have a British passport.

[Zeitblom]

There's an editorial in the Guardian today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...trument-museum

As a boy growing up in London I loved this collection - it really fired my imagination. To think that it is being put away to make room for a fashion display says something very telling and sad about our society, I feel.

[fivelive]

Hmph! But I'm glad the petition is making good progress. I wonder if we'll ever know where the instruments ...recorders will end up?