The exhibitions held at the Academy museum have established the galleries as an important aspect of musical life both in the Royal Academy of Music and the wider musical community. The exhibitions have included rare and unusual documents, instruments and correspondence, some of which have not previously been displayed in public.
Previous exhibitions have included:
Revolutionary Violin
September 2008 - September 2009
As the French people fought for égalité in the late 18th century, the violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti led his own musical revolution.This exhibition began with Viotti, the father of modern violin technique, tracing his impact on repertoire, teaching, and instrument-making, focusing on the great violinist's violin, the Stradivari 1709 Viotti ex-Bruce saved for the nation in 2005.
François Xavier Tourte: Father of the modern violin bow
Patrons Room. November 2008
This exhibition, organised with Paul Childs, presented a collection of thirty-five original Tourte bows tracing the development and impact of this revolutionary bow maker's craftsmanship.
An Introduction to the work of the Amati Family
September 2007- September 2008
East meets West: from sheng to Berio
The development of the free reed instruments in Europe
March 2008 - September 2008
This exhibition was timed to coincide with the Beijing Olympics and explored the impact of the Chinese sheng on Western musical instruments. This small, mouth-blown organ was the inspiration for the harmonium, concertina, accordion and other instruments of the free reed family.
No science is more plentifully adorned: Icons of English music printing 1575-1720
September 2007- March 2008
Richard Lewis and the Art of Interpretation
September 2006 to September 2007
Materials from the collection of Elizabeth Muir-Lewis related to the
great British tenor Richard Lewis (1914-1990).
Violins of the Scottish Enlightenment
A range of instruments in original condition dating from 1695 to 1844, which explored the development of a distinctive Scottish school of violin making. This exhibition drew on research from Academy Instrument Custodian David Rattray's book 'Violin making in Scotland 1750-1950'. September 2006 - March 2007.
Paganini in London exhibition
Exhibition of material from private collections and from the Academy’s Foyle Menuhin Archive. During the “Paganini in London” Festival (27 February - 5 March 2006), museum also housed a group of loan material from the City of Genoa including Paganini’s own Cannone violin by Guarneri del Gesù.
Musical Notes
Exhibition as part of a project to develop access to three archive collections held in the Royal Academy of Music’s Library: the collections of Otto Goldschmidt (concerning Jenny Lind), Priaulx Rainier and David Munrow. September 2005 - February 2006
Mark Rowan-Hull: Correspondence
New paintings in response to the music of Olivier Messiaen and George Crumb. September 2005 - February 2006
The Composer's Hand
Items from the private collection of papers and performance materials belonging to Peter Sheppard-Skaerved. Works by a number of contemporary composers are featured, including work in progress, comparisons between sketches and clean copies and works drawing inspiration from other art forms.
Captured Sounds
Musicians at Work. Photographs by Richard Bram
Composer-performer dialogues
Materials from the Foyle Menuhin Archive, March - September 2004
The Tender Tyrant: Nadia Boulanger, 1887-1979
Nadia Boulanger was arguably the 20th century’s greatest teacher of composition. This exhibition explored her teaching methods and impact on students. June 2003 - March 2004
Chinese Strings
Exhibition of a family of Chinese bowed stringed instruments whose defining feature is that their bow-hair is placed between the strings.
Savage-Stevens Collection
Items from the Savage-Stevens collection, which was left to the Academy by Stevens on his death in 1837, including 'Gloria in excelsis Deo', a previously unknown work by Handel found in the RAM library. January - April 2002
Henry Lazarus, clarinettist
Henry Lazarus was one of the great clarinettists of the 19th century and this display contained many of his personal instruments, fingering charts and scores. October 2001 - June 2002.
Musical caricatures
A temporary exhibition of musical caricatures from the RAM Collections, October 2001 - June 2002.
Treasures of the Academy
Past display in the Ground floor gallery, which focused on the instruments, archives, library, and picture collections of the Royal Academy of Music to give an introduction to the institution from the 1820s to the present. The exhibits reflected the real treasures of the Academy, the students and staff – past, present and future.
Images on this page (from left to right):
- Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901), composer and conductor. Vanity Fair cartoon by T. (Theobald Chartan), published in 1879. (Musical caricatures exhibition)
- An erxianzi from a workshop in Xian (Chinese strings exhibition)