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MUSIC GALLERY
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The Horniman's internationally renowned collection of musical instruments is displayed in a dynamic gallery. The gallery houses a breathtaking array of some 1,600 instruments from around the world including a number of prestigious collections from western traditions. The Carse Collection of brass and woodwind instruments, the Dolmetsch Collection of early English keyboards, and the Wayne Collection of concertinas sit alongside 3,500 year old Egyptian clappers, a 1937 Carlton jazz drum kit and recent acquisitions from Uzbekistan. The displays examine the important place music occupies in our lives and in the lives of other peoples around the world, and you can hear the sound of many of the instruments at sound stations. The chance to play music is also available, with a hands on space complete with specially commissioned instruments. Sound Designs: The Story of Boosey & Hawkes illustrates the important contribution Boosey & Hawkes and their employees made to the shaping of playing styles, the development of the brass band tradition and the sound of British orchestras. The Horniman Museum was able to acquire the prestigious Boosey & Hawkes collection of historic instruments and archives chronicling over 150 years of instrument making in 2003. With over 8,000 objects in the Horniman Museum's instrument collection it is now the largest in the UK and has been recognised as being of national and international importance. How old is my Boosey & Co./Boosey & Hawkes instrument? A handlist of serial numbers and year of production At the far end is a performance and demonstration area, where visitors can listen to a recital, or watch an instrument-maker studying at close quarters one of the rare instruments in the Horniman's own collections. Around 130 woodwind instruments in the Carse Collection remain to be displayed in the showcase, for further information contact the Musical Instrument Department. Further information | |||
can be found here. Manufacturing information for individual instruments can be researched in the instrument production records, as detailed above. 