Community and Youth Music (formerly Centre for Young Musicians) Library
Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection
Music Preserved
Other Research Collections
The Community and Youth Music (formerly Centre for Young Musicians) Library contains a comprehensive collection of sets of vocal scores, band parts and orchestral parts, which are available for hire to schools, amateur choirs and orchestras. The CYM Library is located at Lilian Baylis Old School, Lollard Street, London SE11 6PY.
Use of the CYM Library is free to Trinity College of Music members. Sets of vocal scores and orchestral and band parts are available for hire by choirs, orchestras and bands in any part of the United Kingdom and Ireland for a modest hire charge: £12 per month for major choral works and £15 per month for sets of orchestral parts.
To borrow music, arrange a visit or purchase a handlist catalogue (vocal music, orchestral music or band music) (£2), please contact Tony Lynes, CYM Library Assistant: (020) 8127 1027 or (020) 7733 7235; email cymlibrary@googlemail.com.
CYM Vocal Music Catalogue
CYM Orchestral Music Catalogue
CYM Military & Concert Band Music Catalogue
CYM Solo Instrumental Music Catalogue
This Collection is adjacent to the main part of the Library. At the heart of the Collection are theatre ephemera: playbills, programmes (including concert programmes), newspaper cuttings and photographs of the London and regional theatres, from the earliest days of Drury Lane and Covent Garden to London’s most recent productions. There are files on every actor and actress of note in the British Theatre, on circus, dance, opera, music-hall, variety, dramatists, singers and composers. The Collection also holds paintings, set and costume designs by Charles Wilhelm, Paul Shelving, Roger Furse and others, artefacts pertaining to actors and productions, and costumes belonging to well-known actors such as Henry Irving, Noel Coward and Anna Neagle. There is also an important collection of 15,000 books and some outstanding nineteenth-century ceramic figurines.
The Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection's website
The Collection's catalogue
The Jerwood Library is one of the only three listening centres where it is possible to access the Music Preserved collection, which consists of over 2,000 archive recordings of live performances from the 1930s to the present, some of them unique to the collection. The majority of the recordings were originally made illegally off-air, but they have been made legal for listening purposes in a designated centre through a special dispensation of the Secretary of State (1990).
In addition, Music Preserved has recently received over a thousand recordings from the bequest of Lord Harewood. The Music Preserved website includes further information and a catalogue.
The research collections are continually developing, mainly through gifts and bequests. Recent acquisitions include the autograph manuscript of Malcolm Arnold’s film score The Inn of the Sixth Happiness(1958). In addition to the following named collections, the Jerwood Library holds collections of autograph manuscripts by Richard Arnell, Frank Cordell, William Lovelock, Charles Procter and Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji.
Antonio de Almeida Collection
Richard Arnell Collection
Sir John Barbirolli Collection
Stanley Black Collection
Blackheath Halls Archive
Sir Frederick Bridge Library
British Music Society Archive
Shura Cherkassky Collection
Cinema and Light Music Archive
Frank Cordell Collection
Filmharmonic Archive
Thomas Igloi Archive
William Lovelock Collection
Music Manuscript Collection
Joseph Ortiz Collection
Charles Procter Collection
Margaret Purcell Collection
Charles Kennedy Scott Archive
Lionel Tertis Collection
The Westbrook Collection
Rita Williams Popular Song Collection
Christopher Wood Collection
The Antonio de Almeida Collection consists of the personal printed music library of the French conductor of Portuguese origin Antonio de Almeida (1928-1997). Almeida studied with Alberto Ginastera in Buenos Aires, then in America with Paul Hindemith, Serge Koussevitzky and Georg Szell. He returned to Europe in the 1950s and subsequently held conducting posts with the Portuguese RSO, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Paris Opéra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra and, from 1992, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. He made numerous recordings and was a champion of the music of lesser known composers such as Luigi Boccherini, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Jacques Offenbach and Charles Tournemire. He was the recipient of both the French Ordre des Arts and the Légion d’Honneur.
Almeida was an enthusiastic collector of musical scores. After the death of the renowned conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Münch, in 1968, he was able to augment his collection with scores from that conductor’s library, including contemporary American and French works. He also acquired scores from the collection of Pierre Monteux. The Collection consists of 5,456 volumes, the majority full scores, but including 1,152 vocal scores: a selection of them is displayed on the shelves behind the issue and enquiry desk.
At present a very small collection of copies of autograph and facsimile scores by the composer Richard Arnell (1917 - ), donated by him. Arnell studied with John Ireland at the RCM and produced many film and opera scores, including The Petrified Princess (1959).
Bequeathed by the famous conductor, who lived from 1899 to 1970, this collection consists mainly of conducting scores, some with his markings, including the score of Elgar’s Symphony no.1. One of his conducting batons is displayed behind the issue and enquiry desk.
Barbirolli studied the ‘cello at Trinity College of Music from 1911 to 1912 and from 1929 to 1936 he was chief conductor of the College Orchestra. In 1937 he succeeded Toscanini as conductor of the New York Philharmonic, then returned to England in 1942 to become conductor of the Hallé. Later in life he was Trinity’s President, until his death.
Stanley Black’s (1913-2003) arrangements of film music are legendary. He has worked on over a hundred films, as score arranger or musical director and, in many cases, as both. His credits include It Always Rains on Sunday (1948), The Long and The Short and The Tall (1961), the Cliff Richard musicals The Young Ones (1961) and Summer Holiday (1962) and all of the late Mario Zampi’s screwball comedies, including Laughter in Paradise (1951), The Naked Truth (1957) and Too Many Crooks (1958). The Jerwood Library is building a comprehensive collection of Stanley Black’s autograph scores.
The historic archive of the Blackheath Halls was deposited in the Jerwood Library following Trinity College of Music's acquisition of the Halls in 2003. It includes papers of the original group which led to the foundation of the Blackheath Concert Hall Company Limited (1894-1978), the Company's core records, minutes, financial records, shares records, licences, legal agreements, membership and staff records, estate documents, plans and correspondence, and papers and correspondence of the Blackheath Concert Hall Action Group (1974-1983), the Blackheath Preservation Trust (1975-) and the Blackheath Halls (1983-2003). There is also material relating to events, although much is in facsimile. An outline handlist is available.
Trinity's original library, the Sir Frederick Bridge Library, received its name in 1924 in memory of Sir Frederick Bridge, Organist of Westminster Abbey and Chairman of the Board of Trinity College of Music; known affectionately as 'Westminster Bridge'
The Sir Frederick Bridge Library consists largely of eighteenth and nineteenth-century printed music. Among the earliest scores is Purcell's Orpheus britannicus (2nd ed., London, 1706) and there are many early Handel editions. The Bridge Library is also strong in its holdings of early Romantic opera scores.
The Jerwood Library's online catalogue can be used to access details of the printed music in this collection. To only search for Bridge collection items, choose 'Bridge collection' in the Location list before carrying out your search.
The Archive of the British Music Society has been available for consultation in the Jerwood Library since 2002. The British Music Society was founded in 1979 to promote the work of neglected British composers through live performances, recordings and publications, including the journal British Music.
The Archive includes a complete set of the Society's publications and recordings, as well as its correspondence and related documents.
This collection consists of about 300 items from the personal piano music library of the renowned Russian-born American pianist Shura Cherkassky (1911-1995), who was resident in London after World War II. Cherkassky was not in the habit of annotating his scores, so the collection is chiefly of interest for the scope of its contents.
A small collection of printed music, mostly dating from 1910 to 1960. It includes the collection of Alexander Russell of the Hillhead Salon, Vinicombe Street, Glasgow, instrumental sets from the Crieff Cinema and the Victoria Cinema, Inverurie, sets from the music library of the Regal Cinema, Saltcoats, and a collection of sets of light orchestral music originating with a number of bands, including the Aberdeen Light Classical Orchestra. Donated by the Scottish Screen Archive in 2003. An outline handlist is available. A small collection of sound effects instruments (sirens, bird calls, etc.) was also donated with this collection, but is not known to be connected with any of the above venues.
Around 100 autograph manuscripts of this British composer (1918-1986), perhaps best known for his film scores, including Ring of Bright Water (1969).
This collection consists of film music by leading composers, as presented at the Filmharmonic gala concerts at the Albert Hall. It includes some original music composed especially for the concerts. The majority of the scores are in manuscript and in many cases all the performing material is present.
The composers include John Addison, Richard Rodney Bennett, Howard Blake, Jerry Goldsmith, Barry Gray, Maurice Jarre, Nino Rota and Richard and Robert Sherman.
Recordings (some unreleased), programmes and press cuttings relating to the cellist Thomas Igloi (1947-1976). Igloi was born in Budapest and studied at the RAM with Douglas Cameron and later with Fournier and Casals. He had a brilliant performing career which was terminated by his death at the age of only 29. The collection was given by the luthier Eric Taylor.
Manuscripts and printed scores of music composed by the examiner and pedagogue William Lovelock, best known for his widely used series of textbooks on harmony.
This collection consists of a miscellany of manuscripts, most of which have been donated to the College over a wide period of time. Significant items include the autograph manuscripts of Sorabji’s piano pieces Un nido di scatole and the first two versions of Fragment Written for Harold Rutland, and Malcolm Arnold’s film score Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Details of all the items in this collection are in the process of being added to the Jerwood Library online catalogue.
This is a small archive connected with the New York Metropolitan Opera and, in particular, with the revival of the zarzuela, as championed by Placido Domingo. Ortiz worked for the library of the Metropolitan Opera and collaborated with Domingo on the location and transcription of zarzuelas and some items have a personal connection with the singer.
Procter was founder and conductor of the Alexandra Choir and directed choral classes at Trinity in the 1960s. This bequest consists of his own compositions in manuscript, mainly organ and choral works.
This is a small archive of music by the American composer Margaret Purcell (1914-1991) consisting of autograph manuscripts and related papers. The music is unpublished and is of especial interest for the sociological study of women composers in the first half of the twentieth century.
Scott (1876-1965) was an important figure in the world of choral singing and was on the staff of Trinity from 1929 to 1965. He taught singing and conducted the College Choir and was a Member of the Corporation and Board. The collection includes manuscripts of some of his choral works, personal notebooks, programmes (many for the Oriana Madrigal Society, which he formed), press cuttings and letters (including ones from Balfour Gardiner, Percy Grainger and Edmund Rubbra). There are also two sets of the Euterpe series of madrigals, which Scott edited and which were published by Oxford University Press. Some items in the collection (including programmes from the memorial services of Granville Bantock, Arnold Bax, Kathleen Ferrier, Balfour Gardiner, Herbert Murrill and Roger Quilter) belonged to Kathleen Ewart, a singer who was involved in the Phoebus Singers, another choir conducted by Scott. Other items were given by Philip and Elizabeth Miles.
The Lionel Tertis collection is a small archive which includes autograph manuscripts of arrangements for viola by this renowned viola player (1876–1975) who studied at Trinity. There are also items from his personal library, including dedication copies from several composers.
This is a growing collection of original scores by composer/pianist/band leader Mike Westbrook O.B.E. and singer/librettist Kate Westbrook, with related ephemera including a fine collection of posters. It contains works from 1971 to date in a wide variety of genres: jazz, contemporary music, opera, music hall and popular song. The scores include solo piano works, songs, jazz-cabaret and music-theatre pieces, opera vocal scores, compositions for jazz ensemble and large-scale settings for jazz orchestra. A handlist of the collection is available at the Issue/Enquiry Desk.
A wide-ranging collection of c.3,000 individual popular songs, dating from the 1920s to the 1970s and including songs from films and shows. Originally the personal collection of the singer Rita Williams, with later additions, it includes songs in various European languages and some in Afrikaans. Rita Williams sang with the Billy Cotton Club, among other groups, and made numerous recordings in the 1940s and 1950s. The songs are arranged alphabetically by title. Please note that in most cases it is necessary to obtain permission from the relevant copyright holder before the songs can be photocopied.
Christopher Wood (1911–1990) studied at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells and Gordon Jacob and later with Sir Arnold Bax. He went on to study conducting with Bruno Walter and Herbert von Karajan and piano with Adeline de Lara, a pupil of Clara Schumann and Brahms. During the 1950s he concentrated on the harpsichord and performed and recorded extensively, being particularly associated with the Dolmetsch family. His Piano Sonata was published by Oxford University Press in 1943, but almost all his compositions are unpublished. The collection includes autograph manuscripts of over 100 compositions, plus letters (many from well-known musicians), photographs and sketches for an autobiography.
