Raymond Anthony Russell, , (27 May 192217 March 1964) was a British organologist and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

. He was an expert on early keyboard instruments, and assembled an important collection which now forms the Raymond Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Life

Russell was born in London on 27 May 1922, the son of Gilbert Russell and his wife Maud, ''née'' Nelke. His father was from an aristocratic family related to the

Dukes of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Franc ...

, his mother a noted patron of the arts. The family was rich; from 1934 they lived at

Mottisfont Abbey Mottisfont Abbey is a historical priory and English country house, country Estate (land), estate in Hampshire, England. Sheltered in the valley of the River Test, the property is now operated by the National Trust. 393,250 people visited the si ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Russell initially applied for registration as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, and was formally exempted from combatant service, but changed his mind. He enlisted in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...

, where he reached the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He had already begun collecting keyboard instruments in 1939, before hostilities began. Over the next twenty years he assembled a considerable collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance music, Renaissance, Baroque music, Baroque and Classical period (music), Classical eras. Historically, it was most ...

s and

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

s. His collection included instruments from all the main harpsichord-building areas of Europe: a number of English

spinet A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ. Harpsichords When the term ''spinet'' is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the ''bentside spinet'', described in this ...

s; early harpsichords and

virginals The virginals is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the Renaissance music, late Renaissance and early Baroque music, Baroque periods. Description A virginals is a smaller and simpler, rectangular o ...

from Italy;

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

instruments by the

Ruckers The Ruckers family (variants: Ruckaert, Ruckaerts, Rucqueer, Rueckers, Ruekaerts, Ruijkers, Rukkers, Rycardt) were harpsichord and Virginals, virginal makers from the Southern Netherlands based in Antwerp in the 16th and 17th century. Their influe ...

; a late French instrument by

Pascal Taskin Pascal-Joseph Taskin (27 July 1723 – 9 February 1793) was a Holy Roman Empire-born French harpsichord and piano maker. Biography Pascal Taskin, born in Theux near Liège, worked in Paris for most of his life. Upon his arrival in Paris, he ap ...

; and a clavichord and harpsichord from North Germany, both by Johann Adolph Hass. Russell was an able harpsichordist, and became an expert organologist. He catalogued the keyboard instrument collection of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, and the collection of Benton Fletcher, now in

Fenton House Fenton House is a 17th-century merchant's house in Hampstead in North London which belongs to the National Trust, bequeathed to them in 1952 by Lady Binning, its last owner and resident. It is a detached house with a walled garden, which is ...

. In 1959 he published ''The Harpsichord and Clavichord: an Introductory Study'', with accurate and detailed analysis and descriptions of the instruments. Russell was an early advocate of a historicallyinformed approach to instrument-building, based on study of surviving historical examples, and a return to traditional methods of both performance and construction. His book influenced builders such as Frank Hubbard in this direction. Russell was also an expert on, and collector of, early treatises of medicine; towards the end of his life, he researched the antiquities of the island of Malta.

The Russell Collection

By 1960 Russell had decided to donate his collection to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

, where it was to become the nucleus of a centre for research in keyboard

performance practice Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which ...

and organology, but this plan was not completed by the time of his death. He died in Malta on 17 March 1964. In 1968, in his memory and in accordance with his wishes, his mother donated almost all his collection to the university, which later bought two more of his instruments; the donation also included his notes and his collection of documentary photographs. The twenty-one instruments constitute the Raymond Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments, which is housed in

St Cecilia's Hall St Cecilia's Hall is a small concert hall and museum in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is on the corner of Niddry Street and the Cowgate, about south of the Royal Mile. The hall dates from 1763 and was the first purp ...

in Edinburgh.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Raymond 1922 births 1964 deaths Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Royal Fusiliers officers Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Organologists British harpsichordists English conscientious objectors

Raymond Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

20th-century British musicologists 20th-century British classical musicians