The Russell Collection is a substantial collection of early keyboard instruments assembled by the British

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

and organologist Raymond Russell. It forms part of the Musical Instrument Museums collection 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 ...

, and 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 ...

. Its full name is the Raymond Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments.

History

Raymond Russell, a British

and organologist, bought his first historic keyboard instrument in 1939. 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 described many of the instruments in detail in his book ''The Harpsichord and Clavichord: an Introductory Study'', published in 1959. 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 sudden death in Malta in 1964 at the age of forty-one. Later that year, in his memory and in accordance with his wishes, his mother Maud Russell donated almost all of his collection – nineteen instruments – to the university; the donation also included his notes and his collection of documentary photographs. The collection was housed in

in Edinburgh, which opened as a museum in 1968. The opening recital was given by

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

. The university bought two further instruments from Russell's collection – an English double harpsichord by Jacob Kirckman, bought at auction in 1970, and a French double harpsichord by Jean Goermans and Taskin, purchased from Maud Russell in 1974 – bringing the total number to twenty-one.

Instruments

The instruments in the collection represent the five principal geographical areas or national schools of harpsichord-making – England, Flanders, France, the German-speaking world and the Italian peninsula – and more than two hundred years of the history of the craft.

England

English instruments in the collection include: * a rectangular virginal made by Stephen Keene in 1668 * a hexagonal spinet attributed to

John Player John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901 the company merged with twelve other companies to become a branch of the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great B ...

, made in about 1705 * a single-manual harpsichord by Thomas Hancock, made in 1720 * a walnut bentside spinet by Thomas Hitchcock, dated 1728 * a bentside spinet made in 1757 by Sir John Harrison Burnett * a finelydecorated double-manual harpsichord by Jacob Kirckman, dating from 1755 * a Scottish bentside spinet made in Edinburgh in 1784 by Neil Stewart * a single-manual harpsichord by John Broadwood and Sons, made in 1793.

Flanders

There are four Flemish harpsichords in the collection, all made in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

: * a double-manual harpsichord made by Andreas Ruckers the Elder in 1608 * a single-manual harpsichord by Ioannes Ruckers, dated 1637 * a double-manual transposing harpsichord, also by Ioannes Ruckers, 1638 * a single-manual harpsichord by Ioannes Couchet, made in 1645.

France

The two French instruments are: * a double-manual harpsichord made by Jean Goermans in 1764, rebuilt by

in 1783–1784, formerly the property of

Arnold Dolmetsch Eugène Arnold Dolmetsch (24 February 185828 February 1940), was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a leading figu ...

* a double-manual harpsichord by Taskin, made in 1769.

Germany

There are two North German instruments, both made in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

by Johann Adolph Hass: an unfretted clavichord dating from 1763, and a single-manual harpsichord made in 1764. There is also a small German triple-fretted clavichord from about 1700.

Italy

Instruments from Italy include: * a pentagonal inner-outer virginal made in 1586 by Alessandro Bertolotti * an anonymous single-manual inner-outer harpsichord dating from about 1620 * a triple-manual harpsichord by Stefano Bolcioni, made in 1627 * an ''ottavino'' spinet made by Petrus Michael Orlandus in 1710.

References

External links

* {{authority control University of Edinburgh Keyboard instruments Former private collections in the United Kingdom Musical instrument museums in Scotland category:University museums in Scotland