RNCM Library

New colourful display just dropped!!! This one features musicals through the ages (which all seem to have gorgeous covers) - come and check it out!
Lots of love,
Your Library team xx

The Library will be closed this Bank Holiday Monday (4th May). We'll be open as normal on Tuesday. We hope you enjoy the sunshine!!
(Image: said sunshine making its way into the Library ☀️🌸)

Have you seen our new display? It’s all about music which relates to Manchester, including lots of things which originated here at RNCM!

Manchester has produced (and is still producing) an incredible diversity of music, which Tonya has reflected in this latest display: from the thriving pop scene, explored in the books ‘Manchester Unspun’ and ‘The North will Rise Again,’ to figures like Anthony Burgess (author of ‘A Clockwork Orange’), whose biography you can find on the display. Some of the most famous composers of all time had a relationship with Manchester, and wrote letters to musicians who were based here. In the museum we have a lock of Mendelssohn’s hair and cast of Chopin’s hand; and our Archive features many letters by the likes of Tchaikovsky.

The display features archival performances by Joy Division and The Stone Roses; music inspired by Manchester (like Despic’s Manchester Trio); and works by people who were instrumental to the creation of the RNCM, such as Ida Carroll (Northern School of Music Principal, and fundamental to its union with the Royal Manchester College of Music to create RNCM).

This display ties in heavily with our whole Archive, and most recently the display in the foyer on Elgar Howarth. Howarth was part of the ‘Manchester School’ along with Peter Maxwell Davies, Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr and John Ogdon. Together they helped reshape the music of Britain in the second half of the 20th century, and you can find their works here in the Library.

There are many more influential names and groups we could mention: bands like Oasis and Blur, Fac 51 (the Haçienda), Factory records, Adolph Brodsky, Thomas Pittfield, jazz groups originating in Manchester, and much more. This is not to mention the Manchester orchestral and choral scene! On the display you can find items about the Halle Orchestra, and recordings by KANTOS and Manchester Cathedral.

The display also features flyers from the , a virtual tour of Manchester’s music history which features recordings taken from the RNCM Archive. Pictured: Charlotte on a Mooch with Heather recently. We highly encourage giving it a go!!

Due to staff illness, the Library will be closing at 5pm today, Wednesday 29th April.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.