For music enthusiasts and sound admirers, understanding the history of instruments and artists is a must-do. But where do you go to explore and understand so much in one or maybe several places?
Below, we’ve listed our top 3 art installations and museums in London, which highlight the story of how people listened to and created music throughout the years.
Musical Museum
The Musical Museum takes you through a fascinating timeline of how individuals have captured and listened to music over the last four centuries. From music boxes to orchestral organs, the museum’s collection includes a variety of impressive instruments and inventions, such as reproducing pianos, orchestrions, self-playing violins, pipe organs, gramophones & synthesizers.
The Musical Museum was founded in 1963 by the late Frank Holland. It originally started out as his own private collection of reproducing pianos, and was later given use of the former St George’s Church in Brentford to get the collection under one roof.
The museum also offers guided tours and live concerts, and much more with adult tickets at £12 and children’s tickets at £5. Those who live in the local area of Hounslow can also enjoy 50% off.
Royal Academy of Music Museum
With 500 years’ worth of music history, the Royal Academy of Music Museum (RCM) remains one of the richest and most relevant collections of music-related objects in the UK and Europe, holding around 14,000 items.
Music and sound lovers can learn about the earliest stringed keyboard instrument, the most recognised portraits of Joseph Haydn and Farinelli and 56 other fascinating instruments specially chosen from the museum’s designated collection.
Tickets for many of the museum’s events are free with a pay-what-you-can model, whilst others start from as little as £5. The museum’s collection is also available in several free digital exhibitions online. These specially curated exhibitions explore the core collection and spotlight particular items, composers and themes represented strongly in the museum.
The VoiceLine sound installation
Located at The Strand, The VoiceLine is an immersive sound installation consisting of a series of 39 L’Acoustics loudspeakers. The installation was developed by composer and sound designer, Nick Ryan to celebrate the history of radio.
In 1992, the BBC made its first scheduled broadcast from their small studio, Marconi House on The Strand in London using the station transmitter 2LO. This momentous occasion marked the origin of radio broadcasting in London and the beginning of 100 years of voices, music, and sound.
Located close to Marconi House and Bush House, The VoiceLine engages with the public using voices from the past, highlighting the early innovations of radio, popular voices from the news and nation, and the multitude of tongues of the BBC World Service. It also draws on the huge range of resources from the BBC audio archive as well as the multilayered histories of the Strand, delivering a unique spatial sound comprising archived and original compositions.
Ready to visit?
Now you have an idea of the types of musical installations and museums available in London, you can start making a list of where you want to go first and what you’d like to see.
The amount of fascinating instruments these places hold is extraordinary, from small music boxes to grand pianos. It makes you wonder how they managed to arrange so many piano removals in London. Nevertheless, we hope you enjoy your visits and musical journeys.
