Royal Academy of Music Museum

Address: | Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5HT |
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Phone: | 020 7873 7443 |
Website: | |
Opening times: | Monday to Friday 11.30-5.30pm and Saturday 12-4pm, closed Sunday, public holidays and the month of December. |
How to get there: | Tube: Baker Street/Regents Park |
Entry fee: | Free |
Additional information: | Shop |
MUSEUM CLOSURE UPDATE - SEE BELOW The Royal Academy of Music was founded in 1822 at the instigation of the keen amateur composer Lord Burghersh, later Earl of Westmorland, and granted its Royal Charter by George IV in 1830. It was the original venue for the Proms, the ‘Promenade Concerts’ devised by the impresario Robert Newman in 1895 to ‘train the public’ to appreciate classical music. All that survives of the original building, destroyed by bombing, are five carved busts representing Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Haydn and possibly Purcell, now displayed in the basement lobby. The Royal Academy of Music (since 1999 a college of London University) moved here in 1911. |
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MUSEUMS & GALLERIES OF LONDON
Details below are taken from our Blue Guide Museums and Galleries of London. This is a 2005 title, here generally updated for website address and opening times, with useful comments from some of the museums themselves. More recent information is given in Emily Barber's magisterial new Blue Guide London, "Exceptional update to a classic and useful guide to this amazing city" (Amazon reader review).
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Update from Royal Academy of Music Museum
Experience centuries of creativity and craftsmanship, with fine instruments and objects that have inspired music-making from the 16th century to the present day.
The Royal Academy of Music was founded in 1822 at the instigation of the keen amateur composer Lord Burghersh, later Earl of Westmorland, and granted its Royal Charter by George IV in 1830. It was the original venue for the Proms, the ‘Promenade Concerts’ devised by the impresario Robert Newman in 1895 to ‘train the public’ to appreciate classical music. All that survives of the original building, destroyed by bombing, are five carved busts representing Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Haydn and possibly Purcell, now displayed in the basement lobby. The Royal Academy of Music (since 1999 a college of London University) moved here in 1911.
The museum is now housed in York Gate, designed in 1822 by John Nash as a main entrance to his new Regent’s Park. Your musical tour begins with our ‘History of the Academy’ display. Through our Timeline you can discover highlights of the Academy’s story in relation to British and world events across two hundred years. A wide range of display items includes the original score of Gilbert and Sullivan’s famous operetta ‘The Mikado’; letters by Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt; a photograph from an Academy fun run; and a backstage pass for alumnus Sir Elton John’s performance at Radio City Music Hall.
The Strings Gallery exhibits some of the most exquisite and diverse string instruments in the Academy’s collections, including by the famous Antonio Stradivari. Instrument displays are interspersed with rare archive material of prints, images and scores, illustrating the instruments in performance and animating the people associated with them.
Upon reaching the Piano Gallery, ask a Gallery Assistant for a demonstration of the instruments. The displays explore the keyboard across four different locations – the home, the stage, the workshop and the Academy itself – to see how domestic music-making, grand concerts, craftsmanship and virtuoso performers have all influenced the development of the instrument. All pianos are kept in playing condition and are used for staff demonstrations, research and special events.
Alongside the permanent galleries the Museum presents an annually changing temporary exhibition, regular lecture-recitals and workshops.