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Archives and Special Collections

Sketch of the Royal Northern College of Music by Thomas Pitfield 
Sketch of the Royal Northern College of Music, by Thomas Pitfield

CURRENT FEATURES

Christmas card designed by Thomas Pitfield Why not have a look at this month's featured archive collection, a Winter Wonderland of items all with a distinctly chill feel?  Included is a letter with a description of surviving winter when the sea has frozen over; an extract from a piece of music entitled 'Borean Suite: Tundra Scenes From The Arctic Northlands'; two Christmas poems, and a Christmas card with a difference... Click on the link above for further information. 

UPCOMING FEATURE

Elizabeth Harwood
This feature is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the life and career of Alan Rawsthorne through the use of displays, online galleries, educational material and a lecture given by the composer and pianist (and expert on the life of Rawsthorne) John McCabe. 

The displays and online galleries will focus on the rich collection of music, writings and letters which can be found in the Rawsthorne archive.  Material will be arranged under three loose headings: 'The Composer', 'The Individual' and 'Imagination' (the latter heading will encompass, amongst other things, Alan's childhood writings).  The displays will be complemented by John McCabe's lecture on 8 January, and the educational material which will be aimed primarily at Key Stages 2 and 3 History and Music of the National Curriculum.  Click here for further information.

GENERAL INFORMATION 

For a brief history of the Royal Northern College of Music, please click  below

History of the RNCM

The Archive catalogue is available online here Key collections include:
  • Organisational archives of the Northern School of Music and the Royal Manchester College of Music
  • The performing archive of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
  • Personal papers covering the entire careers of the violinists Adolph Brodsky and Philip Newman, the soprano Elizabeth Harwood, and Walter and Ida Carroll - the prominent Manchester music educationalists
  • The correspondence of Sir Charles Halle with EJ Broadfield, Gustav Behrens and others
  • The compositions of Arthur Butterworth, Arnold Cooke, John Golland, John Ogdon, Thomas Pitfield and Alan Rawsthorne

For further information about any aspect of the RNCM Archive collections, please contact the Archivist/Records Manager on T 0161 9075211 or E This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .