Browse Items (337 total)

Detail of the EMS VCS3 at MESS, showing the patch panel and dials.

This performance at Covent Garden was held less
than a month before Melba sailed for Australia to
visit her ailing father. It was one of the last times
that she sang in London prior to the First World War,
during which Covent Garden was closed.…

Melba claimed to have encouraged Puccini to see the play on which his opera Madama Butterfly is based. She studied the title role with him, as well as that of Tosca, however she never performed either role.

Grainger used this marimba for performances of his Tribute to Foster, exploiting the design innovation that enabled single notes and resonators to be removed from the instrument for playing individually. Grainger wrote instructions, such as ‘violin…

Black and white photograph.

13.5 x 8.6 cm

This portrait depicts the young Percy Grainger. The back of the print appears to be similar to that of a postcard. There is an inscription in the middle that reads: Breitkopt & Härtel, 44 Great…

Steel, brass, PVC pipe, paper roll, sewing machine belt, electronics.

This machine demonstrates the method used by Grainger and Cross to control oscillators through the use of connected ‘tone arms’ and cut paper ‘scores’. Whereas Grainger and…

Steel, brass, wood, accordion reeds, blower fans, linear bearings.

In their original Reed box experiments, Grainger and
Cross approximated the effect of gliding musical
pitches by using closely-spaced microtones. They
detuned harmonium reeds to…

Steel, PVC pipe, plastic sheet, globes, ink, electronics, speakers.

One of Grainger and Cross’s last experiments before
Grainger’s death in 1961 was an attempt to create a more
immediate and accurate form of Free Music through the
use of…

Sepia toned black and white photograph.

10.8 x 8.1 cm

This photograph captures Percy Grainger wearing a grass skirt and jewellery in the form of armbands and necklaces. The grass skirt and armbands were created by artists in Oceania, and…