Instruments in the Collection

 

The Collection contains a number of instruments which are worthy of further explanation.

William Bentley and the Shareshill Church Collection | The Lancelot Key Collection | The Dodd Collection | Other instruments of note

 

William Bentley and the Shareshill Church Collection

William Bentley (1862 - 1935) was a keen amateur musician who came to Birmingham in 1889 as a clerk to a firm of solicitors. He soon became an active member of the Birmingham Amateur Society whose conductor, George Halford, was a teacher at the newly established Birmingham School of Music. In 1907 he was made an Honorary Librarian of the Birmingham School of Music (the School’s first) and was elected to the Council of the Institute, joining the School of Music Committee the following year. His enthusiasm for music and for developing the activities of the School left its mark in many different ways, including encouraging the formation of a musical instruments collection, which by that stage included the Dodd bows and a number of instrument he donated (although it is unclear whether they belonged to him or whether he procured them on behalf of the School). Among these instruments are the flageolet (1.1), the Hastrick double flageolet (1.3), and the Cahusac fife (2.3).  In the first catalogue of the historical instruments (1953) some of the items which Bentley donated are also noted at being from the Shareshill Church Collection. It is believed that this collection formed a gallery band for Shareshill, Staffordshire. The instruments include the Bilton piccolo (2.1), and clarinets by Fentum (4.2) and Cramer (4.5). 


 
The Lancelot Key Collection

In 1950 the School purchased through the then head of brass, Harold Greensmith, a large number of nineteenth century brass instruments from Lancelot Key.  It is unclear as to what connection Key had previously with the School of Music or to Birmingham, but he was persuaded him to sell the collection to the School, apparently at a knock-down price. The School’s bulletin Fanfare noted in January 1951:

“Mr. Key had been impressed by the work done on brass instruments at the Birmingham School of Music under the leadership of Dr. [Christopher) Edmunds and, as he was seeking a home for his collection, he offered it for the use of the School at a very advantageous figure. Although desired by both American and Canadian sources, and a London buyer for museum purposes, and a considerably larger price could have been obtained, it was secured for the Birmingham School of Music because Mr. Lancelot Key felt that here it would be more practically used. In his own words, he “did not wish it to become a dead thing in a glass case.” It is probably true to say that only in a live School of Music peopled by students and teachers with enquiring minds could his wishes have been met.”

The Galpin Society borrowed several of the brass instruments for their contribution to the 1951 Festival of Britain Exhibition. 


 

The Dodd Bow Collection

This collection of English violin, cello and double bass bows by John Dodd, James Dodd and Edward Dodd junior and 1 French violin bow by Tourte has been in the possession of Birmingham Conservatoire since the early twentieth-century when it was donated to the School of Music by E S Fry in 1904.  At this time, there was generally far less interest in historical instruments either from a music history point of view or an instrument makers’ point of view, particularly in bows for string instruments. It is perhaps reasonable to assume that Fry accumulated the bows out of general curiosity and not necessarily because of musical or historical reasons, but it is noted in the School of Music minutes that the following year he offered to give a talk on the bow collection and the history and development of string bows.  Had the collection remained in private hands, it may not have been kept complete.  Fortunately, its donation to the School of Music has meant that the collection has remained intact, and has been added to in recent years through further donations, and is now one the most extensive and comprehensive of its kind.
There are examples from every major member of the family:
Edward Dodd (1705 - 1810) is generally held to have been a bow maker, and most surviving eighteenth-century bows are attributed to him. His son, John Dodd, (1752 - 1839) is considered to be the most important of the family and the most important English Classical bow maker.  Nephew to John, James (1792 - 1885), is also represented here.


 

Other instruments of note

Contrabass trombone
The Conservatoire has one of two surviving contrabass trombones by Boosey & Co. The largest of the trombone family, the contrabass, had no specific repertoire in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century. The examples made at the Boosey & Co. factory were specifically made to enable performances of Wagner’s operas in London during the 1880s and 1890s, primarily under Henry Wood and the Queen’s Hall Orchestra.  The comprehensive archives of Boosey & Hawkes, now kept at the Horniman Museum in London, tell us a great deal about the instrument, not only when it was made, but which craftsman made it, when it was sold and to whom.

Mest Lute

The Mest lute shell is an unusual item in this collection, being one for which there exists a number of records relating to its more recent history.  It is both the oldest item in the collection and among the first recorded donations to the School of Music. It was evidently regarded as an instrument historical significance as the minute books at the time, in 1895, give details of the instrument and maker, far more information than for most other donations.  At this time the instrument was attributed to Michael Hartung, the late 16th century German maker who was active in Padua between at least 1591 and 1627.  This misattribution was due to the original maker’s label being worn and obscuring the text in a crucial place.  The error was not spotted until late 2007 when the instrument was identified as by Raphael Mest by Lynda Sayce.  The whole sound board and neck were still attached to the shell at the end of the nineteenth century so it is quite understandable why this misattribution was made. The text on the badly deteriorated label has been reconstructed by comparing its wording and spacing with that of other known examples of Mest’s work.

In addition to the original label are four further labels by makers and repairers which fill in some gaps in the three hundred or so years between its making and it arriving in Birmingham.  The next labels chronologically after Mest are of Antonius Bachmann, (“Reparirt”, Berlin, 1753), then T A Matth? (“Reparient”, Berlin, 1822), then Rogers and Priestley (“me refecerunt / Birmingham 1891”). It is likely that Rogers and Priestly made the most significant changes to the shell during their remake in 1891. This includes cutting down the rim and removing the end-pin.  These alteration were probably made for A M & Royle A Shore, who donated the instrument to the School of Music in 1895.

Perhaps the most significant changes were made by the last repairer/maker Zachary Taylor who, in 1981, was approached by the former custodian of the historical instruments Stephen Daw so investigate possible woodworm in the soundboard.  The extent of the woodworm damage was such that the neck and sound board had to be permanently removed and destroyed.