RNCM Library

Message from the bees 📢
The Library will be closed this Monday for the bank holiday! Open today, tomorrow, Saturday and Tuesday as normal 🥰🐝

Lost anything recently? 📚🎶🧸
As the end of the year approaches, Tonya has collected our lost property and put it on the big table at the bottom of the Library. We would love to reunite some owners with their things - do check if any of it is yours! Anything remaining at the end of term will be added to stock, donated, or thrown away.
Lots of love,
Your Library team xx

BREAKING NEWS (this time for real) 😮🤯
A new piece by RVW has just been discovered!! A manuscript has been found by archivist Elaine Andrews, in the archives of Morley College in London, and has been verified by the Vaughan Williams Foundation. "Before the Mirror" is a setting of a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne (poshest name ever). The piece is set to be recorded in June, so you will be able to hear it!
If you're interested, you can read more (and hear an extract of the song) here: https://theviolinchannel.com/previously-unknown-vaughan-williams-piece-found-in-london/?utm_source=vc-newsletter&utm_medium=email

Have you seen the latest display in the RNCM foyer? It features the work of the incredible as well as items from the Thomas Pitfield Archive which is held here at the RNCM.
Venture Arts is an award-winning visual arts organisation working with learning disabled artists. They work with venues and artists to provide unique experiences, skills and knowledge. One of these placements involved working alongside our very own Archivist Heather with material from the Thomas Pitfield Archive to create this colourful, exuberant exhibition.

Thomas Pitfield (1903-1999) was a fascinating Bolton-born creator. The archive shows his work as a musician, composer, calligrapher, artist, poet, inventor, husband, friend, student and teacher.
After exploring themes, colours, media and identities, Venture Arts settled on approaching the curation via what emotions the collection inspired in the artists.
Artists Helena Bradley and Joanne Robinson, and everyone at Venture Arts, invite you now to explore the Thomas Pitfield Archive through feelings of happiness, calm, interest and discovery.

The Library will be closed this Bank Holiday Monday (4th May). We'll be open as normal on Tuesday. We hope you enjoy the sunshine!!
(Image: said sunshine making its way into the Library ☀️🌸)

Have you seen our new display? It’s all about music which relates to Manchester, including lots of things which originated here at RNCM!

Manchester has produced (and is still producing) an incredible diversity of music, which Tonya has reflected in this latest display: from the thriving pop scene, explored in the books ‘Manchester Unspun’ and ‘The North will Rise Again,’ to figures like Anthony Burgess (author of ‘A Clockwork Orange’), whose biography you can find on the display. Some of the most famous composers of all time had a relationship with Manchester, and wrote letters to musicians who were based here. In the museum we have a lock of Mendelssohn’s hair and cast of Chopin’s hand; and our Archive features many letters by the likes of Tchaikovsky.

The display features archival performances by Joy Division and The Stone Roses; music inspired by Manchester (like Despic’s Manchester Trio); and works by people who were instrumental to the creation of the RNCM, such as Ida Carroll (Northern School of Music Principal, and fundamental to its union with the Royal Manchester College of Music to create RNCM).

This display ties in heavily with our whole Archive, and most recently the display in the foyer on Elgar Howarth. Howarth was part of the ‘Manchester School’ along with Peter Maxwell Davies, Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr and John Ogdon. Together they helped reshape the music of Britain in the second half of the 20th century, and you can find their works here in the Library.

There are many more influential names and groups we could mention: bands like Oasis and Blur, Fac 51 (the Haçienda), Factory records, Adolph Brodsky, Thomas Pittfield, jazz groups originating in Manchester, and much more. This is not to mention the Manchester orchestral and choral scene! On the display you can find items about the Halle Orchestra, and recordings by KANTOS and Manchester Cathedral.

The display also features flyers from the , a virtual tour of Manchester’s music history which features recordings taken from the RNCM Archive. Pictured: Charlotte on a Mooch with Heather recently. We highly encourage giving it a go!!

Due to staff illness, the Library will be closing at 5pm today, Wednesday 29th April.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Have you taken our Libray survey yet? Please do complete it if you have a spare minute - it really helps us stay at our best and take any feedback on board 🥰 You can find paper copies in the Library, or follow the link below for the digital version (we also have QR codes dotted around the Library for this). Answer are anonymous but you can include your email for a chance to win a £20 Amazon voucher!

One responder requested "more crochet paraphernalia" in the Library, and as we take all your suggestions super seriously Alison got straight to work and has created these beautiful creatures 🐝💐
If you have any other super serious feedback this is your chance to be heard!!

(For legal reasons we should clarify she did in fact start these before the survey started 😶)

Survey link: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/rncm/library-survey-2026

Last week we marked World Copyright Day with a series of articles on the Whimsy Pages. To round off the topic, we present A CASE STUDY: VAUGHAN WILLIAMS. RVW died nearly 70 years ago, which means soon his music will be out of copyright. So who is the copyright holder now? How to perform his music? Will all his works be out of copyright once his 70 years are up?
To learn all this and more, follow the link in our bio and read the latest article.
Stay legal people!
👩‍⚖️⚖️🏦

Image ©: Public domain dedication

This Thursday is World Book and Copyright Day, and we are having a Copyright Awareness Week over on the Whimsy Pages (calm yourselves! We know, this is the most exciting thing ever). Each day we will post some information in a (we hope) digestible format, and the articles will stay up for you to read in future.
The first article, written by Beth, covers the basics such as
- What is copyright law and why does it exist;
- What makes a photocopy legal;
- What makes a performance legal.

We hope these articles will be useful reading for students and staff alike. Copyright creeps up everywhere in the creative industries, whether you're directing an ensemble, performing solo, teaching, or working behind the scenes; and it's important to have some understanding of what it means and how to comply with the law.
Find the first article on the whimsy pages now - access through Moodle or via the Linktree in our bio.
Lots of love and don't get taken to court,
Your Library team xx