Researching the archive

However enthusiastically I tell my research class about the joys of using Archives I always feel that they think there is something a bit dry about Archival research. However,  having the class in the Grainger Museum and having  the Curator show the class some of the wonderful archival material available for research that the Museum holds, made it so much more vivid and exciting. Professor Kerry Murphy

The Grainger Museum manages a very large archive and artefact collection in offsite storage, which can be utilised for both teaching and research purposes. The collection is very eclectic, ranging from costume from the 1880s through to the 1950s and decorative arts and design, through to photographs from the 1850s to the 1960s, artworks, and utilitarian household objects. Music is of course central to much of the collection, and includes musical instruments from the northern and southern hemispheres, musical scores and recordings, and musical memorabilia, relating to Grainger and other musicians. This latter part of the collection provides rich resources for students in musicology, such as those who visited the Grainger in Prof Kerry Murphy’s MUSI30032 Music Research who were able to see at first hand annotated scores, letters, and personal documents relating to Grainger’s compositional and performance practice.

Prof Murphy with a research music student exploring Grainger’s designs for free music machines in the Grainger Museum seminar room
Prof Murphy with a research music student exploring Grainger’s designs for free music machines in the Grainger Museum seminar room.