Amadeus Quartet

• Extensive collection of items relating to the Amadeus string quartet (active 1947-1987).
• Correspondence, newspaper cuttings, recital agendas, recordings and other ephemera.
• Collection size: c30 boxes and folders, stored on site.

No handlist or catalogue yet available.

Herbert Kennedy Andrews

• Collection of autograph manuscripts and research materials (relating to his publications on 16th century music) of 20th-century composer and organist who taught at the RCM.
• Collection size: 1 box of manuscripts stored on site and listed on the Additional manuscripts list. 7 boxes of research papers not yet catalogued and stored off site.

Artists' brochures

• Both individuals' and agents' brochures. Approximately 2,000 items arranged by size and then alphabetically.
• Collection size: 3 boxes, stored off site.

No comprehensive handlist or catalogue, but list of contents for agents' brochures available.

Australian Music Centre

• Large collection of scores and printed music by Australian composers, published in Australia and elsewhere.
• Over 500 items available on the open shelves

This collection is fully catalogued in the main library catalogue.

John Francis Barnett

• Music manuscripts of 19th-century composer and pianist (1839–1916) who taught at the RCM for 30 years.
• Collection size: 11 items, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Stanley Bate

• Large collection of largely autograph manuscripts (with some printed items) of former RCM student (1913–1959) who later studied with Boulanger and Hindemith.
• Collection size: 9 boxes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Bechstein Company & Bechstein Hall

• Ledgers recording the bookings of the hall (now Wigmore Hall) and the sale of pianos by the London branch of the German firm. Late 19th- to mid-20th-centuries.
• Collection size: 42 large volumes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Harold Beck

• Manuscript exercises for cello by and formerly belonging to Harold Beck, principal cellist of the Halle and then the London Symphony Orchestra.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Julius Benedict

• Diaries from 1838 onwards of this German-born composer and conductor (1804-1885). 
• Collection size: 10 boxes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Sterndale Bennett

• Manuscripts, copyist scores and printed editions of celebrated composer Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816–75).
• Collection size: 7 boxes, stored on site.
• Printed editions and manuscripts of Sir William's grandson, TC Sterndale Bennett (1882–1944).
• Collection size: 2 boxes, stored on site.
• Collection gifted to RCM in 2006 by the Sterndale Bennett family.

No handlist or catalogue yet available.

New Berlioz Edition

• An archive comprising both copies of the original sources used in the preparation of the New Berlioz Edition and the administrative records of the Edition.

Search archive

James Bernard

• Collection of scores by celebrated composer of film music (1925–2001) who had been a pupil of Howells at the RCM.
• Collection size: 9 boxes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Boosey & Hawkes Collection

• Royalty ledgers, hire library and production department records.
• Manuscripts from the hire library.
• Collection size: 2 boxes, stored on site.

Manuscripts are listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Adrian Boult

• Printed full scores formerly owned and used by Sir Adrian Cedric Boult (1889–1983), eminent conductor and one-time RCM professor. Many scores marked with Boult's notes, dates of performance, and some including programmes.
• Personal effects, including letters to and from Boult, tickets, ration books, passports and other such ephemera.
• Collection size: 14 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Lionel Bradley

• Lionel Bradley (1898–1953), librarian with a keen interest in music. Bradley attended 16 years' worth of London concerts (1936–1953) and wrote detailed reports on each of them to be circulated amongst friends in the north of England.
• Handwritten notes on live performances and broadcasts, including the premiere of Britten's Peter Grimes.
• Collection size: stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list, with further detail available on request.

See also this Thesis by Kerri-Anne Edinburgh

John Braham

• Singer and composer, active early 19th century.
• Autograph scores of vocal works, late 18th- and early 19th-centuries.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Dennis Brain

• Substantial collection of music owned by the legendary horn-player, Dennis Brain (1921-1957).
• Includes manuscripts, handwritten dedications from composers, biographically significant items, performing parts, wind quintet parts used by the English Wind players, and printed scores.
• Collection size: 7 large boxes, stored on site.

Description of contents available on request.

David Branson

• Music manuscripts and research papers on John Field.
• Collection size: 5 boxes, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Alexander Brent-Smith

• Large collection of manuscript compositions by Alexander Brent-Smith (1889–1950), also an author and organist.
• Collection size: 8 boxes and 50+ volumes, stored on site.
• Additionally some diaries and other personal items, 5 boxes, stored off site.
• Collection on loan from Christopher Brent-Smith.

Manuscripts are fully catalogued in the main library catalogue.  Other items not yet catalogued.

Havergal Brian

• Collection of autograph manuscripts of idiosyncratic 20th-century composer (1876–1972) including full scores and/or drafts of symphonies 2-32, concertos, other orchestral works. operas and choral works.
• Collection size: 10 boxes, stored on site.
• Collection on loan from the Brian estate.

Handlist available with the collection.

Frank Bridge

• Largest single collection of autograph manuscripts of 20th-century composer (1879–1941) who studied at the RCM. Also includes published music, many first editions, copies of publishers' brochures and a small number of letters to members of the Speyer family and others.
• Collection size: 28 boxes, stored on site.

The collection of manuscripts and letters is listed on the Additional manuscripts list, with printed music on the Library Catalogue except for some first editions. There is no catalogue available for the brochures.

Leslie Bridgewater

• Small collection of manuscript arrangements and transcriptions for small orchestra by Ernest Leslie Bridgewater, (1893–1975), pianist, conductor and composer of light music.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

James & Sebastian Brown

• Large collection of manuscripts, annotated proof editions, programmes, letters and other items relating to this father and son.  James Conway Brown (1838–1908) was a close friend of and collaborator with Arnold Bennett; Sebastian Hubert Brown (1903–1999) was a former student of the RCM.
• Original compositions, arrangements and editions.
• Also containing small amounts of material relating to Thomas Brown (unknown relation) and composer Christopher a Becket Williams (1890–1956).
• Collection size: 21 boxes, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Frank Bury

• Frank (Francis) James Lindsay Bury (1910-1944) studied piano, theory, orchestration and conducting at the RCM between 1931 and 1939. His teachers included Gordon Jacob, Malcolm Sargent, Aubin Raymar, and Constant Lambert.  He died whilst serving as a Lieutenant with the Royal Norfolk Regiment.
• 3 volumes of manuscripts including songs and an oboe concerto.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list. 

Victor Butler

• Victor Butler, composer active early 20th century.
• Manuscript collection of songs, choral and solo instrumental music, with some chamber works including a string quartet.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Jack Byfield

• Small collection of manuscripts of chamber and orchestral music by former RCM student (1902–1977) who achieved fame as a light music pianist, composer and arranger.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

Partly catalogued (MSS 7005-8) in the Additional manuscripts list. Remainder uncatalogued.

Margaret Campbell [Dolmetsch]

• Research papers of Margaret Campbell (1917–2015) relating to the musical Dolmetsch family, a family with connections to the RCM.
• Collection size: 10 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Paul Campion Collection

• Large collection of photographs, letters and autographs of female singers dating from the late 18^th century to the present day; plus recordings of many of the singers featured.
• Collection size: 6 boxes, stored on site.

Handlist available.

Capricorn Ensemble

• Collection of performing material used by the Capricorn Ensemble (founded 1973), presented in memory of its founder Timothy Mason (died 1997).

Not kept as a discrete collection, but contents fully catalogued in the main library catalogue.

Clive Carey

• Personal collection of manuscripts, articles, and lecture notes belonging to eminent baritone, composer and former RCM professor Francis Clive Savill Carey (1883-1968).
• Autograph manuscripts of Coleridge-Taylor, Parry and Warlock amongst others, as well as Carey's own compositions.
• Collection size: 5 boxes plus c20 volumes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Mora Carroll

• Mrs Carroll's dissertation JL Dussek and his role in the development of the piano repertory; her book A survey of English music printing and publishing from Caxton to 1800; and a small amount of material used in the writing of these works.
• Collection size: 3 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Carter String Trio

• Manuscripts formerly used by the Carter String Trio, donated by violinist Mary Carter.
• Autograph manuscripts by Arnold Cooke, Georges Enesco and Gordon Jacob amongst others.
• Collection size: 2 boxes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Cavendish collection

• A substantial collection of light orchestral music published by Boosey & Hawkes and used by the firm for its Cavendish Music Company series of gramophone recordings in the 1930s.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Chaplin Trio

• Collection of programmes, flyers, account books and other ephemera relating to this piano trio consisting of Nellie, Kate and Mabel Chaplin (active early 20th century).
• Collection size: 3 boxes, stored on site.

A handlist is available.

Joan Chissell

• Former RCM student Joan Chissell (1919–2007) was a writer and lecturer on music.
• Collection contains books, letters and a distinct collection of papers relating to her work as a music critic and her research into Robert and Clara Schumann as well as other figures.
• Collection size: 4 boxes, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Eric Coates

• Comprehensive collection of autograph manuscripts of important composer of light music (1886–1957), as well as printed editions of his own works and other archival materials.
• Collection size: 9 boxes and 9 volumes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Avril Coleridge-Taylor

• Collection of autograph manuscripts of works composed by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's daughter Avril (1903–1998), with some arrangements of her father's works.
• Collection size: 5 boxes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

• Comprehensive collection of autograph manuscripts of one of the RCM's earliest student composers (1875–1912).
• Stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list. 

HC Colles (Grove's Dictionary)

• Henry Cope Colles (1879-1943), former RCM student, revised Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians in the 3rd and 4th editions.
• Large amount of correspondence relating to the 4th edition of Grove.  Letters from Colles requesting information, and letters to Colles providing information and suggesting amendments.
• Collection size: 7 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Lawrance Collingwood

• Collection of autograph manuscripts of conductor and composer Lawrance Collingwood (1887-1982).
• Collection size: 7 boxes and 6 volumes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Concert, opera & ballet programmes

• About 600,000 programmes, covering the whole world, but with a strong emphasis on Great Britain, including Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, King's Theatre, Queens Hall, St James Hall and others.

The programme collection is included on concertprogrammes.org.uk. Some handlists are available.

Concerts of Ancient Music Library

• Large collection of programmes and printed and manuscript scores used by aristocratic concert-giving society (1776–1848), which only performed works at least 20 years old, favouring Italian and English vocal and instrumental music from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Society’s printed catalogue (1791) is available on request, and the contents of the collection were included in the Catalogue of Printed Music (1909), typescript Manuscript Catalogue and (in part) in the library catalogue.

Benjamin Cooke

• Collection of autograph manuscripts by 18th-century composer, organist, conductor and theorist Benjamin Cooke (1734–1793) along with copies of his works by other composers.
• Collection size: c30 volumes, stored on site.

This collection is fully catalogued in the main library catalogue.

Kenneth Cox

• Collection of autograph manuscripts of C20th English composer Kenneth Cox, donated by his son Anthony Cox.
• Collection size: 2 boxes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Alfred Redgrave Cripps

• Alfred Redgrave Cripps, former RCM Scholar (1882–1950).  Collection of original works (mostly songs) in manuscript, printed and proof form
• Collection size: 2 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Peter Crossley-Holland

       • British-American composer, teacher and ethnomusicologist (1916-2001)
       • Comprehensive collection of manuscripts and small number of letters
       • Collection size: 11 boxes

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Adrian Cruft

• Complete archive of manuscripts, correspondence and business papers from composer and former RCM student and professor Adrian Cruft (1921–1987).
• Collection size: 30 boxes of manuscripts, stored on site.  Letters, diaries and other ephemera stored off site.

Manuscripts catalogued on the Additional manuscripts list.

Crystal Palace programmes

• Incomplete set of programmes for the Saturday orchestral concerts (1856–1901), the majority owned and annotated by Grove.
• 1856–1860 stored off site. 1861–1901 stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Edward Dannreuther

• Edward Dannreuther (1844–1905), pianist, writer and composer who studied in Leipzig before settling in London. A noted performer, he was the soloist for several first London performances of the piano concerto repertoire. He published extensively on Wagner, and was President of the London Wagner Society between 1895 and 1905, during which time he was also Professor of Piano at the RCM. He edited editions of piano music by various composers, and composed a number of songs.
• Music manuscripts and writings.
• Collection size: 5 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Etelka D’Arba and Bruno D’Arba

See Ethel Adelaide Parker

Harold Darke

• Harold Darke (1888–1976), composer and organist who studied and taught at the Royal College of Music.
• Collection of autograph manuscripts, presented to the College by his son, and a collection of concert and recital programmes.
• Concert and recital programmes collection held off-site.

The manuscript collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Fanny Davies

• Collection of annotated scores of chamber music by Brahms and Schumann from the collection of celebrated pianist Fanny Davies (1861–1934), together with private papers and correspondence, including letters to and from Clara Schumann and her family. Further material relating to the administration of Davies’ estate is to be found in the Marion Scott collection.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Henry Walford Davies

• An almost-complete collection of autograph manuscripts by this underestimated composer (1869–1941), together with a large collection of papers and correspondence relating to his important work in music education, as a pioneer broadcaster, and as a composer, editor and conductor.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Kenneth Frederic Day

• Organist and choirmaster, based in South London and West Sussex. 
• Collection of his correspondence with former RCM Directors Keith Falkner (between 1931 and 1993) and David Willcocks (1966–1982). Includes some concert programmes.
• Collection size: 2 boxes, stored on site.

Norman Del Mar

• Collection of orchestral parts for his own compositions and programme notes by this well-known conductor (1919-1994) who taught for many years at the RCM. The College's orchestral library also contains material from Del Mar's own collection of orchestral parts.
• Collection size: 20 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Dewar / Sevcik

• Violinist and composer Evelyn Dewar studied in Prague before returning to Scotland immediately prior to the Second World War.  Her collection of printed scores contains markings which may include those of her teacher, Otakar Sevcik.
• Collection size: 10 boxes, stored off site.

Spreadsheet available.

Bernard van Dieren

• Dutch composer (1887–1936) who worked in London, and a strong influence on composers such as Warlock, Moeran and Lambert.
• Extensive collection of manuscript editions by Denis ApIvor, who presented the collection. 

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Rudolph Dolmetsch

• Extensive collection of autograph manuscripts of composer and early music enthusiast. Son of the early music pioneer Arnold Dolmetsch, his life (1906–42) was cut short by the Second World War.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

George Dorlay

• A small collection of manuscript compositions by early 20th-century British composer of French descent.
• Collection size: 3 boxes, stored on site.

See MSS 5348-53 & 5796-5807 on the Additional manuscripts list.

Madeleine Dring

• Collection of autograph manuscripts of this mid-20th-century composer (1923–77) and actress.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Thomas Dunhill

• Collection of autograph manuscripts, letters, diaries, lectures, notebooks, etc of this almost-forgotten 20th-century composer (1878–1946).
• Collection size: 24 boxes, stored on site.

This collection is partly listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

George Dyson

• Composer (1883–1964) who studied at the Royal College of Music and who later returned as Director between 1938 and 1952.
• Collection of manuscripts, inscribed scores and correspondence

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list and the main library catalogue (printed scores)

Ruth Dyson

• Collection of music from the library of this harpsichordist and fortepianist (1917–97), who studied and taught at the RCM.
• Includes manuscripts by Maconchy, Müller-Hartmann, Dodgson, Champion, Hobson and Somers-Cocks.
• Collection size: manuscripts on site, plus 3 boxes of printed music, tape recordings and other printed material (including Leith Hill memorabilia) stored off site.

The manuscript collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Rupert Erlebach

• Rupert Erlebach (1894–1978), talented but almost-forgotten composer, who studied at the RCM with Stanford and later worked in the College's Parry Room Library and for the RCM Union.
• Small collection of manuscripts
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

EPTA (European Piano Teachers' Association)

• Archive of the European Piano Teachers’ Association, including minute book from 1985-1995, directory of contacts, photographs from conferences.
• Collection size: 2 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

John Farrell collection

• Through a kind donation from Mr Tony Luker, RCM Library has acquired the John Farrell Collection of early jazz transcriptions and MIDI files.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Herman Finck (ex Boosey & Hawkes)

• Autograph manuscripts, principally of stage works, songs, and film scores. Some printed scores.
• Collection size: 26 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Louis von der Finck (ex Boosey & Hawkes)

• Autograph manuscripts & some printed scores. Uncle of Herman Finck.
• Collection size: 2 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Philip Fowke

• Archive covering the career of concert pianist Philip Fowke (b1950) 
• Includes concert programmes of performances from 1970-1978 and 1982- 2003, brochures, reviews and correspondence.
• Certificates and awards
• Folders relating to the London Piano Quartet, Arthur Bliss, Robert Farnon Society, Terence Judd award, Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Oxted and Limpsfield Music Society, Eilleen Joyce.
• RAM medals awarded to Marjorie Corker; colour photographs of the Free Trade Hall, Manchester just before closure.
• Collection size: 18 boxes. Stored on site

The collection includes a detailed contents list.

Maurice Frost

• Loan
• A collection of psalm and hymn books, both words and music, from the 16th-to the early 20th-centuries (but predominantly dating from the 16th–18th centuries), with some related literature, collected by the Reverend Maurice Frost (1888–1961) and bequeathed by him to the Royal School of Church Music (who subsequently placed it on deposit at the RCM).
• Collection size: 538 items, stored on site.

Card catalogue available.

Julian Gardiner

• Collection of manuscript songs and stage works by a former RCM pupil of Vaughan Williams, who made his career as a singer.
• Collection size: 14 boxes, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Geraldo collection

Handlist available in the library. Please ask the Orchestral Librarian.

Cecil Armstrong Gibbs

• Collection of manuscripts by this mid-20th-century composer (1889–1960), some of them acquired from the former hire library of Messrs Curwen and Company.
• Some correspondence, mainly with Herbert Howells.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Reginald Goodall

• Collection of full and miniature scores, many heavily marked, from the library of celebrated Wagner conductor (1901–1990).

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Oliver Horsley Gotch

• Small collection of manuscripts by this early/mid 20th-century physician, artist and amateur composer (1889–1974).

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list. See MSS 5361, 5474 and 6285-89.

Herbert Griffiths

• Herbert Griffiths (1899-1969), British composer, arranger and organist
• Music manuscripts.
• Collection size: 5 boxes and 1 score, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

George Grove

• A large part of Grove’s musical library, first Director of the RCM, who presented the first tranche in 1891. This includes:
  • Books, periodicals, pamphlets, manuscripts, letters & programmes. This is not kept as a discrete collection. About 250 items
  • A large collection of letters written by Grove, especially to Edith Oldham.
  • Crystal Palace Saturday concert programmes, with Grove’s annotations (see Crystal Palace programmes above).
  • Letters, commonplace books, farewell address, desk, annotated programmes.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Inglis Gundry

• Substantial archive of autograph manuscripts, performing material, and papers of RCM-trained mid-20th-century composer and lecturer (1905-2000).
• Collection stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Ivor Gurney

• British composer and poet (1890-1937), who studied at the Royal College of Music.
• Small collection of material by or relating to Ivor Gurney including autograph manuscripts and letters (see also Marion Scott papers).

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

William Lewarne Harris

• Loan
• Cornish composer (1929-2013) of operas and chamber music, who studied at the RCM with Herbert Howells and Patrick Hadley.
• Collection size: 4 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Harrison Sisters

• Substantial part of the music library of the three sisters, Beatrice, Margaret and May, including works written for them and a considerable quantity of correspondence. Placed on deposit by the Harrison Sisters Trust. Of national importance about 4000 musical scores (including about 200 manuscripts); about 1000 letters, Subjects: Music; Violin music; Violoncello music, Formats: Letters; Printed and manuscript music scores Dates: 20th century. Printed and manuscripts music, letters.
• Collection size: 37 boxes, stored on site.

Gordon Jacob

• Gordon Jacob (1895-1984) joined the college in 1920 to study composition with Stanford and Vaughan Williams. On graduating he joined the staff and taught until his retirement in 1966. He was also a prolific composer, completing more than 700 works across all genres.
• Manuscript and printed music, letters, programmes and other archive material.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Gordon Jacob website (non-RCM)

Ivor James

• Ivor James (1882-1963), cellist and RCM professor.
• Manuscript music, mostly cello concerti, with some songs.
• Collection size: 30 boxes, stored on site

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Francis Jefferies

• Music manuscripts.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Alan Jefferson

• Collection size: 7 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Percy Kahn

• Percy Kahn (1880-1966), former RCM scholar who achieved considerable fame as an accompanist and worked regularly with Caruso and Kreisler.
• Comprehensive archive including documents, letters, photographs, programmes, manuscripts.
• Collection size: 7 boxes, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Basil Lam

• Basil Lam (1914 - 1984), harpsichordist, early music scholar and BBC Radio 3 (Third Programme) producer who later became the Corporation's Head of Classical Music. He was best known for his contributions as a commentator on early and baroque music on BBC Radio 3.
• Collection of programme notes and scripts of radio talks

See MSS 7322 & 7323 on the Additional manuscripts list.

John Lambert

• John Lambert (1926 –1995),composer and teacher of composition at RCM, who numbered Julian Anderson, Simon Bainbridge, Oliver Knussen and Mark-Anthony Turnage among his pupils. Lambert studied at the RAM, the RCM, and with Nadia Boulanger privately in Paris. At the RCM he established a dedicated experimental music group.
• Comprehensive collection of autograph manuscripts
• Collection size: 22 boxes plus full scores, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

CS Lang

• Craig Sellar Lang (1891 –1971) was a New Zealand-born British organist, composer and music teacher. He was a pupil of Walter Parratt and Charles Stanford at the Royal College of Music, and was later Director of Music at Christ's Hospital.
• Collection of autograph manuscripts, principally of unpublished works – orchestral, instrumental and choral.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Robin Langley

• Collection of research materials, including many photocopies of manuscript and printed sources, for composers in whom he had an interest, notably Dussek, Field, Charles and Samuel Wesley.
• Collection size: 55 boxes, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available but boxed by subject matter.

Vally Lasker

• Vally Lasker (1885-1978) was educated at Morley College while Holst was Director of Music there: she later taught music at St Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith, as assistant to Holst, who was Head of Music. 
• Music manuscripts of Holst, Vaughan Williams, etc. 
• Papers and correspondence.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Remo Lauricella

• Remo Lauricella (1912-2003) was a British composer and concert violinist. He obtained a scholarship to the Royal College of Music and became a friend of Benjamin Britten. He was first violinist for the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Collection size: 20 boxes plus LPs, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Early libretti

• Collection of opera libretti and oratorio word-books dating from the end of the 17th century to the early 20th century.

A card index of early libretti has been scanned.

Samuel Liddle

• Samuel Liddle (1867-1951), British composer and pianist who studied with Stanford at RCM. Most of his compositions consisted of songs of the ballad type.
• Small collection of manuscript and printed [?] music.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

John Locke

• London-born composer and pianist (1907-1980) who worked in Derby.  His compositions include music for piano, chamber groups, orchestra and voices as well as music for the theatre.
• Archive of manuscripts, printed music, selected concert programmes, flyers, press cuttings, poetry, correspondence and illustrated family journals.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Charles Thornton Lofthouse

• Charles Thornton Lofthouse (1895–1974) had a long career as professor at the Royal College of Music, London (1922–71), director of music at Westminster School and Reading University, founder and conductor of the University of London Music Society, music examiner, and researcher.
• Collection size: 27 boxes plus full scores, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Kathleen Long

• English pianist and teacher. From 1910-1916 she studied with Herbert Sharpe at the Royal College of Music, and she taught at the RCM from 1920-1964.
• 3 LP recordings of K. Long; 1 black and white photograph; 1 score of Faure's 1st Piano Concerto in C minor, with K. Long's notes and cuttings.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Joe Loss

• Joe Loss (1909–1990) was a British musician, popular during the British dance band era, and founded the Joe Loss Orchestra.
• Collection of band music.

This collection is listed in the main library catalogue

August Manns and the Crystal Palace

• Sir August Friedrich Manns (1825–1907) was a German-born conductor who made his career in England, where he became Director of the Crystal Palace.
• Small collection relating to Manns, supplemented by programmes for the Crystal Palace Saturday Concerts.
• Stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Betty Matthews

• Author of books and articles on the organ.
• Research papers relating to the organ, organists and church music, principally of the 18th- and 19th-centuries.
• Collection size: 13 boxes, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

JH Maunder

• John Henry Maunder (1858–1920), English composer and organist, best known for his cantata Olivet to Calvary.
• Small collection of manuscript music.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Graham Melville-Mason

• Professor. The only non-Czech member of the artistic board of the Prague Spring International Music Festival; head of Britain's Dvorak Society for Czech and Slovak music. 
• Basset-horn collection.
• Stored off site.

Printed list from Access Database available.

Isolde Menges

• Violinist (1893–1976), who studied with Sauret and Auer. Later, she taught at the Royal College of Music.
• Collection of manuscripts including works by Hamilton Harty and Eric Gritton.

See MSS 10552-10661 on the Additional manuscripts list.

RO Morris

• Reginald Owen Morris, composer and theorist (1882–1948). He studied and taught at the RCM. Among his students were Gerald Finzi and Sir Michael Tippett.
• Collection of manuscript scores (and orchestral parts) of works.

See the Additional manuscripts list.

Angus Morrison

• Angus Morrison (1902-1989) English pianist and teacher at RCM (1926–72). 
• Papers relating to Constant Lambert.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Mumford Collection

• Collection of autograph manuscripts and orchestral parts by the Newcastle-based Charles E Mumford. Presented by Adrian Mumford.
• Collection size: 3 folders, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Music Publishers' Catalogues

• c2,000 late 19th- and early 20th-century catalogues, for the most part presented by the late Major Cecil Hopkinson. Supplementary collection of publishing ephemera.
• Stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Stanley Myers

• Stanley Myers (1930–1993), British film composer who scored over sixty films.
• Film music manuscripts.
• Collection size: 18 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

National Music Council (NMC) Archive

• Collection size: 2 boxes and 1 oversize picture.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Nixon Collection

• Henry George Nixon (1796-1849) and Henry Cotter Nixon (1842–1907)  
• Collection of printed and manuscript music and other papers of two generations of the Nixon family. Both were 19th century Roman Catholic organists and composers, Henry Cotter Nixon also being a noted pianist.
• Collection size: 18 boxes, stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Novello

• Large collection of manuscript full scores (some autograph) formerly in the Hire Library of Novello & Co. acquired in 1964 when the firm moved from its Wardour Street premises.  Principally choral works by 19th- and early 20th-century British composers, but also including a selection of orchestral works, operas and oratorios by continental composers.

See the Additional manuscripts list.

Obituaries

• Newspaper obituaries — about 2,000 items, arranged alphabetically by subject.
• Stored off site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Norman O'Neill

• Norman O'Neill (1875–1934), composer best known for his works for the theatre. Son of the Irish painter George Bernard O'Neill. He married Adine Berthe Maria Ruckert, celebrated pianist and music teacher in her own right.
• Substantial collection of autograph manuscripts.
• Collection size: 3 boxes, stored on site.

Norman O'Neil website (non-RCM)

See MSS 4351–4433 & 7344–74 on the Additional manuscripts list.

Opperby-Stokowski Collection

• Leopold Stokowski (1882–1977) was a leading 20th-century conductor and one time RCM pupil. Preben Opperby was a Danish school teacher who collected Stokowskiana.
• Recorded tapes and discs are stored off site.

This collection is fully catalogued in the main library catalogue. 

Pamphlets

• Collection of pamphlets, mostly on musical subjects, many of which were collected by, or presented to, George Grove. 18th to early 20th centuries.

A card catalogue is available.

Clifton Parker

• Clifton Parker (1905–1989) English composer, noted for his film scores. During his career, he composed scores for over 50 feature films, as well as numerous documentary shorts, radio and television scores, over 100 songs and music for ballet and theatre.
• Music manuscripts, including film scores.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Ethel Adelaide Parker

• Concert organist and Fellow of the Royal College of Music, also known as Etelka D’Arba,and Bruno D’Arba (1886-1971).
• Collection of autograph compositions and a file of letters.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Hubert Parry

• Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848–1918) English composer, teacher and historian of music. Best known for Jerusalem, and his 1902 coronation anthem I was glad. Second Director of the RCM.
• Manuscripts of musical compositions, lectures and correspondence of Sir Hubert Parry, second Director of the RCM. Presented (or purchased) at various times between 1921 and the present.
• Collection size: 11 boxes.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Sacred Harmonic Society

• Very large collection of printed and manuscript music, books, libretti, etc, dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, presented to the RCM after the demise of the Society (1832–82).
• Not housed as a discrete collection.

No catalogue or handlist yet available for the complete collection. Much of the printed music has been included in the main library catalogue.

Leonard Salzedo

• Leonard Salzedo (1921–2000), violinist and composer who studied at the RCM and had a number of symphonic works championed by Beecham in the 1950s.
• Substantial collection of manuscripts, printed copies and performance material (including orchestral parts).
• Collection size: 8 boxes and 22 folders, stored on site.

Salzedo information at Impulse Music Consultants (non-RCM)

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list. The printed works are also included on the main library catalogue.

Albert Sammons

• Albert Sammons (1886–1957), composer and violinist active in the Beecham orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra and Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.
• Music manuscripts and cadenza for Beethoven's violin concerto.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Malcolm Sargent

• Malcolm Sargent (1895–1967), a protege of Henry Wood, became a renowned conductor of the Halle Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and, from 1948–1967, chief conductor of the Proms.
• The working collection of Sir Malcolm Sargent, comprising full scores, vocal scores and orchestral parts, stored in the orchestral stack on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Neil Saunders

• British composer and medical practitioner.  His output was largely in choral and chamber music.
• Collection of autograph manuscripts.
• Collection size: 10 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Cyril Scott

• Cyril Scott (1879–1970), English composer, writer and pianist, whose orchestral works received a number of performances in Britain and Europe up to the end of the 1940s.
• Collection of piano pieces and songs.
• Collection size: 1 box, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Marion Scott

• Marion Scott (1877–1953), English musicologist closely associated with the RCM. Founder of the Society for Women Musicians in 1911, and led the Morley College orchestra for a number of years.
• Collection of writings, including criticism, and early compositions. Research papers on Haydn, papers relating to Fanny Davies and Ivor Gurney, MS compositions.
• Collection size: 11 boxes, 21 books and 2 scrapbooks, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list. 

Humphrey Searle

• Humphrey Searle (1915–1982), English composer and writer on music. Searle was a music producer for the BBC from 1938–1946, and thereafter was associated with a number of British organisations for modern music.
• Letters, papers and photographs.
• Collection size: 6 boxes and 5 scrapbooks, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Christopher Shaw

• Christopher Shaw (1924–1995), English composer who studied at New College Oxford and subsequently at the RCM with R O Morris. Shaw was an early British exponent of serialism after WWII.
• Collection size: 2 boxes and 2 scores.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Harold Watkins Shaw

• Collection of research papers, family documents, photographs, etc, of editor, musicologist & Keeper of the RCM Parry Room Library (1971–81)
• Collection size: 9 boxes plus books, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Bernard Shore

• Collection of manuscripts and printed scores marked up by violist Bernard Shore CBE (1896-1985), RCM student (organ 1912-1914, viola 1919) and professor of viola (1947-1966)

136 items listed on the library catalogue

Victor Silvester

• Victor Silvester (1900–1978) was an English author, musician and bandleader from the dance band era.
• Collection of books, music and recordings.

An incomplete database is available on the main library catalogue.

Ethel Smyth

• Ethel Smyth (1858–1944), English composer, author and member of the Women's Suffrage Movement, and the first female composer to be awarded a damehood (1922).
• Letters and postcards.
• Stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available.

Society of Women Musicians

• Surviving archive of this pioneering society (1911–72) whose founders had close links with the RCM. The contents include minute books, lists of members, scrap books, etc.
• Letters, SWM papers, concert fixtures.
• Collection size: 5 boxes, stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list. Annual Reports and some papers are on the main library catalogue and visible on the Internet Archive.

Arthur Somervell

• Arthur Somervell (1863–1937) studied at the RCM under Parry, and later became Inspector of Music to the Board of Education.
• Small collection of autograph manuscripts.
• Collection size: 5 boxes, stored on site.

No catalogue or handlist yet available

Sylvia Spencer

• Oboist (1909-1979) who joined the Royal College of Music in 1923 as a junior, then studied oboe with Léon Goossens as a senior College student, and formed the Sylvan Trio with Millicent Silver (piano) and John Francis (flute).
• Collection includes Benjamin Britten's autograph manuscripts of the Insect Pieces with letters from the composer ; other manuscripts by Walter Leigh and Lennox Berkeley ; substantial collection of correspondence, programmes, BBC radio broadcast contracts and RCM memorabilia.
• Over 300 items.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list. 

John Stainer

• John Stainer (1840–1901), organist and educator, who had been Principal of the RCM’s predecessor, the National Training School for Music.  Pioneer of English musicology, it was through his initiative that the Musical Association was founded in 1874.
• Small collection of autograph manuscripts and papers.
• Stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Charles Villiers Stanford

• Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924), Anglo-Irish composer who was the RCM's first professor of composition.
• Collection of autograph manuscripts, principally full scores of operas, choral and orchestral works. Also includes letters to and from the composer.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Leopold Stokowski

See Opperby-Stokowski Collection above.

Sylvan Trio

See Sylvia Spencer Collection

Souindro Mohum Tagore

• Musicologist (1840–1914) who established the RCM Tagore Gold Medal awarded to "the most generally deserving pupils" each year
• Indian music collection
• Books and scores, stored on site.

This collection is fully catalogued in the main library catalogue.

Edward Taylor

• Edward Taylor (1784–1863), bass singer and writer on music, founder of the Norwich Triennial Festival in 1824.
• Collection of autograph manuscripts and lecture scripts.
• Stored on site.

Handlist available

E. Kendall Taylor

• Pianist (1905–1999) who studied at the Royal College of Music and later became Professor of Piano. He was also an author and published an authoritative edition of Beethoven's piano sonatas.
• Collection of manuscripts by 20th century composers.
• Stored on site.

This collection is listed on the Additional manuscripts list.

Henry Thring

• Henry Thring, 1^stBaron Thring (1818–1907), the son of a Somerset clergyman, held the office of First Parliamentary Counsel to the Treasury from 1869 to 1886.  He was on the Royal College of Music Council.
• Collection of letters and papers, many relating to the foundation of the RCM.
• Collection size: 3 boxes stored on site.
• Uncatalogued but further information available at AIM25 collection description.