From vocal to visual, with family scraps

Artist Sophie Herxheimer, creator of the artwork for the British Library’s new Voices of the Holocaust website, reflects on her approach to contextualising and representing the voices of Holocaust survivors. This collection of interviews with Holocaust survivors encompasses themes of war, suffering, imprisonment, exile and loss. But there are also…




Recording of the week: Muzak whilst you work for increased efficiency

This week’s post comes from Gail Tasker, Audio Project Cataloguer. As a music fan, I’ve often come across the word ‘Muzak’ without giving it much thought. For many, it signifies the tinny sound of soft instrumental music backgrounding an elevator ride or a customer service call. For others, it’s a…




Recording of the week: August Wilhelmj performing Paganini’s Concerto No. 1, Op. 6

This week’s post comes from Tom Miles, Metadata Coordinator for Europeana Sounds. August Wilhelmj (1845-1908) was a violinist and teacher. He was born in Usingen, Germany. Referred to by Liszt as ‘the future Paganini’, he gained a reputation as a child prodigy and was at the height of his career…




Recording of the week: Leonie Barnett on her brother, Joe Orton

This week’s post comes from Jack Hudson, Hay Festival Audio and Audio-Visual Archive Intern. Image by Spudgun67, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and rendered in b&w from colour original. The following recording (British Library reference: C1142/272), is an interview with Leonie Barnett about her brother, Joe Orton…




Jelly d’Arányi – The recorded legacy and career of a virtuoso violinist in the roaring twenties

Jelly d’Aranyi in 1926 (The Strad 37: no.437, 1926 supplement. BL collections) Guest blog by Edison Fellow Victoria Bernath, PhD, professional violist, composer, and researcher Overture Jelly d’Arányi (1893-1966) was a British-Hungarian violinist, celebrated as a leading artist in 1920s Britain. This was a decade in which British violin playing…