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…




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…