‘Carry Me Home’- Reattaching to the self: Melodic arrangement in African American spirituals and early 20th century classical compositions

An evocation of emotional memory for the healing of past trauma, separation and loss Guest blog by Edison Fellow Jonathan Emeruwa Fisk Jubilee Singers I am hoping to show through my essay the way in which melodic arrangement in certain African American classical music compositions and African American spirituals from…




Interactive listening: Engaging children with testimonies of Caribbean migration

In 2018 the British Library ran their Windrush Exhibition, Songs from a Strange Land, which featured multiple recordings from the sound archive. To coincide with this the Learning Team designed a digital education programme entitled ‘Walk in their footsteps: Windrush Voices,’ which was later developed into an on-site workshop for…




SIVORI IS DEAD!  VIVA SIVORI! The haunting recorded legacy of Paganini’s only pupil, Part 3

Introduction Part 3 of a guest blog by Andrew O. Krastins. Part 1 can be found here. Part 2 can be found here. In the last two parts of this blog, the reader learned how the Mystery Cylinders traveled from their unknown point of origin to the desk of a…




The Life Story in Oral History Practice – Freely accessible issue of ‘Oral History’ Journal out now!

Mary Stewart, Lead Curator of Oral History, writes: The key mission of the British Library Oral History team is to gather as many stories about life in the UK as possible – to create a tapestry of experiences, reflections and insights for use by researchers today and in the future….




Beyond the Bassline: Coleridge Goode’s diary

A key figure of British jazz, Coleridge Goode worked with the likes of Stéphane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt and Ray Ellington. He performed frequently and his double bass playing graced countless London jazz clubs. He kept diaries in which he noted his bookings, at venues like the Marquee and Ronnie Scott’s…