Image: Megan Lomas
Megan is a violinist and graduated from the University of Lincoln in the summer of 2021 with a First in BA (Hons) Music. She is now working towards a Master's in Musicology at the University of Edinburgh.
Valerie is a musician and audio engineer who began study at the University of Lincoln in 2019 in BA (Hons) Fine Art and is due to graduate in 2022.
Image: Valerie Arindra
The driving force behind the project was to raise awareness of the wonderful collection of music held within the Cathedral Library for Music staff and students. In November 2019, Academic Subject Librarian Hope Williard invited students from the School of Fine and Performing Arts to participate in an Undergraduate Research Opportunity Scheme (UROS) project, which resulted in Megan and Valerie being selected to carry out the research.
The application was submitted in January 2020, accepted as the first ever Arts project, and set to start over the summer of 2020 when Covid hit and the music was temporarily silenced. UROS projects are typically offered to 1st and 2nd year students but thankfully Megan’s request to complete the research was allowed and she was able to partake in her final year of study and the project took place between June and August, being submitted in September 2020. The focus was altered as physical access to the collection was impossible for Megan and Valerie during Covid restrictions and all work was undertaken online with digital material.
Volunteer Cynthia Jolly word processed a list of music manuscripts to assist in the project. Her work is ongoing.
Click on the Poster image to see larger version and zoom by clicking left-mouse button and use scroll bar to read the text, or download the PDF version or an accessible text-only version of the poster below.
Image: UROS Poster: Distant Music: Uncovering Music Collections of Lincoln Cathedral Library
Image: Sheet music for Behold now praise ye Lord by William Turner, MS 2 p1 tenor
Below: MUSIC MS 2 p1 (tenor), MUSIC MS 4 p1 (bass)
Image: Sheet music for Hear my Crying O God by Thomas Allinson
Below: MUSIC MS 2 p53 (tenor), MS 4 p53 (bass)
Image: Sheet music for Hear my Crying O God by George Holmes
Below: MUSIC MS 4 p111 (bass), MS 2 p115 (tenor)
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the project - read the blog piece "Silencing the Music" by Special Collections Librarian, Claire Arrand, to find out how the project was affected.
