Brentford REWIND: A look back at the Musical Museum

By Dimitris Kouimtsidis

26th Aug 2021 | Local News

The Musical Museum was founded in 1963 as the British Piano Museum. Image Credit: Ian Francis
The Musical Museum was founded in 1963 as the British Piano Museum. Image Credit: Ian Francis

WELCOME to another of our history features part of our series called, 'Brentford REWIND'.

As part of 'Brentford REWIND', we will look back at famous buildings and locations throughout Brentford, talk about their history and how they've evolved over the years.

Today we will look at one of Brentford's most famous museums, the Musical Museum.

The Musical Museum was founded in 1963 by Frank Holland MBE, as the British Piano Museum.

Holland believed that self-playing musical instruments should be preserved and played.

He had read that there were about 800 abandoned church buildings in Britain, so he decided to find a suitable one to house the instruments, with St George's being the one selected.

In 1966, the collection was formed into a Charitable Trust as the British Piano Museum and a number of famous pianists who had recorded rolls earlier in the century came along to hear themselves play.

Holland was initially allowed to use the building for only two years but ended up staying there for 45 years until 2008 when the museum moved to a newer building nearby.

The shell of the new building was funded by a Heritage Lottery Grant and the transfer of the collection from the old building and the setting-up of the galleries was done entirely by volunteers.

The museum now encompasses a wide range of musical instruments (not just pianos) and unique inventions which tell the story of how music was recorded and captured through the ages.

The museum also has over 20,000 music rolls, which are stored in a purpose-built library.

In addition to the galleries and the roll library, the museum also has a workshop, a concert hall and a café.

     

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