A gift of £74,000 from the Patricia Baines Trust will enable Oxford's world-class Bate Collection of Musical Instruments to be shared with a wider audience, and for the life and work of Anthony Baines, the collection's first curator, to be celebrated.
Based within the University's Faculty of Music, the Bate Collection is the most comprehensive collection of European woodwind, brass and percussion instruments in Britain, and one of the most magnificent collections of musical instruments held anywhere in the world. Uniquely, many of the historical instruments on display are still played today, brought to life regularly by students and other musicians seeking to recreate, enjoy and understand music of the past.
Anthony and Patricia Baines
The collection's first full-time curator was Anthony Baines (1912-1997), a professional musician, writer and respected organologist. On his death, Baines gave many of the unique and historical instruments that he had collected to Oxford. He also bequeathed his archive, which detailed his thorough research into the history and development of musical instruments and orchestras.
His wife Patricia, herself a professional musician, enthusiastically supported his work, adding several of her own instruments to his gifts. The Patricia Baines Trust has already supported a major acquisition and activities at the Bate Collection. This latest gift brings the trust's total support to date to nearly £150,000.
The Anthony Baines Archive Project
Thanks to the trust's renewed commitment, Oxford can now undertake the Anthony Baines Archive Project – a two-year endeavour that will see Baines' research and historical documents fully conserved, catalogued and digitised.
As well as holding great musicological significance, the archive also offers fascinating glimpses into Baines' own life, including the time he spent as a prisoner-of-war in Germany. During his internment (1942-1945), Baines sought out any instrument he could in order to arrange music and raise the morale of the prisoners.
When the project is complete, academics, students and visitors will be able to access his work for the first time, making it possible for them to engage more fully with the collections, and to better understand and appreciate Anthony Baines' incredible legacy.
'An extraordinary and unique insight'
Professor Michael Burden, Faculty Board Chair, Music, says: 'This gift will enable the faculty to make available a significant archive, and promote research into the Bate Collection itself.'
Andrew Lamb, Manager of the Bate Collection, says: 'This archive represents an extraordinary and unique insight into the life and interests of one of the 20th century's foremost musical instrument experts.'