On 14 December, digital versions of Handel's Messiah and My Ladye Nevells Booke - a unique 16th-century volume of keyboard music by William Byrd, will be launched online by the British Library at: www.bl.uk/turningthepages.
(Media-Newswire.com) - On 14 December, digital versions of Handel's Messiah and My Ladye Nevells Booke - a unique 16th-century volume of keyboard music by William Byrd, will be launched online by the British Library at: www.bl.uk/turningthepages.
Turning the Pages uses three-dimensional animation which allows the viewer to mimic the action of turning each page on a computer screen. This technology enables viewers to magnify parts of the score, listen to audio clips of the music being viewed and discover more about the music and the composer.
Handel's Messiah Composed in the summer of 1741, Handel's original Messiah manuscript is one of the British Library's greatest treasures and the jewel in the crown of the music collections. Consisting of 280 pages, the handwritten draft score shows all the signs of rapid composition, with 'short-cuts' in notation, ink blots, and hasty cancellations and corrections.
Handel's oratorio Messiah is one of the best known of all musical works. It was first performed in Dublin in 1742. Despite having a good reception there, it proved controversial in subsequent London performances because its sacred subject matter was thought unsuitable for performance in the theatre, a place associated by many with frivolity and profanity. Charity performances directed by the composer brought it back into favour, and began the popularity which continues today as evidenced by numerous modern recordings and performances.
Byrd's My Ladye Nevells Booke The lesser known My Ladye Nevells Booke contains 42 compositions by the great Elizabethan composer William Byrd and provides a tantalising glimpse of 16th-century musical life, when composers relied on wealthy patrons for their living. A scribe, John Baldwin, compiled the manuscript on Byrd's behalf in 1591, in an elegant style quite unlike that of contemporary keyboard manuscripts. Byrd then apparently made some corrections before the manuscript was presented to Lady Nevell, recently identified as Elizabeth Nevell, wife of Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbear Park, Berkshire. The manuscript was recently acquired by the British Library from the Nevill family.
Byrd dedicated some of the pieces to Lady Nevell. He also included sets of variations on the popular tunes 'Sellinger's Round' and 'All in a Garden Green', some fine pavans and galliards and 'The Battell' - a depiction in music of a battle between the English and the Irish.
Nicolas Bell, Curator of Music Manuscripts at the British Library, said:
"For anyone discovering or re-visiting Handel's most famous work in 2009 - the 250th anniversary of Handel's death - this will provide a fascinating insight into his working methods. It's also very exciting to be able to share with a worldwide audience My Ladye Nevells Booke, which is not only one of the most important music manuscripts to have survived from Elizabethan England, but also one of the most beautiful music manuscripts from any period."
The original manuscripts of Messiah and My Ladye Nevells Booke can be seen on display in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library at St Pancras.
Event On 14 December, the British Library and British Museum Singers will perform part one of Messiah at a free lunchtime concert 1- 2pm in the entrance hall of the British Library, to celebrate the launch of the original manuscript of Handel's Messiah on the British Library's Turning the Pages and to mark Handel's anniversary year. The audience will be invited to joininwith the much-loved Hallelujah chorus.
Free, no booking required. For more information please visit: www.bl.uk/whatson.
For more information please contact: Julie Yau, Arts Press Officer, British Library +44[0]20 7412 7237 julie.yau@bl.uk
Notes to editors My Ladye Nevells Booke was accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the British Library in April 2006, with additional funding from donors, including the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Art Fund, Friends of the British Library, Friends of the National Libraries, the Golsoncott Foundation and a great many members of the public who contributed through the British Library Support programme and a special collection box.
The British Library would like to thank The Andor Charitable Trust for their generous funding of Handel's Messiah Turning the Pages.
Turning the Pages™ is an interactive program which gives gallery and website visitors access to our most precious books and manuscripts while keeping the originals safe. Features include expert commentary in both text and audio, and a highly detailed page magnification tool. Turning the Pages™ is developed in partnership with Armadillo Systems, a media communications agency based in London.
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world-class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. www.bl.uk
The Sir John Ritblat Gallery in the British Library's St Pancras building hosts a permanent display of our greatest treasures, drawn from the many millions of items in our collections. See over 200 beautiful and fascinating items: sacred texts from many faiths, maps and views, early printing, literary, historical, scientific and musical works from over the centuries and around the world. Discover some of the world's most exciting and significant books, from Magna Carta and the Gutenberg Bible, to Handel and the Beatles. Marvel at the genius behind the Leonardo notebooks, and see the earliest versions of some of the greatest works of English literature, including Alice's Adventures Under Ground and Shakespeare's First Folio.
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