British Library

October 11, 2015 in England ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

Not only one of the most wonderful things I saw on the trip, but also something I'll always remember and treasure. I wish we would have been allowed to take pictures. On display were original manuscripts written by the composers themselves! There were manuscripts by:
Pursell
Bach (Well Tempered Clavier)
Handel (The entire Messiah. It was open to the last 13 measures of the Halleluia Chorus)
Mozart (his musical diary)
Gluck
Chopin
Beethoven (sketches of ideas)
Puccini (Madame Butterfly score)
Elgar
Debussy
Bartok
Ralph Vaughn Williams
Stravinsky

Most of them were written so sloppily that i couldn't even figure out the notes or values. Some were very legible. Amazing to see!Read more