By Frankie Perry, UOSH Cataloguer and Jonathan Summers, Curator of Classical Music When I acquired the collection of African American singer and poet Cullen Maiden in 2015 I wrote a blog about him which you can read here. Since then, the British Library sound archive has digitised a large number…

This week’s post comes from Jonathan Summers, Curator, Classical Music Recordings. I was looking for something by which to celebrate the 150th anniversary this month of the birth of one of England’s greatest symphonic composers of the twentieth century, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). His nine symphonies span more than fifty…

This week’s post comes from Cheryl Tipp, Wildlife and Environmental Sounds Curator. Above: Photo of a Spotted Hyaena by DJM Photos. From Flickr. Although it may sound like it, the Spotted Hyaenas in this recording are not suffering from a fit of the giggles. Their laughter-like calls actually express feelings…

Philip Fowke (photo © Jonathan Summers) By Jonathan Summers, Curator of Classical Music One of our great British pianists, Philip Fowke performed and broadcast on BBC radio and television from the late 1970s for more than two decades. He also made studio recordings for EMI, CRD, Naxos, Chandos, Dutton and…

This week’s selection comes from Jonnie Robinson, Lead Curator of Spoken English. Chatting today to our local fishmonger (Grimsby born and bred) I was reminded of a wonderful expression, back of Doig’s, submitted by a contributor from Grimsby (b.1939) to the Library’s Evolving English WordBank. Listen to a contribution on…