Hear it Live!

Join us to hear performances and talks based on the variety and diversity of our musical instrument collection.

9 April

Marcia Hadjimarkos

Distinguished early keyboard player, Marcia Hadjimarkos, presents a programme of music appropriate to the Horniman’s 1777 English square piano.

14 May

Taro Takeuchi

Distinguished early guitar specialist, Taro Takeuchi, will play music on 18th-century guitars from Spain and England.

The guitar was, as it remains today, one of the most popular instruments in Britain during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was enjoyed by all echelons of society, from kings and royalty to street musicians. Both the gut strung Spanish guitar and the 18th-century metal-strung English guitar (guittar) became very fashionable, and numerous musical collections were published for them. Early guitar specialist Taro Takeuchi (a member of The Cambridge Consortium for Guitar Research) will talk about and play Spanish and English guitars, both made in the 18th century.

 

 

 

About Hear it Live!

Hear it Live! often includes performances on our four historical keyboard instruments, three of which, from the former Finchcocks Musical Museum, were restored to playing condition thanks to National Lottery funding.

The instruments are:

  • A rare surviving example of a signed Neapolitan virginals by Onofrio Guarracino, 1668;
  • A beautifully-preserved square piano by Adam Beyer, London, 1777;
  •  A 1772 Kirckman harpsichord; and
  • A handsome English chamber organ, possibly by Joseph Beloudy, London, c.1800.

Find details of previous performances you can still watch below.

Watch one of the previous performances


The Hear It Live! recordings were made possible through the generosity of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.