This series contains photographs relating to Eric McGavin's career as a tuner at Boosey & Hawkes' factory in Edgware, as a musician and music educator, and as a writer and researcher into instrument manufacture and the history of woodwind instruments. The series contains portrait photographs of 20th century musicians, particularly clarinetists and oboists. Subjects include Gervase de Peyer, Walter Lear, Natalie James, Carl Dolmetsch and Alec Whittaker. The photographs also record instrument manufacturing practices at the Edgware factory including the sourcing of materials, factory mass production techniques and the tuning and testing of finished instruments. Eric McGavin's music lessons with the pupils of Hemel Hempstead Grammar School are also documented and the file includes photographs of individual music pupils and ensembles. Also enclosed are photographs of early to late 20th century wind instruments, principally clarinets, oboes, trumpets, saxophones and bassoons, several of which are held in the Boosey & Hawkes musical instrument collection.
During the initial curation and appraisal of the collection the original curator, Bradley Strauchen, made a series of oral recordings providing contextual information on many of the photographs. Transcripts of her recordings have been added to the relevant item level descriptions in the scope and content fields.
Photographs: Eric McGavin Collection
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Gabriel and Stephen eating corn cobs
Mario. Kebjar 8, 7
Black and white negative of expedition members standing/sitting in shade of trees on banks of river eating lunch
Cows and Egrets. North Ogan.
Collection Information
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