Excerpts from a selection from the British Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings, which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds: http://sounds.bl.uk/

British Library sounds sampler

Sir John Conant recounts the beginning of his farming career in Rutland in 1949, including the importance of his wife Periwinkle. 
 
Interview with John Conant in 2019, An oral history of farming, land management and conservation in post-war Britain 
 
C1828/10, Track 1 [00:28:21-01:10:24] 
 
Copyright: The British Library Board 

https://www.bl.uk/projects/national-life-stories-oral-history-of-farming

Sir John Conant Recounts The Beginning Of His Farming Career In Rutland

Typical song of a Screaming Piha (Lipaugus vociferans; family Cotingidae), the bird perched about 20m in tree sub-canopy in prime Amazon rainforest. I was standing beneath the bird: at that distance, its song was painfully loud.
Recorded 1985 by Richard Ranft in the Tambopata Reserve, Madre de Dios, Peru.

Full-length recording from BL Sounds: http://sounds.bl.uk/Environment/Listen-to-Nature/022M-LISTNAT00288-0001V0

Screaming Piha (Lipaugus vociferans)

"Auld Lang Syne" – a Scots poem interpreted and partially re-written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the melody of Roud Folk Song #6294 – as sung in 1989, recorded on an Edison wax cylinder phonograph. This is the earliest known recording of this famous song. 

The occasion was not a New Year, but a farewell gathering for Sidney Ray held on 15th February 1898. Ray would shortly depart as a member of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait, the pioneering excursion organised by Charles Cort Haddon.

Full recording (2 minutes)
http://sounds.bl.uk/World-and-traditional-music/Ethnographic-wax-cylinders/025M-C0080X1485XX-0100V0

Ray, Haddon, and the other members of the expedition (William McDougall, C.S Myers, W.H.R Rivers, C.G Seligman, and Anthony Wilkin) would spend over a year conducting fieldwork in the islands of the Torres Strait. They would return with 100 wax cylinder recordings of the songs of the inhabitants of the islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea. This rendition of Auld Lang Syne was therefore recorded before setting of, in order to demonstrate the potential of the wax cylinder phonograph in capturing the human voice. Listening over a century later, it is a great privilege to hear through the surface noise the ritual singing of our own islanders.

This recording is from a collection of more than 240 ethnographic wax cylinder recordings (including the Torres Strait cylinders) published on the British Library Sounds website.

You can hear 240 other rare ethnographic cylinder recordings on the British Library Sounds collections at http://sounds.bl.uk/
More information: http://sounds.bl.uk/World-and-traditional-music/Ethnographic-wax-cylinders

Auld Lang Syne recorded in 1898 on wax cylinder

Originally written and recorded as 'Barrett's Privateers' by Stan Rogers

With permission from Fogarty's Cove Records (http://stanrogers.net/)

Performed live and adapted by British Library Writer-in-Residence Rob Sherman and Nick Henderson (http://twitter.com/NickJHenderson) at the British Library, 8th December 2015 

“In the mid-nineteenth century, arguably the brief 'Golden Age' of vernacular organology aboard British ships, Arkwright's Privateers was one of the most popular 'chanteys', or accompanied work-songs, amongst the general maritime population. Though it did encroach upon naval vessels, it was amongst merchant crews and private ventures that it displayed the greatest tenacity; these vessels were often crewed by Midlands men, whose bravery and Romantic fate this song handles. It is also a prime example of the esteem in which sailors from the county of Derbyshire were held, an almost-mythopoeic pedestal from which they have never descended, not even in the present day.

The tune was likely sung on deck to the simple beat of a drum, most often as a 'hand-over-hand chantey', used in the task of setting the jib and other repetitive hauling tasks. The key evidence of this designation is the call-and-response component of each verse's first line, followed by a repeated refrain which keeps a tight rhythm, allowing for methodic application to the task at hand.

Despite its regional appeal, and its reliance on knowledge of mid-English folklore regarding the 'Derbyshire Sailors' and their adventures, versions of it have been recorded by folklorists up and down both littorals of the Atlantic, even as far south as the Antilles.”

Dr. Mark Tollas, from his introduction to 'Hilo, Boys, Hilo: A New History Of The English Ululation'

Learn more about Rob's British Library residency, 'On My Wife's Back' at http://onmywifesback.tumblr.com/ 

Arkwright's Privateers

Where are the current trends in radio and online audio leading? What might radio sound (and look) like on its 2022 centenary? Some leading figures of UK radio come together for a discussion on radio today and tomorrow: Ruth Barnes chairs a panel featuring Matt Deegan (Folder Media/Next Radio conference), Helen Boaden (Director of BBC Radio), Femi Adeyemi (NTS Radio) and journalist/broadcaster Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Rosina Sound & Allanah Chance for the British Library, 16 September 2016.

The Future of Radio

The Copeland-Long restoration of the earliest known recording of computer music, recorded at Alan Turing's Computing Machine Laboratory in Manchester in 1951. Read Copeland and Long's fascinating blog account of the all-night programming session which led to its creation, and Turing's reaction on hearing it the following morning:  http://blogs.bl.uk/sound-and-vision/2016/09/restoring-the-first-recording-of-computer-music.html

First known recording of computer music, 1951

A short stereo excerpt of a longer 8 channel work. This is a sonic investigation into community and gentrification in the London neighbourhood of Walworth. It has traditionally been a working-class neighbourhood with more recent residents coming from all over the world. The area has been subject to several contentious ‘regeneration’ schemes that have already caused the loss of 1100 socially rented homes of the Heygate Estate.

Elephant Endangered Stereo 1

Cataloging

An extract from Yannick Dauby’s ‘Arches’ – an atmospheric sound piece built around his winter 2010 recording of the wolves of Lozère, France. Full-length recording from the Touch Radio collection on BL sounds: http://sounds.bl.uk/Arts-literature-and-performance/Touch-Radio/028M-C1428X0064XX-0100V0

Touch Radio -Yannick Dauby

This recording featuring filmmaker Derek Jarman was made in February 1984 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, in the Mall, London. 

To mark the publication of his book of memoirs 'Dancing Ledge', Jarman joined theatre legend Ken Campbell for a lively on-stage conversation. In this excerpt, Campbell reads a passage from the book and Jarman shares some family reminiscences.  
The full-length recording from The ICA talks collection on British Library sounds: 

http://sounds.bl.uk/Arts-literature-and-performance/ICA-talks/024M-C0095X0085XX-0100V0#_

Derek Jarman and Ken Campbell in conversation

Recorded by ethnomusicologist Rolf Killius in 2001 in a Sora house, Tame Gorjang village, Orissa. 

The musical structure of the performance is interesting: the lead singer begins the song with the second singer following just seconds behind. This results in an 'echo' effect that seems unique to the Sora, though a similar style is used in forms of both North and South Indian classical music where the accompanist (sarangi or violin for example) follows the singer.

The full-length recording from the World and Traditional Music collection is on British Library sounds: 
http://sounds.bl.uk/World-and-traditional-music/Music-from-India/025M-RKDATX0008XX-0100V0

Music from India: Sora ancestor song

One of the last Black Country chainmakers, Lucy Woodall, sings the worksong ‘Chainmaker lad is a masher’ and talks about singing. 

Recorded by Roy Palmer in Old Hill, Dudley, West Midlands, England. There was much iron and coal production in this area of England since the 1600s and chainmaking, centered around towns south of Dudley, was a flourishing business, now defunct. Songs like these are documents of our history and heritage. 

The full-length recording from the Traditional music in England collection is on British Library sounds: 
http://sounds.bl.uk/World-and-traditional-music/Traditional-music-in-England/025M-C1023X0040XX-0100V0#

Chainmaker lad is a masher

This is one of the earliest recordings of chamber music, recorded over 100 years ago, in 1905.  

In this performance of the Minuet and Trio from Beethoven’s Piano Trio in C minor Op. 1 No. 3, both the violinist and cellist were born in the mid 1850s.  In fact, the violinist was born only thirty years after the death of Beethoven.  The sound is remarkable clear for its age.

The full-length recording from the Chamber music collection on British Library sounds: 
http://sounds.bl.uk/Classical-music/Chamber-music/026M-9CS0011622XX-0100V0

Piano trio in C minor op.1 no.3 / Beethoven (1905)

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Auld Lang Syne recorded in 1898 on wax cylinder

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