Bate Collection of Musical Instruments facts for kids

Two clarinettes d'amour in the Bate Collection.

The Bate Collection of Musical Instruments is a special museum in Oxford, England. It holds many old musical instruments. Most of these instruments are used for classical music. You can find instruments from the Middle Ages right up to today.

This amazing collection is part of Oxford University. It is located at the university's Faculty of Music. This is near a famous college called Christ Church.

The museum is open for everyone to visit. If you are a student or researcher, you can also study the instruments. You just need to make an appointment first. The museum often has fun events and special displays.

You can see over a thousand instruments here. They were made by important builders from England, France, and Germany. The collection shows how wind and percussion instruments have changed. You can learn about their musical and mechanical journey over hundreds of years.

The Bate Collection also includes many other important instrument groups. These include the Reginald Morley-Pegge Memorial Collection of Horns. There are also other brass and woodwind instruments. You can also see a full workshop from William C Retford. He was a famous English maker of bows for string instruments.

In 2015, a music album was released. It was called 'Voices From The Past, Vol. 2: Instruments of The Bate Collection'. This album features the sounds of instruments from the collection.

Discovering the Collection's Past

The Bate Collection is named after Philip Bate. He started giving his musical instruments to Oxford University in 1963. He had one main condition for his gift. The instruments had to be used for teaching students. Also, a special expert, called a curator, had to look after them. This curator would also teach about the instruments.

The collection also keeps all of Philip Bate's old papers. These papers help us learn more about the instruments. Today, Dr. Emanuela Vai is in charge of the collection. She makes sure the instruments are cared for. She also leads research and teaches about them.

Many experts have helped care for the Bate Collection over the years. These include Dr. Philip Bate, Dr. Horace Fitzpatrick, and Dr. Jeremy Montagu. They all worked to keep the instruments safe and shared their knowledge.

This old painting of Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) is part of the collection.

More to Explore

• List of music museums
• Museum of Oxford

External Links

• Bate Collection website
• Collection catalog

See also

In Spanish: Colección Bate de instrumentos musicales para niños