A reconstruction of an original Tudor fiddle found aboard Henry VIII’s flagship The Mary Rose will go on display to the public for the first time at a fascinating new exhibition in Aberdeen.
Fiddles High and Low will investigate fiddles and related instruments, from the high-pitched sopranino violin to low-pitched cellos, and from high status classical violins to lower status traditional fiddle music.
The exhibition, at the University’s Marischal Museum, has been organised by Neil Curtis, Curator of Marischal Museum and Mary Anne Alburger, a Research Fellow at the Elphinstone Institute. It will open on Friday, July 6, and will run until Friday, September 28.
Mr Curtis said the exhibition promises to provide an exciting snapshot of society from the 1500s to the present day in the North-east and beyond.
“We have some fascinating instruments on show at the exhibition, many of them with their own intriguing histories,” he said.
“We chose the theme of high and low because we thought it important to query what exactly is meant by ‘high and low’. For example, traditional fiddle music has always been regarded as being at the lower end of the class scale, but we want to challenge that by showing how it is just as enjoyable and enduring as classical music.”
Paul Wilson, a London-based instrument maker, made the replica Tudor violin this year. After the ship sank in front of Henry VIII at Portsmouth in 1545, it lay on its side, preserved under mud, for over 400 years until it was raised in 1982. Among the artefacts retrieved was the remains of an original Tudor fiddle, a playable replica of which has been made. This will be the first time it has ever been seen in public.
Other exhibits include a violin belonging to William Marshall, a servant of the Duke of Gordon, whose compositions are still played regularly to this day by popular artists, and a cello which belonged to James Beattie, Professor of Moral Philosophy at Marischal College from 1760 -1790, and which is the oldest British-made cello in its original condition.
There are also examples of foreign instruments, including an Icelandic fiddle called a Langspil, and a Hardanger fele from Norway.
Further information from Neil Curtis, Curator of the Marischal Museum, on (01224) 274301.
Issued by Public Relations Office, External Relations, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen. Tel: 01224 272014 Fax: 01224 272086.
Further Information:
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.