| Description | The Rodger Mirrey Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments, housed in St Cecilia's Hall, is an outstanding collection in it field. It comprises 23 instruments. Rodger Mirrey, whose family has Scottish connections, was born in County Durham, and in his schooldays he heard Wanda Landowska playing the harpsichord and an Arnold Dolmetsch clavichord. He started his collection in the 1950s with square pianos. From 1958 he widened the scope of his collection to include harpsichords, clavichords and fortepianos. Later he disposed of the square pianos to make way for these more precious instruments, although his most recent purchase (1980) was an early Zumpe and Buntebart square piano. While resident in Surrey, Rodger and Lynne Mirrey received many visitors to their home and to see and play the instruments, including well-known scholars and players such as Thurston Dart, Gustav Leonhardt, George Malcolm, Peter Williams and Denzil Wraight. The instruments that form the Rodger Mirrey Collection come from most of the major instrument-making traditions. |
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