Author Archives: mj263

About mj263

Music Collections Supervisor at Cambridge University Library. Wide musical interests. Often to be found stuck in a composer's archive, or enthusing about antiquarian music.

One small step…or 50 years ago (almost) today

Posted on 19 July 2019

One of my very earliest memories is sitting underneath the table in our living-room when I was a tiny child. It was the middle of the night, I’m sure I’d never been up so late before. The reason I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Apollo 11, exploration, music, popular music, Space, To celebrate to commemorate | Leave a comment

Inspired by space

Posted on 5 July 2019

July 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing. Here at MusiCB3 we’re celebrating with a mini exhibition of space related music in the Anderson Room, and posts here on the blog. Nearer the anniversary, we’re going to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Shining a light

Posted on 17 May 2019

Saturday sees the return of an annual music festival, which seems to be in equal measure loved or hated, the Eurovision song contest. Eurovision fans have already been watching the semi-finals on BBC Four, and although I’m not quite as … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cambridge, careers in music, Eurovision Song Contest, helpful webpages, mental health, music | 4 Comments

Yes, she can…

Posted on 10 May 2019

Browsing through the Doreen Carwithen Archive the other day, I came across a selection of popular magazines from the mid-’40s-’50s, all of which featured Doreen. As a young woman composing in what was then very largely a man’s world, she … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Doreen Carwithen, exhibitions, Female musicians, film scores, women composers | Leave a comment

Missing in action

Posted on 26 April 2019

It’s not unusual in a library to get questions about “missing” books. Some, sadly, are genuinely missing – in the time I’ve been working here, I have come across such tragedies as books left on trains, stolen book bags (the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged missing items, music at the UL, performance | Leave a comment

And don’t forget to breathe…

Posted on 12 April 2019

Lent term this year has felt like an especially long one, with Easter the latest it’s been since 2014. The fact that it feels even later than usual is probably also because it was relatively early last year, on April … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cambridge university, exams, libraries in Cambridge, relaxation, Revision, wellbeing | Leave a comment

Sepolcro

Posted on 15 March 2019

Last week my colleague, Justin, happened across a musical genre, sepolcro, that no-one in the Music Department here at the UL, had seen before. The timing of this find couldn’t have been more appropriate as it happened to be Shrove … Continue reading →