The V&A has my two favorite lutes--the massively ornate J.H. Goldt baroque lute and the almost as impressive Rauch baroque lute. When ever I am in London I make it a point to see them....sigh..... Sterling
----- Original Message ---- From: Stuart Walsh <s.wa...@ntlworld.com> Cc: "Lute List >" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Tue, December 15, 2009 5:58:23 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: Closure of V&A Instrument Gallery I remember only a few years ago going to the V&A musical instrument section on a Saturday morning and being asked to leave after about 20 minutes. The reason given was that there was no member of staff available. I was at that time obsessing about 18th century cistres - the V&A has a very interesting selection. In fact, I actually got told to leave, albeit politely. I was really surprised that a major museum wouldn't have enough staff (if that was the real reason) to man a section of it on a Saturday. I complained to a few - very sympathetic -members of staff who gave me the impression that they didn't like the situation either. As a general rule, developed over years, I approach museums with musical instruments with circumspection. It's a really impressive bonus if they are actually open and they actually have instruments on display. My default presumption is that they will be closed or the instruments will not be on show. I learned this from Liverpool, years ago: they have instruments but never on display. But going on holiday to other countries is the same: lots of time spent tracking down the location of the museum only to find it closed. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
