Thanks for the Memories: Delve into the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland archive

Perched high above the city in an old whisky bond in Maryhill, this diverse collection has been relaunched to mark the 170th anniversary of the RCS, which was founded in 1847 at the Glasgow Athenaeum in Buchanan Street.

Unbelievably, as archivist Stuart Harris-Logan explains, this incredible Aladdin’s cave of stage and screen goodies – or the Royal Conservatoire’s Archives and Collections, to give it its Sunday name - didn’t officially exist until he took on the role just over five years ago.

“My first task was to search through the cupboards and drawers to discover what we actually had on the premises,” smiles Stuart. “We have been extremely lucky that staff and alumni have kept so many wonderful, fascinating items.”

The range of instruments, manuscripts, leather-bound ledgers, performance ephemera, photographs and more is breathtaking in its beauty and scope.

Hidden in the unassuming cardboard boxes on row after row of rolling shelves are hundreds of little snippets of Scotland’s musical and theatrical past – including some great Glasgow gems.

There’s the Jimmy Logan archive, gifted to the RCS by his widow, Angela, in 2002, a fantastic collection of personal papers, music, and photographs including the aforementioned panto frock and his Big Red Book, presented to the comedian and actor by Eamonn Andrews on This is Your Life.

There are boxes devoted to Erik Chisholm, the Glasgow pianist often referred to as Scotland’s forgotten composer, and to Frederick Lamond, born in a Dennistoun room and kitchen, who became a celebrated pianist under the tuition of Franz Liszt.

“Chisholm was composing music as young as 14, graduated top of his class,” explains Stuart, who is full of fascinating details about the archive’s characters. “He was great friends with Prokofiev and was responsible for more than 100 pieces of music. He was the first composer to include Scottish music in piano concertos too – he wrote for the bagpipes and piano, for example.”

Stuart adds: “Lamond was born in Dennistoun and though his family had no money, they had an old upright piano in the house, which he turned out to be very good at.

“The local community rallied round and saved up enough money to send him to study piano in Germany, where his tutor was Liszt.”

The archive is also home to an astonishing variety of instruments – more than 800 of them, in fact, from the odd-looking serpent, an early ancestor of the tuba, to ophicleides, keyed bugles and a horn and trombone made by famed musician and instrument designer Adolphe Sax.

There are architectural drawings, Board of Governors’ minute books, from 1847 right up until the present day, paintings, event programmes, performance photographs and even an old blazer and scarf, donated by a student who attended the school of drama in the 1950s. There are even old Evening Times press cuttings, including some of the newspaper’s weekly gossip column dedicated to the comings and goings at the Athenaeum.

One of the archive’s most treasured possessions is Sir Ernest Bullock’s original handwritten score of the National Anthem arranged for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Stuart explains: “Sir Ernest was the Principal of the Scottish National Academy of Music when it gained Royal status. He was the organist at Westminster Cathedral in 1928.

“The manuscripts are incredibly neat and precise, they are wonderful.”

Visits to the archive are by appointment only - call 0141 270 8299 or email archives@rcs.ac.uk.

*Were you a student or member of staff at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama)? Do you have stories and photos from Glasgow’s forgotten theatre past? We would love to hear about them - email ann.fotheringham@heraldandtimes.co.uk.

You can also send us your photographs and stories here.