A new exhibition in the Parker Library  traces an aural journey through Matthew Parker’s library. Listening in the Library offers four ‘soundings’ from the collection, exploring a sample of the diverse ways in which sound – musical sound especially – manifests.   

The exhibition has been curated by Professor Emma Dillon. Formerly a Visiting Scholar at Corpus, she is a Professor of Music at King's College London. Her research focuses on European musical culture from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. Her work ranges widely in terms of repertories, sources, and methodological approach, and broadly speaking falls at the intersection of musicology, sound studies, medieval studies, and the history of material texts. She is the author of Medieval Music-Making and the Roman de Fauvel (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and The Sense of Sound: Musical Meaning in France, 1260-1330 (Oxford University Press in 2012), and numerous articles exploring the place of sound and music in medieval culture.

Donnelly Fellow Librarian Dr Philippa Hoskin said, "We're delighted to host this exhibition. Working with Professor Dillon has been both fascinating and enjoyable. She's enabled us to see the manuscripts and early printed books in a new way, and has shed light on unconsidered aspects of Parker's collection."

To visit the exhibition, please email parker-library@corpus.cam.ac.uk.

You can also read more, download the 'soundings', and see the manuscripts online.