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Ancient Roman music revived in Harborough
Posted on 26/02/2010
Community Services
A musical exhibition is set to whisk Harborough Museum visitors back over 2,000 years to the time of the Romans.
A group called Praecones Britanniae will demonstrate the incredible variety and volume of instruments and bring Roman Britain back to life at the event on Saturday, 27th February.
Members ‘Valeria Fortunata’ and ‘Linus Superbus’ will be playing the ‘cornu’, a large circular war horn and the ‘utriculus’, a type of bagpipe and others to recreate sounds that haven’t been heard for centuries.
Visitors will also be encouraged to try the percussion instruments for themselves during the free demonstrations from 11.00am to 1.00pm and 2.00pm until 4.00pm.
Returning from London where they performed at the arena site where gladiators once fought, Praecones Britanniae which translates as ‘Heralds of the British Province’, will be demonstrating a whole host of Roman instruments.
The Romans liked to accompany gladiatorial combat, ceremonial processions and festive occasions with plenty of loud music.
David Sprason, County Council Cabinet Member for Adults and Communities, said: "Roman instruments appear and sound quite alien to our ears and with two experts on hand to explain and play them, this should be a fascinating event."
The demonstrations take place within the displays of the Hallaton Treasure, an Iron Age hoard buried on a hilltop in Hallaton at the time of the Roman conquest of Britain. The displays exhibit many of the 5,000 silver and gold coins that were excavated as well as pig bones and mysterious silver objects from this incredible site described by the British Museum as a find of ‘national significance’. An ornate Roman cavalry officer’s helmet, will go on display at the museum later this year, after conservation at the British Museum is completed.
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For more information, please visit www.leics.gov.uk/HarboroughMuseum
- www.facebook.com/HarboroughMuseum
- http://twitter.com/LeicsMuseums
- http://leicestershiremuseums.wordpress.com
To contact Harborough Museum, please phone 01858 821085 or email harboroughmuseum@leics.gov.uk.
Harborough Museum is operated in partnership by Leicestershire County Council, Harborough District Council and the Market Harborough Historical Society.
Notes:
The Southeast Leicestershire Treasure is the archive of material produced by several stages of archaeological work undertaken by local community archaeologists and University of Leicester Archaeological Services. The site proved to be an internationally important ritual site dating mostly to the generations before and after the Roman Conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD.
The purpose of the project is purchase, conserve, interpret and promote the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure. The cost of the project is £933,872 which includes purchasing the finds, conserving the finds, displays at Harborough Museum and at Hallaton Museum, two touring exhibitions, web based resources, workshops for schools and community groups, and events for the public.
The project is supported by grants from The Heritage Lottery Fund of £650,600, £100,000 from The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity, £35,000 from the Museums and Art Galleries Improvements Fund, £35,000 from the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, The Headley Trust, Renaissance East Midlands and local contributions from the Friends of Leicester and Leicestershire Museums, the Leicestershire Museums Archaeological Fieldwork Group and the County Council, as well as private individuals. The support of Harborough District Council is also gratefully acknowledged.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy. Since its conception, HLF has supported 26,000 projects allocating over £4 billion across the UK.
The Art Fund is the UK’s leading independent art charity. It offers grants to help UK museums and galleries enrich their collections; campaigns on behalf of museums and their visitors; and promotes the enjoyment of art. It is entirely funded from public donations and has 80,000 members. Since 1903 the charity has helped museums and galleries all over the UK secure 860,000 works of art for their collections. Recent achievements include: helping secure Titian’s Diana and Actaeon for the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery, London in February 2009 with a grant of £1 million; helping secure Anthony d’Offay’s collection, ARTIST ROOMS, for Tate and National Galleries of Scotland in February 2008 with a grant of £1million; and running the ‘Buy a Brushstroke’ public appeal which raised over £550,000 to keep Turner’s Blue Rigi watercolour in the UK. For more information contact the Press Office on 020 7225 4888 or visit www.artfund.org .
The Art Fund is a Registered Charity No. 209174
The MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund is a government fund, established at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in 1881 as part of its nationwide work. The annual grants budget, currently £900,000, is provided by the Museums, Libraries, Archives Council (MLA). The Fund supports the acquisition of objects relating to the arts, literature, and history by regional museums, record offices and specialist libraries in England and Wales. Each year it considers some 250 applications and awards grants to around100 organisations, enabling acquisitions of over £4million to go ahead.
Visit the website at www.vam.ac.uk/purchasegrantfund
The Headley Museums Archaeological Acquisition Fund has been established by the Headley Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Its trustees realise the great difficulties many regional and local museums find in raising the money to buy archaeological artefacts. They are also aware of the proliferation of finds as a consequence of the success of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The Headley initiative is intended to help museums secure and display notable finds. The Headley Scheme runs alongside and in collaboration with the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund. Visit the website at www.headley-archaeology.org.uk
For more information about Harborough Museum and the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure Project, please contact Helen Sharp, Project Officer, at Harborough Museum, on 01858 821087 or email helen.sharp@leics.gov.uk, or Frank Hargrave, Temporary Keeper of Harborough Museum, also on 01858 821087 or email frank.hargrave@leics.gov.uk