I’ve been working with one of my postgraduate students over the summer on a new living digital archive focused around the musical life of Northumbrian fiddler Joseph Hornsby.
Joseph Hornsby is a Northumbrian fiddler with an extensive multimedia archive of traditional Scottish country dance music. The objective of the online archive is not only to house his collection in an easily accessible digital format, but also to provide a narrative of the social life of country dance music through the lens of a practitioner and collector who has performed with some of the most prominent Scottish musicians of the 20th century. The material contained in the archive (including tune manuscripts, set dances, audio recordings, interviews, photographs, and dance programmes) has a fascinating social history as well as great musical value, and is a valuable resource for musicians and scholars alike.
This project is a collaboration between the International Centre for Music Studies and Joseph Hornsby himself. The aim of the project is to make available open-source as much valuable material on Joseph’s musical life and experience for others, in perpetuity.
Project Leaders: Joseph Hornsby & Dr Simon McKerrell
Project Assistant: Mr Niles Krieger
Simon McKerrell 