From Stationers’ Hall to St Andrews: late Georgian music and ladies of leisure

The Playfair family name can be found in the names of places and buildings around St Andrews, and in the local records of the social and political life of the town. Recent work in the University’s historic Copyright Music Collection has unearthed new evidence of their musical activities in the early 19th century, alongside traces of professorial and student music making. Records show how not only the menfolk of this family but also the young ladies shared an interest in music, and more generally, how women were involved in cataloguing and collating musical material. Discussing some of my findings in an illustrated Music Talk in the Byre Theatre on Wednesday 12th October at 2.30pm, featuring music from one particularly remarkable volume sung by members of the Special Collections Choir.