Vaughan Williams Memorial Library | |
---|---|
![]() Cecil Sharp House in Regent's Park, London, home to the English Folk Dance and Song Society | |
![]() | |
51°32′17″N 0°08′57″W / 51.5381°N 0.1493°W | |
Other information | |
Director | Tiffany Hore[1] |
Website | www |
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) is the library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS), located in the society's London headquarters, Cecil Sharp House.[2] It is a multi-media library comprising books, periodicals, audio-visual materials, photographic images and sound recordings, as well as manuscripts, field notes, transcriptions etc. of a number of collectors of folk music and dance traditions in the British Isles.[3] According to A Dictionary of English Folklore, "... by a gradual process of professionalization the VWML has become the most important concentration of material on traditional song, dance, and music in the country."[4]
Subjects covered include: Folk/traditional/popular song, Child Ballads, Broadside ballads, Industrial/occupational songs, sea songs/shanties, singing games, Nursery rhymes, Street cries, Carols/hymns, Rounds/glees/part songs, Music hall, Ritual/ceremonial dance, Morris dance/sword dance and a great deal more.[3]
VWML regularly features a variety of conferences and events, including Broadside Day, Library Lectures, the Folk Song Conference, and Special Conferences.[5] VWML has also published resources, including the Folk Music Journal.[6][7]