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COLLECTION STORY

Music in the Royal Collection

Many members of the royal family were talented musicians

A group surrounds a harpsichord playing instruments

Explore Music in the Royal Collection

      Throughout the centuries, many members of the royal family have had very personal relationships with music. Often, they were not satisfied to be mere patrons of leading composers and musicians of the day, but were keen musicians themselves.

      Click on a chapter to explore what musical instruments, paintings, drawings, sculptures, furniture, and archival material in the Royal Collection can tell us about music and the monarchy, or view these short films on selected instruments in the Collection:

      See a selection of instruments being played

      A showpiece piece for the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace

      The Erard Piano

      Howard Shelley OBE plays the piano

      Chopin's 'Nocturne in E flat major'

      The Erard Piano at the BBC Proms

      Steven Hough plays the Erard piano at the BBC Proms in 2019

      The organ in Buckingham Palace's Ballroom

      The Lincoln Organ

      Martyn Noble from the Chapel Royal introduces this piece

      An 18th century porcelain flute

      Meissen Flute

      Ashley Solomon explains the unique sound

      One of the earliest surviving harpsichord from the Swiss master-craftsman

      Burkat Shudi Harpsichord

      Laurence Cummings plays this Harpsichord from Kew Palace

      Bequethed to Prince Albert in 1846

      Dragonetti's Basse de Violon

      Chi-chi Nwanoku plays in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace

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      Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707–51)

      Frederick used art and music to establish himself at court

      This painting (unlike Zoffany’s earlier interior portraits of royal children) was evidently conceived as a public conversation piece, immediately engraved by Richard Earlom (1743-1822), published 29 October 1770, and exhibited at the Royal Academy.
      George III (1738–1820) and Queen Charlotte (1744–1818)

      For George III and Queen Charlotte music was of great importance

      George IV in 1821, two years before he turned his attention to refurbishing Windsor. RCIN 405918
      George IV (1762–1830)

      George's love of pomp and ceremony extended to music

      Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and Prince Albert (1819–61)

      Pianos were the main focus of their music-making at home

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      Official Royal Residences

      The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.