Musica Britannica
Exploring Britain’s cultural heritage in a national collection of music
About
Founded in 1951, Musica Britannica is an ongoing series of scholarly editions, intended as a representative collection of the monuments of British musical culture. The Musica Britannica Trust, which has been a registered charity since 1976, aims to promote, support and develop research into British music. Our primary activity is the publication of scholarly editions, but we also award grants to support new recordings of this repertory and provide opportunities for emerging performers through our annual competition, the Lewis Memorial Prize.
Opening of François Cellier, Captain Billy. British Library, MS Mus. 1824/2/2/1, fol. 2r
Publications
During our first 75 years, over 110 volumes of Musica Britannica have been published. The repertory ranges from Medieval songs, carols and secular polyphony to late-Victorian operettas, and early 20th-century songs and orchestral works.
Award and Competition
We award grants annually to support the production of high-quality recordings of repertory included within the edition.
The Lewis Memorial Prize competition is also held every year for performers of material from the edition, rotating on a triannual basis between singers, keyboard players and consorts.
Close up of 1778 Kirckman harpsichord held at Royal Academy of Music. Reproduced with permission from the Royal Academy of Music.
News
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Lewis Memorial Prize Competition 2026
The final of the Lewis Memorial Prize Competition was held on Thursday 9 April 2026 in the David Josefowitz Recital Hall at the Royal Academy of Music. The judges awarded first prize to Adam Chillingworth (pictured) and second prize to Anhad Arora. Many congratulations to Adam and Anhad and the other finalists, Ceci Keiffer, Paul Mnatsakanov, Li Xu-Zhang and Han Zhao.
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Musica Britannica / Purcell Society Study Day
On 19 May 2026 members of the editorial committees of Musica Britannica and the Purcell Society will host a study day at the British Library – ‘The Critical Editing of Music: Techniques and Challenges’ – marking the societies’ respective 75th and 125th anniversaries in 2026,. The event is free to attend, and is designed primarily for current and potential postgraduate students, early career researchers, and existing editors wishing to improve their skills in scholarly editing. Details of the schedule and how to register can be found here.
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Recital by 2025 Recording Award winners
Caroline Taylor and George Ireland, recipients of a Musica Britannica Recording Award in 2025, will be performing music from their forthcoming recording, Tea for Two: Songs of Spring, on Sunday 15 March 2026, 1.30pm, at St Columba’s Church, SW1X 0BD. Their programme includes songs from Musica Britannica Volume 56 by Liza Lehmann, Arthur Sullivan and Maude Valérie White. More information can be found at: https://www.stcolumbas.org.uk/event/sounds-of-st-columbas-caroline-taylor-soprano-and-george-ireland-piano/.
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2025 Recording Award winners announced
Grants have been awarded to support two recording projects. Caroline Taylor and George Ireland will use music from MB 56 in their recording of Spring songs, and a recording of Restoration court music taken from MB 103 will be made by Martin Perkins and the Musical & Amicable Society (pictured above).
Photo: Martin Perkins