The Jerwood Library recently received a very generous donation of manuscript scores for three piano works by the composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor (1903-1998). Coleridge-Taylor, daughter of renowned Black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), was an established composer, conductor and pianist in her time. She composed many works for solo piano and a number of her manuscripts are available in other libraries. Since Avril Coleridge-Taylor was an alumna of then Trinity College of Music, we are very excited to receive this donation and have a chance to explore some of her manuscripts.
The three works appear to form part of a set and two have titles with numbers attached: “All Lovely Things” has been assigned a “I” and “The Garden Pool” a “III”. All three manuscripts have a dedication “To Ronnie”, who we understand was a friend of the donor and the composer.
“The Garden Pool” by Avril Coleridge-Taylor, bars 1-6
The caption title for “The Garden Pool” includes a struck through title for another composition “The Remembering Garden”. A closer look at the manuscript shows only one complete work so perhaps both titles were considered as a pair and the latter work was either not composed, discarded or used elsewhere; we don’t know but it is interesting to consider.
The manuscript for “All Lovely Things” is prefaced with an excerpt featuring the same words from the poem “Tiare Tahiti” by Rupert Brooke, which likely served as an inspiration for the work.
“All Lovely Things” by Avril-Coleridge, bars 1-4
It would be tempting to assume that the third work, which is untitled and has no assigned number, represents the second piece in a three part set; however, the first few bars of this work have almost the exact same notation as “All Lovely Things”, albeit with different tempo and expression markings:
Untitled work by Avril Coleridge-Taylor, bars 1-4
From bar 5 onwards, the two compositions diverge somewhat in their development of the opening material, so perhaps we are witnessing the compositional process in action here! Both works appear to be fully formed and it would be interesting to compare these versions with another held at the Royal College of Music library.
More resources on Avril Coleridge-Taylor
Click here to read a short Grove Music Online article on the composer, or here for the Wikipedia entry. We also hold a copy of her book on her father Samuel, which can be borrowed from the library.
Some of the study skills books on display outside the library.
We have a new exhibition in the library foyer showcasing some of the library’s study skills and wellbeing resources, including books on academic writing, research, and critical thinking, and mental health, stress at university, and critical pedagogy.
In this blog post, I thought it would be good to take a quick look at how study skills and wellbeing interact, and how spending some time thinking about study skills might help to benefit your wellbeing while at university.
What is wellbeing?
There are lots of definitions of wellbeing out there, taking different angles on the concept, but often the best definitions when we’re thinking about our own wellbeing are those that resonate with us, and allow us to reflect our own wellbeing to take positive action. One model of wellbeing I find particularly useful was presented in a paper by Dodge et al.:
Dodge et al.’s definition of wellbeing. From Dodge, R., Daly, A., Huyton, J., & Sanders, L. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3), 222-235. doi:10.5502/ijw.v2i3.4
This model might be a little confusing at first sight, but essentially it demonstrates how it’s not just the challenges we face that disrupt wellbeing, but how we balance those challenges with the resources available to us. This model allows us to think ‘What are the wellbeing challenges I am facing, and do I have the resources to meet them? How can I build up those resources?’
Other models of wellbeing help us to break our wellbeing down into different spheres to make it easier to explore. In Dodge et al.’s model the authors talk about psychological, social, and physical challenges and resources, but others divide them into alternative frames, or with more granularity. One famous model by Hettler divides wellbeing into six different factors: occupational, emotional, physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual:
Focussing in on one of these areas, ‘intellectual’ wellbeing, which we might reframe in a university context as ‘academic wellbeing’, we can think a little about what the challenges are to our wellbeing in an academic context, and, further, what resources we have that can match those academic challenges.
An example: a presentation due tomorrow!
To put it in more practical terms, let’s imagine a scenario. You might have been introduced to a new concept, let’s say ethnomusicology, and given the basics in a class. The concept is hard to get your head around, but you have been asked to give a short presentation summarising they key points tomorrow!
This might be a big challenge, which you can imagine taking a significant amount of time to research, to try to understand complex sources on the topic, and to put your ideas into words. If it takes you ten hours, you’re up all night, and you feel you aren’t happy with what you present the next day – this might not be the best for your wellbeing.
Study skills are there to be the resources to help you meet the challenge, which can keep your wellbeing in balance (thinking back to Dodge et al.). Study skills might help you to:
Take effective notes in class so you can remember what you were taught, and don’t have to research those basics again
Know where to find sources on the topic, and how to distinguish between introductory sources (which might be better in this context) and detailed ones (which will be harder to read and have too much information), so you don’t waste time and energy
Read sources quickly and extract the useful information; saving you time and stress
Use skills like cognitive mapping to understand the ideas more quickly and visually, helping to get over the hump of feeling like you just don’t get the concept
And do many more things to make the process easier!
It’s important to remember here that study skills aren’t just about getting a higher mark in your papers. They will probably help with that, but it’s sometimes more productive to see them as a way to build up your resources to balance the academic wellbeing challenges you face. If learning how to skim and scan readings allows you to get the same grade with half the stress, that can only be a good thing!
Thinking critically about models of wellbeing
These models present quite a limited and simplified perspective of wellbeing. There are lots of other things to be aware of, and the most important think is to find a perspective on wellbeing that helps you personally to thrive at university.
Here I want to just poke a few holes in the models I’ve presented above in the form of critical questions.
Does the see-saw in Dodge et al.’s model imply that too many resources and not enough challenges affects your wellbeing? The authors don’t really address this point. Possible explanations could be that it is hard to build up resources without challenges to meet, but at the same time it’s important to remember that all models are simplifications to some degree.
Are Hettler’s six dimensions the right ones? Some may resonate with you as an individual, and some may not; other authors have come up with different lists of dimensions. Perhaps it is worth coming up with your own list to break down what factors are important in your own wellbeing? These dimensions especially might not be generalisable to all cultures, having been put forward by an American scholar.
I’ve reframed Hettler’s ‘intellectual’ wellbeing as ‘academic’; is that appropriate? Is it adjusting the model too far? I find it useful, but would Hettler agree?
Is it just about increasing resources, or should we focus on reducing challenges too? Many wellbeing intervention focus on increasing the resources available or altering responses to challenges, rather than addressing the challenges themselves. This is a big question.
Wellbeing and study skills resources
If you’re at all concerned about your own wellbeing or finding things hard, do reach out to Student Services who can help, and consider downloading Headspace, recommended by Student Services. They can also point you towards the Student Counselling service if that’s something that might help.
We have several books on wellbeing at university and study skills in the library, some of which are on display in our exhibition, all of which you’re welcome to borrow – just ask at the issue desk if the book is in a display cabinet and we can get it out for you!
If you’d like one-on-one help with study and research skills do let the us know and we’d be happy to arrange a meeting with a librarian!
We’d also love to hear your suggestions of any resources that have helped you with study skills and wellbeing and/or that you might like the library to buy. Either fill in our book request form, send us an email (see below), or ask Student Services to send us suggestions if you want to stay anonymous.
The Jerwood Library is fortunate to hold among our special collections the personal music library of renowned guitarist Julian Bream. Previously, we only had available online a hand-list covering selected items from the collection but now, we are pleased to announce that the whole collection has been catalogued and is fully incorporated into our online catalogue: Jerwood Library Search.
When using JL Search, you can narrow down your result results to include items from the Julian Bream collection only using the “Source” filter:
The collection is held in closed access, but specific items of interest can be retrieved by library staff. Viewing special collection items in person is possible during library opening hours, but please make an appointment via jlpa@trinitylaban.ac.uk.
We also have a selection of items from the collection currently on display in the Jerwood Library foyer – for a limited time only! Do pop up to the library to see them if you are at King Charles Court during the next week. Included are some transcriptions of music by Bream, scores with his annotations, and a couple of pieces with dedications to Bream, so there is plenty to look at for guitarists and non-guitarists alike!
You can read more about the Julian Bream collection, as well as Bream himself and his legacy in a previous blog post, written to accompany a previous exhibition of items from this wonderful collection.
Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts blog 
