On my way to work I walk near Providence Music, which has been open in St. George’s Rd for the last few years. It currently has a 25% sale on all stock, sadly because it is closing down. I used it a number of times and found it well stocked (better on sheet music than CDs) and with knowledgeable staff. I suppose we must hope that the Music Room across the road does something to fill the gap; at least last time I went there it was in the process of expanding its choral music stock. It is a shame that there was not enough custom for Providence Music, especially as there are several musical instrument repairers and dealers in the streets nearby.
This is a rather common and depressing pattern. Bath lost its music shop, although it has since gained a rather smaller replacement. Oxford used to have three when I first started visiting, but is now down to one, which has again moved to smaller premises than it used to have. It is easy to blame the internet for this trend, but I think an age of steep business rates has something to answer for too. Some of the shops I remember (I don’t include Providence Music here) were not very well run and got away with it for a long time, until running costs got too high.
So I bought Lionel Pike’s Novello Tudor anthem collection, which nicely complements the Oxford Tudor Anthem Book, though O clap your hands by Gibbons and Weelkes’ Hosanna to the Son of David appear in both. And a recording of I Vespri Siciliani.
[August 2013: further sad news – around the time the Providence Music finally shut its doors, I learned of the demise of Brian Jordan’s shop in Cambridge. And Blackwell’s Music in Oxford has moved into the main Blackwell’s shop, though I have it on good authority that the shelf space for sheet music remains the same; once again, high business rates are the main reason.]
[September 2013: All the best to Bristol’s new music shop, Op. 13. Just to show how these things go round and round, it has taken over a lot of Brian Jordan’s old stock. I’ll be visiting soon.]
Yes, it’s a great shame to see this splendid, and privately owned, shop close. A brave venture when it opened. Other long established stores had already gone to the great music store in the sky . Anyone remember Browns, Duck Son and Pinker…. ?
It is appalling that Bristol , a supposed European Capital of Culture (I have my doubts), with a Premier league University music department and a city with a high level of amateur and professional activity cannot sustain a decent music shop. True, the Music Room (part of a chain owned by music publishers) isn’t bad, but their emphasis is on the more profitable ‘Pop’ market , and our only locally born and bred, store , Mickelburghs, seems to be an endangered species.
Support your local traders now !
By the way , it seems a former Providence staff member is hoping to open a new shop, but probably less expensive than Park St.
See newmusicshop@hotmail.com
(I have no connection with any of these businesses)
I don’t remember Browns, but used Duck Son and Pinker in Bath. Whether you could easily buy or order church music there depended on who was serving you; some staff there regarded this important market as unworthy of their attention. I think DS &P also lost income when they stopped renting rooms on their premises to music teachers, using them instead to store ukeleles (huge numbers of these were auctioned off in the final sale of contents). It wasn’t hugely surprising when it went under and in fact it turned out that it had been losing money hand over fist for years!
Very sad to hear that Providence has closed but not surprised, as we’re losing so many classical and independent outlets. (I used to head for it before birthdays and Christmas and found the staff so helpful – I really enjoyed just browsing and making discoveries!)We have recently lost our local bookshop which once sold Naxos CDs, and before that Rayner’s Classical Discs in Park St. I don’t know anywhere local or convenient to go now.
Bristol Classical Discs was another very good shop that disappeared, in 2002. A bit early for it to have been killed off by the internet. It was very good for 20th-century and choral music.
Bristol is SOOOOOO lucky in that it has Opus 13 as well as Musicroom and Mickleburghs. We in Birmingham, the nation’s Second City have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING apart from a rock-orientated guitar shop. I frequently have to travel to Stratford, Warwick and sometimes as far afield as Bristol to buy classical related bits and bobs! So spare a thought for us impoverished Brummies!
What happened to Vincent’s?
If you’ll forgive the blatant self promotion and want to visit a lovely, large, traditional, independent, family run music department store, have a day trip to Manchester and come and visit us at Forsyth Bros! We’re still going strong and have been since 1857.
Our website is http://www.forsyths.co.uk – do take a look.
Yes, I used to live in Manchester and remember Forsyth’s. It was one of the places I used to go and scan for information about chamber choirs (of which there were very few in Manchester in those days).