Robert Hough has been acquiring mechanical musical instruments for over 50 years, and 18 members of the Twinning Circle spent a fascinating October afternoon at his specially built music room at Aeolian Court, Chudleigh being introduced to his extraordinary collection, selecting just a few of his treasures to show us.

The collecting bug began when he was just 12 years old, with the acquisition of a music box, but since then he has built up this museum standard collection of musical boxes, barrel organs, polyphons and pianolas, most of which were manufactured in Switzerland and Germany, with a few British, American and Belgian examples. The heyday of these musical automata was in the 19th and early 20th century and the earliest item he possesses is an elegant “Regency Gothic” barrel organ dating back to Jane Austen’s time – 1810. Most of these items would have been for the rich, this particular barrel organ costing £75 guineas at the time, which was more than three times the annual wages of a domestic servant. We were treated to demonstrations of a wide range of instruments, from a delicate Swiss music box with a singing bird to his most recent piece – an impressive American “Welte” pianola mechanism attached to a concert piano. This had only arrived back the previous day after extensive repairs by a specialist in Germany! Robert signed off his presentation by playing a roll on this instrument from the first years of the 20th Century of a Chopin Scherzo by an American concert pianist. It was as if she was actually there, playing for us. One interesting example of how modern technology is helping these old instruments is that it is now possible to recreate piano rolls and polyphon discs so that the quality is as good as new, since the originals have often suffered from wear and tear or rust.

The cream on the cake was that the walls of the Music Room were adorned with hangings of Devon scenes that have been authenticated as coming from Exeter’s Victorian Theatre Royal. Talking of which the afternoon was rounded with real cream on scones and tea, enabling our group to admire some more musical items in and around the dining room. Everyone agreed that this was a most interesting and worthwhile visit.

John Whitton