The Rudolf Kempe Society In support of young musicians · 1980–2021

The Muses

A photo tour of The Muses at 58 Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon – the house, the Kempe Studio and the garden where the Society's concerts were given.

The garden of The Muses seen from above, a winding stone path through the lawn towards the house and the rooftops of Stratford-upon-Avon

The Muses at 58 Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon, was the home of the Rudolf Kempe Society in Britain. It stands between the theatres of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the park by the River Avon, a few minutes' walk from the heart of Shakespeare's town.

The house held three things that defined the Society's work: the Kempe Studio, where its Songs of Apollo, recitals, master classes and screenings were given; Rudolf Kempe's archive of scores and recordings, which came here from Munich in 2008; and the garden, where concerts were held in summer and where Rudolf Kempe was laid to rest.

A concert at The Muses

Audiences remember the intimacy of the place: a programme board at the foot of the front steps, a hall hung with pictures, a full studio lit by lamps with the performers only a few feet away, and – British summers permitting – an interval in the garden. Dame Judi Dench, the Society's Patron, spoke of "the uniquely congenial atmosphere of the Kempe Studio at The Muses".

Many of the events recorded in the events archive took place here. The photographs below show the house, the studio and the garden.

The front door on Waterside opened onto a long hall hung with pictures, a hallway full of Boydell's Shakespeare illustrations and engravings, and the drawing room, where concert-goers gathered before and after performances.

  • Stone steps between clipped hedges leading up to the front door of The Muses, a programme board at the foot of the steps

    The front door on Waterside, with the programme board at the foot of the steps

  • A long hall with framed pictures on white walls, a grandfather clock at the far end and a basket of newspapers by the stairs

    The hall

  • A lamp on a mahogany side table beneath a framed print, beside a grandfather clock, in the hall

    The hall, with the grandfather clock

  • A long, bright hallway lined with large framed engravings, their glass reflecting the lamps and house plants

    The hallway full of Boydell's Shakespeare Illustrations and Engravings

  • A drawing room with a grand piano by tall leaded windows, white armchairs and a large house plant

    The drawing room, with its grand piano

  • White sofas with red cushions around a glass coffee table, lit by lamps, with pictures on the walls

    The drawing room

  • A window seat with cushions and bookshelves in a sunny room looking out towards the River Avon

    A window seat overlooking the River Avon

  • A glazed garden room with plants, an armchair and French doors opening into a further room

    The garden room and its French doors

The studio, lined with books, pictures and instruments, was where Songs of Apollo, recitals, master classes and screenings from the Kempe Archive took place – with the audience close enough to see every bow stroke.

  • The Kempe Studio empty before a concert, a piano on one side and wide windows opening onto the garden

    The studio, opening onto the garden

  • A full audience in the lamplit Kempe Studio, the performers seated at the far end among the bookshelves

    A full house in the Kempe Studio

  • A string quartet playing in the darkened studio, seen over the heads of the audience

    A string quartet in the studio

  • A red-lidded harpsichord and music stands set out in the studio for a baroque concert

    Set for a baroque concert

  • Musicians with a harpsichord and violins performing to a packed audience in the studio

    A baroque concert in the studio

The terraced garden lay just at the rear of The Muses. In summer it became a second concert room; it is also where Rudolf Kempe was laid to rest in 2008.

  • A sunlit lawn edged with shrubs, conifers and a trellis, flowers in bloom along the border

    The lawn

  • Curving stone steps between pots and beds of bright flowers

    Steps through the flower beds

  • A paved stone terrace with low stools, steps and planting around a small courtyard

    The stone terrace

  • White parasols over a garden terrace with a bench, planters and paving

    The terrace under its parasols

  • A tree trunk and flower beds in the foreground and a pale upright stone among the plants beyond

    A quiet corner of the garden

  • An audience on garden chairs listening to musicians playing at the far end of the garden

    A garden concert

  • Guests in the garden, some standing on the lawn in dark suits, others seated beneath the trees

    A gathering in the garden

  • Guests talking in the garden by the glass front of the studio during an interval

    Friends of the Society in the garden during an interval