Collection Of Musical Instruments Research Articles

Music-themed museums serve as institutions that preserve musical instruments

The article discusses music museums that collect, preserve, study, and display materials related to the development of music culture. It notes that the main foundation of each music museum's collection is a collection of musical instruments. The article also highlights the active involvement of scientific-research and public centers in the dissemination of music culture experience of music-profile museums and the implementation of music communication. There is information about museums as the Russian National Music Museum, located in Russia's capital city, Moscow, which has one of the oldest and richest collections of museums; music museum situated in the music city (Cité de la Musique) of Paris, France; National Music Museum in Lisbon, Portugal, which boasts a rich collection of academic and folk musical instruments from Portugal and other countries around the world; The Music Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, established through the personal initiative of businessman Robert Ulrich; the Musical Instruments Museum near the Royal College of Music in London houses a collection of over 800 musical instruments and accessories from Europe, Asia, and Africa, dating back to the 15th century; in Yakutsk, Russia, Museum and Center of The Khomus of The People of The World, founded in 1990, preserves around 10,000 museum items. Finally, the Hamamatsu Musical Instruments Museum, established in 1995, stands out as Japan's first and perhaps only museum dedicated solely to musical instruments.

Музыкальные инструменты крымских татар в собрании Бахчисарайского музея-заповедника

The article gives a detailed descripton of the musical instruments of the Crimean Tatars, which are presented in the collection of the Bakhchisarai Museum-Reserve and are interesting for studying musical culture in general. The history of formation of the collection of musical instruments is connected with the creation of the Museum of Turkic-Tatar Culture in Bakhchisarai. In the 1920s and 30s, the staff of the institution collected a large number of antiquities, including musical instruments. In scientific works devoted to the music of the Crimean Tatar people, researchers mainly paid attention to the songs, melodies and partially mentioned traditional instruments. In this work, it is assumed to study the issues of acquisition, cataloging, classification of musical instruments, as well as determining the characteristic features of these items. The research will be relevant for further use in creating expositions, excursion stories, possibly also in recreating folk instruments and playing them.

Sound in time

Sound heritage is a collection of essays that grew out of study days hosted by the AHRC-funded Sound Heritage network, particularly the 2019 symposium held in London as part of the AHRC project Music, Home and Heritage (2017–21). The book sets out to examine how music can be used to create narratives about people and places, and to explore how sound, material and practice can be integrated into curation and interpretation in historic houses. The collection covers a range of historical periods and heritage settings, mainly discussing historic houses—from the National Trust’s the Vyne and Tatton Park, to Leipzig’s Bach Museum, and Mugga Mugga Cottage in Canberra, Australia—but also museums and musical instrument collections. Key themes include the challenges presented by different types of historic house (including musicians’ former homes); musical instruments in the context of wider collections; and musical objects as storytelling components. A major strength of Sound heritage is its discussion of curatorial practices in heritage spaces and museums: every chapter in this book either features a case study or gives a range of examples from heritage and museum settings, from the present day and the past, and there are colour photographs throughout.

Arranging A Gamelan Penting Ensemble Through Exploration and Interpretation Process

An ensemble or commonly reffered to as a set of gamelan or barungan (in Bali) was a collection of musical instruments consisting of various types and forms of musical instruments used to present music. The quantity, shapes, and types of instruments used was depended on the ensemble type. Setting up a gamelan ensemble took a long time. gamelan ensemble could not be formed immediately. The musical instruments in it were arranged through evolutionary changes. The type and number of instruments used had been changed with musical or aesthetic considerations, as well as functional developments, and were carried out with enthusiasm. The factors that support the formation of a gamelan ensemble were the needs of the community, the creativity of the artists, and the dynamics of the community. The formation of a gamelan penting ensemble was a step towards creating an ensemble that was musically dominated by penting instruments. The formation of penting gamelan ensemble was carried out through various processes of exploration and interpretation. The exploration here related to the use of other types of instruments other than penting instrument and the size of penting instrument, while the interpretation was related to musical (aesthetic) considerations embodied by the type and shape of the instrument used. Keywords: Exploration, interpretation, aesthetics, enthusiasm Publication date: September 30 th 2020 DOI: 10.7176/ADS/85-03

Вклад Г. Омаровой в изучение казахского кобызового искусства

The research objective involves a historiographical analysis of contribution of the Kazakh ethnomusicologist, Doctor in Art Criticism Gulzada Omarova to study of the Kazakh kobyz art. Ancient art of the kobyz playing is a poorly investigated field of musicology. Scientific originality of the paper lies in the fact that the researcher for the first time discovers importance of G. Omarova’s works on the Kazakh folk music. The following conclusions are justified: G. Omarova identified the place of the kobyz in the world collection of musical instruments and revealed the essence of the kobyz art as a multi-aspect functional and ideological system.

Uncovering hidden jewels: an investigation of the pictorial layers of an 18th-century Taskin harpsichord

The Peleș National Museum in Sinaia, Romania, includes within its collection of musical instruments a unique harpsichord of the Taskin workshop. The instrument is representative of the eighteenth century French harpsichords, finished in 1772 by Taskin Pascal, a master instrument-maker of his time. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive diagnostic investigation carried out on the exterior decoration of the harpsichord, by means of multiple non-invasive and micro-invasive analytical techniques: multispectral imaging, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and optical microscopy (OM). Imaging investigation highlighted various past interventions and restorations—fillings, consolidation and chromatic reintegration of the paint layer, as well as some interesting details related to the preparatory layer and on the painting technique. Results of the elemental analysis indicated that a rich color palette was used for the luxurious decorations: vermilion for most of the red areas, lead white, a copper-based pigment for the blue and violet hues, along with Prussian blue, chromium oxides for the green tones and possibly emerald green, and iron oxides for the red, yellow and ochre tones. FTIR analysis highlighted the existence of two-layers ground based on the first layer of chalk and animal glue, covered by a second oil-bound layer of lead white. Metal soaps, gypsum, barium sulfate as well as an intermediate sizing layer based on shellac were also identified. Examination of samples’ cross-sections revealed a rich stratigraphy, up to ten layers being highlighted for samples taken from the case sides’ painting. The presence of two gold foils on the gilded areas, one at the top and the other within the intermediate layers, provides clear evidence of later interventions. The corroborated results offer valuable physico-chemical insights on the complex history of this prestigious harpsichord with remarkable aesthetic and historical value, as well as key information for its most suitable restoration approach.

„denn er arbeitet nur zum nutzen der Musique, und nicht seines nutzens wegen allein, sonst würde er gleich fertig sein“ – Die Analyse von handwerklichem Aufwand beim Bau von frühen Hammerflügeln

The collection of musical instruments at the Technisches Museum Wien (TMW) contains a fortepiano dated c. 1782. A number of details point to the builder having been Anton Walter. That said, the action is unique among Walter’s early pianos and its specific characteristics suggest that it is his oldest surviving type of action. Two other early fortepianos – one of them in the possession of W. A. Mozart – were later modified but show signs of having originally had similar actions. The discourse concerning Mozart’s fortepiano in the 1990s assumed that the TMW-fortepiano’s action was the low-grade work of an early 19th-century piano builder. Reconstructing the steps of the building process can help us to classify the details of historical instruments in a new way. In fact, the interaction between capsule and hammer shank in TMW-fortepiano is an excellent technical solution to a musical demand, and the capsule’s handcrafted production is much more complex than it might initially seem. Thus, analysis and reconstruction by hand can give us deep insight into the technical mastery and the inventive spirit of historical piano builders.

Non-invasive wood identification of historical musical bows

We identified the wood of the sticks of eight bows in the historical collection of musical instruments in the Galleria dell’ Accademia in Florence. Wood identification was carried out non-invasively (i.e., without sampling wood from the original objects), because the removal of samples from fine musical instruments will affect their aesthetic integrity and/or functional quality. Identification attempts using reflected light microscopy of wood surfaces, gave only partial results due to the poor quality of the surfaces and the particular geometry of the sticks that does not have any transverse surface. Application of Synchrotron light X-ray microtomography (µCT) in phase-contrast mode to the whole sticks allowed us to obtain stacks of transverse-sectional images that, processed as virtual volumes, revealed several anatomical features. With µCT it was possible to identify three bows as Brosimum guianense (Moraceae), one bow as Caesalpinia echinata (Caesalpiniaceae), and four bows as Manilkara sp. (Sapotaceae).

World Musical Instrument Collection, Department of Ethnomusicology, Herb Alpert School of Music, University of California, Los Angeles

The World Musical Instrument Collection (WMIC) is an outstanding collection of musical instruments from around the globe. Inaugurated in 1958, the collection–now numbering over 800 items–is one of ...

Early early music

The Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, London, holds one of the largest musical instrument collections in the UK, encompassing several thousand instruments. It hosts the Dolmetsch collection and several other historical instrument collections, and was recently further enriched by the permanent loan of keyboard and string instruments from the Victoria and Albert Museum. In recent years, and particularly since the appointment of Mimi Waitzman to the position of deputy-keeper of musical instruments, the Museum has been establishing its position as a centre for diverse activities in early music research, display and performance. Its idyllic surroundings and the proximity of the instruments provided the ideal environment for a three-day conference on 12–14 March 2014 about the early roots of the historically informed performance movement, appropriately entitled Roots of Revival. Pre-conference activities included a tour of the Horniman’s Study Collection Centre in Greenwich, a tour of the Music Gallery in the Museum’s main site, and a book launch event (Networks of music and culture in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, edited by David Smith and Rachelle Taylor), which, in turn, included a concert of keyboard music played by Peter Dirksen, Hank Knox, David Smith and Rachelle Taylor.

Koncertne orgle v Leipzigu

Koncertne dvorane, nujni pogoj za koncertne orgle, so bile po revolucionarnem razvoju v Angliji od poznega 17. stoletja na celini najprej nameščene v Hamburgu (1761) in Leipzigu (1781). Druge primere najdemo v zbirki instrumentov Univerze in Akademije za glasbo s številnimi koncertnimi orglami.

La scheda unica di catalogazione per lo strumento musicale: uno strumento fondamentale per la tutela del patrimonio organologico

The decision to open Turin’s “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory collection of musical instruments to the general public has highlighted the need to make a suitable musical instruments inventory, based on scientific standards, and to provide better security for instruments management. Accordingly, an inventory subcategory system has been defined before proceeding with cataloguing, restauration and exposition. The cataloguing system is based on the model developed by the Musical Instruments Department of the Accademia Gallery in Florence, but has been modified to meet the specific needs of the Turin collection. At this time, a catalogue is being printed and a website is under development.

The Collection of Musical Instruments of Sir Nicholas Shackleton

The Collection of Musical Instruments of Sir Nicholas Shackleton

“A Plague to the Learned World”: Pieter Gabry, F.R.S. (1715–1770) and His Use of Natural Philosophy to Gain Prestige and Social Status

On Monday 11 March 1771 a remarkable auction of scientifi c instruments began in the Dutch city of The Hague. A large and “nicely crafted cabinet” of “Physical, Mechanical, Hydraulical, Optical, and Mathematical Instruments and other Rarities” came under the hammer. According to the advertisement, these objects “had been collected with great effort and cost” by the late Mr Pieter Gabry, who in his lifetime had been a lawyer and a member of several learned societies in Europe. A few months earlier, in two other auctions, Gabry’s library of scientifi c books and his collection of musical instruments had been sold. The advertisements published prior to these events stated that Gabry had been an ardent collector of expensive books in the fi elds of Philosophy, Physics, Mathematics, Medicine, Botany and Natural History. Especially remarkable was the large number of astronomical books, including some “very old and rare” editions. Gabry’s “large and expensive collection of musical manuscripts, printed works and musical instruments” was also generously praised.

Inventario y Tasación de los Instrumentos y Papeles de Música, de la Testamentaria del Exmo. Sr. D. Fernando de Silba Albarez de Toledo, Duque que fue de Alba (1777)

El Inventario y la Tasación de la sobresaliente biblioteca musical del duodécimo Duque de Alba y de sus instrumentos musicales de 1777, no sólo muestra al Duque como un conocedor internacional de la música para cuerda sino que además presenta de una manera válida a Madrid como centro de creación de música de cámara por compositores españoles e italianos residentes en España y su interpretación, de forma privada, en las casas de los nobles como el Duque de Alba. Más de mil obras de cámara, que incluyen obras de los compositores más relevantes de Francia, Alemania y Bohemia, Italia y España, junto a una magnífica colección de instrumentos (Stradivarius, obras de Guadagnini, Piatellini, etc.), hacen que Madrid puede ahora ocupar el lugar que le corresponde junto a los otros centros europeos de creación de música de cámara durante el siglo XVIII.

The Preservation of Electronic Musical Instruments

The general impression of Western musical instruments, based on those that participate in the modern symphony orchestra (plus the piano, pipe organ, acoustic guitar and occasionally the saxophone) is that these are completely standardized and interchangeable. This is by no means the case, and never has been. Many instruments (electronic instruments) have been prominent for a time and then became unfashionable and soon forgotten. In this paper, my work as an external consultant on electronic instruments for the Gemeentemuseum in Den Haag (the largest collection of musical instruments in the Netherlands) will be discussed. In particular, various approaches to the collection, display conservation and maintenance of electronic instruments will be described.

People, Objects, Meaning: Recent Work on the Study and Collection of Musical Instruments

People, Objects, Meaning: Recent Work on the Study and Collection of Musical Instruments

1999 Boston Early Music Festival

The tenth Boston Early Music Festival, 'Music of the Mediterranean' (8-13 June) offered so many attractions, truly an embarrassment of riches, that a reviewer could barely keep up with just the concerts and principal events sponsored by the festival itself. To cram such a fortnight's worth of attractions into just six days was a miracle of organization, for all went remarkably smoothly. The centrepiece was another handsomely staged production of an important Baroque opera, five showings of Francesco Cavalli's Ercole amante, premiered in Paris in 1660. (The opera was subsequently presented at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony's beautiful summer home, and also at the Utrecht Festival.) The performances of the opera were complemented by two substantial symposia, one dealing with research and production issues, the other with its importance in the evolution of opera in France. A varied baker's dozen of concerts of music from the Mediterranean lands presented largely unfamiliar fare, much of which came as revelatory indeed. Ten masterclasses by prominent early music performers who participated in the opera and concert performances were also open to festival attendees. A pair of symposia, whimsically entitled 'Brewing your own' and 'The wheat from the chaff, with the participation of leading artists, recording engineers and producers, were dedicated to the making and marketing of compact discs of high quality. The CD has become the calling card and advertisement of early music performers, now that one can be relatively easily and cheaply produced. A symposium on musical instrument collections brought together makers, restorers, curators and conservators for a most enlightening couple of hours. One wished that the topics and issues discussed might have been granted an entire day. Why this symposium should have been listed under 'Trade topics' is puzzling; even more so its mate under this rubric, 'Early music and healing', a discussion of the special therapeutic value claimed for this broad category of repertory in particular. A major component of the Boston Festival is the exhibition, where this year 116 makers of instruments and accessories, recording companies, retailers, early music service organizations, publishers and music dealers displayed their wares and offered their services. As before, 27 of these exhibitors, including all but a few keyboard instrument makers and restorers, were installed in individual conference rooms at the Park Plaza Hotel. The remainder were

Moulding Castings in Musical Instruments: The Approach to the Problem, the Scientific Investigations and the Methodology Used at the Collection of Musical Instruments of the Castello Sforzesco in Milan

Moulding Castings in Musical Instruments: The Approach to the Problem, the Scientific Investigations and the Methodology Used at the Collection of Musical Instruments of the Castello Sforzesco in Milan

Musical instrument collections: a special challenge

Musical instrument collections: a special challenge