Far from targeting specialists only, this newly opened museum has managed to create a dynamic and user-friendly exhibition of old and contemporary instruments. It includes well known instruments but also some less familiar or even bizarre ones. The variety of shapes meets the diversity of tones and colors, which you can appreciate and compare thanks to the numerous available recordings.
You will for instance discover sumptuous inlaid harpsichords, painted with oriental-like motifs, encrusted with shells, mother-of-pearl or ivory. You will be amazed by the diversity of piano shapes designed along the years: grand pianos, square or pyramid pianos, the astonishing Empire-style Giraffe or Lyre pianos, or also the revolutionary quarter-tone or sixth-tone pianos, especially manufactured for the needs of microtonal music in the 20th century. You can compare the clear and silvery tone of spinets or harpsichords to the infinite nuances of pianos, confront the powerful and velvety sound of trumpets to the tinny tone of bagpipes, and discover more or less clear, brass, hissing or crystal clear tones according to the family of instruments you are admiring.
The very contemporary presentation emphasizes the beauty of the exhibited items by playing with light, while at the same time preserving the originality of the building which houses the museum. Its story is full of twists and turns: it was built in the 17th century by the architect Francesco Caratti as a Baroque church, and was converted several times before becoming a museum. It became a post office, an army hospital, a police station and even an archive center. The result is an unusual symbiosis between a Baroque place of worship and its later functional changes, while the most impressive part remains without a doubt the huge and bright central patio.
A delight to the eyes and the ears, as we said earlier…
České muzeum hudby – Czech Museum of Music
Karmelitská 2/4
Prague 1 – Malá Strana
www.nm.cz
How to get there:
Tram 12, 20, 22 – stop “Hellichova”
Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm.
