CIMCIM CIMCIMThe 2000 annual conference of CIMCIM was held 14þ22 September in Leipzig, Markneukirchen, (Germany) and Prague (Czech Republic). 43 delegates from 18 countries attended the meeting. With the generous support of ICOM-Germany it was possible to invite young professionals from various museums that so far have not been represented at a CIMCIM conference.
The conference started in Leipzig at the "Musikinstrumenten Museum der Universität Leipzig" where two temporary exhibitions were in the focus: one to honour the 250th anniversary of the death of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach and one to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the invention of the piano. Amongst the various attractions were six instruments by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the inventor of the piano. In the middle of the room two precious instruments in cases decorated with chinoiserie: a harpsichord and a fortepiano (both from 1726) beautifully exhibited in the newly renovated hall of the museum. Furthermore the delegates participated in a session for children that took place in the well equipped educational room of the museum. This room is integrated into the exhibition and open to all visitors.
During an excursion to the Händel Haus in Halle the participants were informed about the plans for a new exhibition hall for the musical instrument collection near the premises of the Händel Haus. Visits to the Händel Museum and the conservation workshop were included. The musical instrument collection is displayed in the Marktschlösschen. Included in the exhibition is an educational programme for schools where some of the mysteries of acoustics are explained. A concert in the Marktkirche on an organ by Georg Reichel (1664) completed the visit to Halle.
The conference then travelled to Markneukirchen, Vogtland, situated in the so called "Musikwinkel" (the music corner). The Musikwinkel earned its name because of its long tradition in instrument making: around the turn of the last century about 80% of the world production of musical instruments came from this region. The town is still dominated by musical instrument workshops, and the participants visited several of them. The town also hosts the department for instrument making of the University of Applied Sciences in Zwickau. The students, coming from many countries get both a traditional education tutored by the local craftsmen and scientific lectures using modern technology such as computerised modal analyses. The Acoustic Research Centre in Zwota, which was visited by the delegates, is also involved in the educational programme. The musical instrument museum with its resources of local and international instruments stands for the historical education. This could be seen as a master example of the interaction between museums and craftsmanship.
Therefore it was almost mandatory that the conference paper session addressed the theme "Musical Instrument Collections and musical instrument making þ interaction in history and in the future". Heidrun Eichler, Markneukirchen opened the session with a presentation of the Musical Instrument Museum Markneukirchen with emphasis on the topic. The other contributions were:
Brigitte Bachmann Geiser, Switzerland: Musical Instruments at the Bern Historical Museum Reflecting the Musical Culture of the City and the Canton of Bern.
Frank Bär, Germany: 30 Years After - Towards a New Permanent Exhibition of Musical Instruments in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg.
Bohuslav Cízek, Czech Republic: Musical Instrument Building and the Prague Collection.
Tatyana Fomina, Uzbekistan: The Applied Art Museum of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Alicja Knast, Poland: The Museum of Musical Instruments in Poznan, Poland
Vladimir Koshelev, Russia: Fabrication of Musical Instruments in St. Petersburg in the 18th Century and the Museum of Musical Instruments.
Klaus Martius, Germany: The Oldest Preserved Violas of the Graslitz/Vogtland Violin Making Tradition.
Jesmael Mataga, Zimbabwe: Preservation of African Traditional Instruments: an Interactive Approach.
Klára Radnóti, Hungary: Musical Instrument Collecting and Musical Instrument Making.
Gabriele Rossi-Rognoni, Italy: The Reconstruction of the "Quintetto Mediceo" by Antonio Stradivari (1690).
The post conference tour went to Prague. On the way through Bohemia workshops and schools for instrument making were visited in Graslitz and Luby. In Prague the members of the committee were shown the new housing for the music museum comprising the Music History Archive, the Musical Instruments Division, the Bedrich Smetana Museum and the Antonín Dvorák Museum. It will be situated in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Karmelitská street. The two first divisions will be moved to the new building in the course of 2001. The participants also got the opportunity to visit the marvellous collection of William Lobkowitz at his castle in Nelahozeves.
Further excursions to Zdar and Sazava to see the exhibition "Fortepiano 300", to the Antonin Dvorák Museum and an exhibition about Zdenek Fibich concluded this year's highly successful meeting.
Corinna Weinheimer
Present: Brigitte Bachmann Geiser (Switzerland), Frank P. Bär (Germany), Margaret Birley (UK), Sylvie Douce de la Salle (France), Heidrun Eichler (Germany), Oguz Elbas (Turkey), Martin Elste (Germany), Eszter Fontana (Germany), Tatjana Fomina (Uzbekistan), Birgit Heise (Germany), Hannele Hentula (UK), Cynthia Adams Hoover (USA), Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg (Norway), Alicja Knast (Poland), Vladimir Koshelev (Russia), John Koster (USA), Hélène La Rue (UK), Tom Lerch (Germany), Laurence Libin (USA), Fred Lipsett (Canada), Jesmael Mataga (Zimbabwe), Ken Moore (USA), Arnold Myers (UK), Klara Radnoti (Hungary), Zami Ravid (Israel), Christiane Rieche (Germany), Gabriele Rossi Rognoni (Italy), Marlowe Sigal (USA), Gerhard Stradner (Austria), Bradley Strauchen (UK), Lisbet Torp (Denmark), Ioana Ungureanu (Italy), Corinna Weinheimer (Norway).
1. Welcoming Address
Eszter Fontana, CIMCIM President, welcomed the delegates to the meeting, especially those who could attend for the first time. She thanked Heidrun Eichler, the director of the Musikinstrumenten Markneukirchen and her staff for organising this meeting. She also thanked all the supporters who made it possible for so many new and young delegates to come. Her thanks went to: ICOM Germany, the Saxonian Ministry for Science and Art (Dresden), the Saxonian State Authority for Museum Affairs (Chemnitz), the Office of the District President (Vogtland), the Cultural Centre (Vogtland) and the Municipality of Markneukirchen.
2. Regrets of absence:
Carmelle Bégin (Canada), Jim Fricke (USA), Florence Gétreau (France), Göran Grahn (Sweden), Sumi Gunji (Japan), Friedemann Hellwig (Germany), Rudi Hopfner (Austria), Beryl Kenyon de Pascual (Spain), Birgit Kjellström (Sweden), Michael Lea (Australia), Monika Lustig (Germany), Jeremy Montagu (UK), Sisir Mukherjee (India), Kazue Nakamizo (Japan), Catherine Megumi Ochi (Japan), Anne-Marie Österberg (Sweden), Konstantin Restle (Germany), Nick Shackleton (USA), Gary Sturm (USA), Rob van Acht (the Netherlands), William Waterhouse (UK), John Watson (USA) and Elizabeth Wells (UK).
3. Minutes of the CIMCIM Business Meeting in Paris, 11 June 1999
The minutes, published in the CIMCIM Bulletin No. 39 were approved by the meeting.
4. Treasurer's Report
As reported in CIMCIM Bulletin No. 39, due to the generosity of its creditors CIMCIM paid no expenses during the financial year 1998-1999, and therefore during the financial year ending September 2000, the Committee was liable for the costs of printing and posting CIMCIM Bulletins and other material published since October 1998.
The subvention received from ICOM for the committee amounted to Pounds sterling 327.43. The committee also benefited from the generosity of two anonymous donors during the current financial year, who gave Pounds sterling 766.17 towards the cost of CIMCIM publications and Pounds sterling 597.01, to be spent at the discretion of the Board. As of 13 September 2000, the balance of the CIMCIM account was Pounds sterling 8,056.49 and the balance of the US account was 1816.02 US dollars.
Margaret Birley
5. Report from the working groups
5.1 CIMCIM Communications
The CIMCIM Communications Working Group met in Markneukirchen, Germany on September 18th 2000. Present were Arnold Myers (Co-ordinator), Margaret Birley, Sylvie Douce de la Salle, Eszter Fontana, Ken Moore, Christiane Rieche, and Gabriele Rossi-Rognoni. The Group reviewed CIMCIM's electronic communications: the public website, the moderated e-mail list CIMCIM-L, and the distribution of the CIMCIM Bulletin by e-mail and the Web to members.
The Group noted that the web page `Technical Drawings of Musical Instruments in Public Collections of the World' had recently been augmented with details of drawings of a further 152 instruments.
The Group noted that CIMCIM would acquire the electronic publication rights to "The Care of Historic Musical Instruments" when the book had been in print for three years; Arnold Myers would investigate the feasibility of mounting the publication on the Web.
Counts of the number of accesses to the pages of full texts of publications on the CIMCIM website were scrutinised. The CIMCIM welcome page receives circa 10000 hits per year, `Technical Drawings of Musical Instruments' receives circa 9500 hits per year, and the `International Directory of Musical Instrument Collections' menu page receives circa 4000 hits per year. Hits for other pages are lower. The number of accesses to the pages will be higher than these figures, since accesses to cached pages are not recorded by the server.
The group discussed the possibility of producing a CD use as an official CIMCIM present, and the possibility of a joint CIMCIM imprint for a forthcoming publication on Cristofori.
Arnold Myers
5.2 CIMCIM Conservation
Present at the meeting were Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg, Hannele Hentula, John Koster, Tom Lerch and Corinna Weinheimer (co-ordinator). A final draft version of the Guidelines for the care of musical instruments in Non-specialist Museums will be published on the CIMCIM web site by the end of the year. After a trial period it will be discussed whether to prepare a printed version.
Corinna Weinheimer
5.3. CIMCIM Documentation
Present at the meeting were Margaret Birley, Silke Berdux, Sylvie Douce de la Salle, Eszter Fontana, Ken Moore, Arnold Myers, Christiane Rieche, Hélène la Rue and Gabriele Rossi-Rognoni
The theme of the short meeting was inventories of musical instruments. At the meeting in Paris in 1999 the working group agreed on comparing different inventory schemes. This task was taken over by Patrice Verrier, Paris. Some of the participants were not aware that a draft on the same subject has already been published in Bulletin No. 14. The further work of the group will now be to compare the old proposal with the new.
Christiane Rieche
6. Future meetings
The meeting in 2001 will take place in Barcelona, at the 19th General Conference and 20th General Assembly of ICOM, from the 1st to the 6th July. The theme for the ICOM conference will be: þManaging Change: the Museum Facing Economic and Social Challengesþ. For CIMCIM a joint meeting with ICOM Archeology (ICMA) and ICOM Egyptology (CIPEG) is planned. The theme for the CIMCIM paper session will be: þMusical Instruments on Display: Mounting, Security, Labellingþ. See also the Call for Papers in this Bulletin.
For the year 2002 CIMCIM was invited by the St.Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music. On behalf of CIMCIM the president thanked Mr. Koshelev. She will get in touch with the ICOM national committee of Russia for the further planning of the meeting.
For the following years there were suggestions to meet in Seattle, USA and in Ankara, Turkey.
7. Any other business
7.1 Annual dues
On behalf of the CIMCIM board Martin Elste reported on a change of the annual dues for CIMCIM membership and subscription:
a) CIMCIM members subscription (valid only with ICOM membership): rate Pounds sterling 10 or USD 16 (for North American members)
b) CIMCIM co-opted members subscription (valid for individuals from developing countries who work in public collections of musical instruments): rate fixed at the discretion of the board
c) CIMCIM publication subscription (for individuals without ICOM membership): 150% of the subscription rate, currently Pounds sterling 15 or USD 24 (for North American members), Margaret Birley remarked that the subscription renewal form has to be revised and offered to do that.
7.2 Forthcoming elections to the board
The Board suggested Cynthia Adams Hoover and Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg for the election Committee. This was approved by the meeting. More information about the forthcoming elections appears below.
7.3 Report on the Piano 300 exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington
Cynthia Adams Hoover reports on the exhibition of the Smisthonian Institution, Washington USA to celebrate the 300th anniversary on the piano and thanked the Musical Instrument Museum in Rome, Italy for lending their piano by Bartolomeo Cristofori for this exhibition.
This year's event is quite unique since there are celebrations of many kinds at many museums around the world. For the conference in 2001 Cynthia Adams Hoover suggested a discussion round with all those whose museums were involved in any kind of celebration of the invention of the piano for exchanging experiences.
She warmly invites members to visit the exhibition.
8. Closing remarks
The president, Eszter Fontana thanked Arnold Myers, Edinburgh for his tireless work on the CIMCIM Web site and his other engagements in the welfare of CIMCIM. She also thanked the Board for their work. She thanked Christiane Rieche, Halle for organising a splendid day in Halle and she thanked Heidrun Eichler for a wonderfully organised and very interesting conference. The meeting heartily agreed.
Corinna Weinheimer
Elections to the new board
Call for nominations
CIMCIM members are urged to send names of proposed candidates for the slate of CIMCIM officers to serve from 2001 to 2004. Please send suggestions to nominating committee members Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg (e-mail: pa.kjeldsberg@ringve.museum.no, fax: +47 73 92 04 22) or Cynthia Adams Hoover (e-mail: hooverc@nmah.si.edu, fax: +1 202 786-2883) by DECEMBER 31, 2000.
By ICOM and CIMCIM statutes, members of the board may serve for no more than two consecutive three-year terms. Thus, officers Sumi Gunji (Vice-President) and Margaret Birley (Treasurer) as well as Advisory Members Martin Elste and John Koster will be retiring. The following current Board members have expressed willingness to have their names put forward for a second three-year term: Eszter Fontana, Germany (President), Corinna Weinheimer, Norway (Secretary), and Advisory Member Carmelle Bégin, Canada. Nominations are also needed for Vice-President, Treasurer, and at least two Advisory Members. Candidates must be voting members in good standing (see below*). Wide geographic representation is encouraged.
The nominating committee proposes the following timetable:
2000 December 31: Nominations to Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg or Cynthia Adams Hoover
2001 January-February: Slate determined, ballot prepared
March: Ballot sent to members with ballot return due April 15.
Only voting members in good standing can propose or vote for candidates (see below*)
July 2-7: New board takes office at the end of ICOM 2001 in Barcelona.
*Voting members in good standing
In order to qualify to vote and to serve as an officer, you must be a member in good standing in ICOM (ICOM dues must be paid for the year of the election) and have indicated to ICOM that you wish to be a voting member of CIMCIM (Remember that you can vote as a designated representative of an Institutional Member).
Earlier this year the CIMCIM Microfiche Project advanced significantly with the publication by MMF of the first supplement to the original set of drawings on microfiche.
The page "Technical Drawings of Musical Instruments in Public Collections of the World" on the CIMCIM website has been updated to include the new material. The original and supplementary lists have been integrated, and now give details of some 664 drawings published by 26 museums arranged by instrument type. See:
A member of CIMCIM has unfortunately had an instrument stolen from their museum - a decorated ivory recorder by Gahn. For security reasons, the museum wishes to be anonymous, so if you have any information which might help lead to the recovery of the instrument, please send it to Corinna Weinheimer, CIMCIM secretary, address see above and she will forward it to the owner.
Pictures can be viewed using a Web browser at locations:-
http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/pics/GAHN-recorder_t.gif (thumbnail)
http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/pics/GAHN-recorder.gif (medium resolution)
Description of the instrument:
Ivory treble recorder in three sections.
Total length: 501 mm
Signature: I. B. Gahn + monogram I. B.G.
Ornaments: vine leaves and birds. All joints are ornamented.
The instrument was stolen at the end of 1999.
Arnold Myers
In the Czech Republic twelve musical instruments were stolen in the latter half of July this year. They were keyboard instruments belonging to the museum of Czech Music (part of the National Museum), which were stored in a depository outside Prague. We draw the attention of CIMCIM members to the fact that the present possessors, who acquired the instruments illegally, may be expected to offer the instruments for sale to some museum outside the Czech Republic or to a private collector.
The following instruments were stolen:
1. Upright piano (Leopold Sauer) sign. 1589 E
2. Pyramid piano (A. Hief) sign. 1345 E
3. Square pianoforte (name unreadable) sign. 591 E
4. Positive organ (anonymous) sign. 1348 E
5. Positive organ-table (anon.) sign. 459 E
6. Physharmonica (Dürr) sign. 1576 E
7. Harmonium (Kohn und Co.) sign. 1571 E
8. Harmonium (Hüller) sign. 1580 E
9. Square pianoforte (Meyer & Meyer) sign. 1586 E
10. Physharmonica (Richter) sign. 1574 E
11. Harmoniton sign. 662 E
12. Physharmonica (anonymous) sign. 1572 E
Photographs of the instruments and of the identifying markings of the makers have been provided to Interpol and the Museum of Czech Music in Prague (Dr. Cízek or Dr. Hallová) will of course be glad to provide further information at the address: Novotného lávka 1, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic, telephone/ fax +420 2 22220082 or telephone +420 2 57320060
Marketa Hallová
ICOM UMAC
ICOM's new International Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC)
The Executive Council of ICOM at its meeting on 8 - 9 June 2000 in Paris accepted the establishment of a new provisional International Committee on University Museums for a period of three years. President of the committee is Peter Stanbury.
The new Committee will have its first formal meeting at the ICOM Conference in Barcelona in July 2001. At that meeting the aims and the constitution will be discussed and an executive board elected. It is expected also to have the first conference papers presented and an excursion. Please mark the dates 1 - 6 July 2001 in your diary.
For any further information please contact
Peter Stanbury, Museums, Collections & Heritage, Vice Chancellor's Office, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia, Fax: +61 2 9850 7565, peter.stanbury@mq.edu.au
Ringve Museum, Trondheim
Norway's national museum of music and musical instruments þ Ringve Museum celebrated the 300th birthday of the piano, with 300 pianists and 40 consorts on four platforms in just two days.
This music happening was a result of a co-operation between Trondheim Community Music and Cultural School, the music department of various high schools, the university (conservatory), professional piano players, piano teachers and Ringve Museum.
Place: Ringve Museum, Date: Saturday 30. September 10 þ 15, Sunday 1. October 11 þ 20
Programme:
Piano concerts from 4 stages with 300 pianists from 6 þ 60 years old.
Piano Fairy-tales about how Bach composed the piece Goldberg Variations .
Piano-Guided tour þ special attention was given to the importance of the piano in music history.
Piano drawings and paintings þ in the children's room everyone could make their own drawings of a piano þ the aim was 300 drawings and they were all displayed in the reception hall in the museum.
Piano items were sold in the Museumþs shop.
It was a family day with the coffee shop open so the visitors could enjoy their lunch, dinner or simply eat a delicious cake while listening to their hopeful youngsters.
The arrangement was brought to a conclusion with a "Pianocafé þ klaver à la carte" on Sunday evening. The audience was free to pick a music piece from a well-composed piano menu. To present the different pieces professional pianists from all genres were there to pop up whenever their music piece was called out from the audience.
Ringve Museum is applying to The Guinness Book of Records for having the longest piano concert and for most drawings of pianos, everything done in two days.
Tone Fegran
Report from the Europiano Congress 2000
Cavalese/ Italy þ Site of Europiano Congress 2000
In June, the Europiano Congress 2000 for piano technicians, manufacturers, repairers and tuners took place in Cavalese, a small and charming town in the Val di Fiemme which is part of the Dolomites. It became notorious in February 1998 when twenty people were killed as an U.S. Marine jet severed a cable car line.
The reason for choosing Cavalese becomes obvious when one knows the fact that the Val di Fiemme has for centuries been a well-known spot for resonance wood. Since about 1100 the wood property in the large valley has been managed by the local Magnifica Communità di Fiemme, a kind of co-operative business owned by the inhabitants of the valley from which many piano and violin makers obtain their wood for soundboards. In fact, one third of the soundboards in modern European pianos derive from the Ciresa Company. It is situated in the neighbouring village Tesero, located 1,000 metres above sea-level. E. Ciresa & C. was established in 1952 as a maker of harmoniums and piano keyboards, yet with the economic decline of this business, the company changed during the 1970s its direction and is now solely producing soundboards made of wood from the big forests of Fiemme Valley and Paneveggio Park nearby. Up to now some 60,000 pianos have been equipped with soundboards by Ciresa. They supply more than fifteen piano factories all over the world, among which are top firms such as
Bösendorfer and Fazioli. The spruce planks are naturally seasoned on the timber yard for approximately one year before the actual manufacturing process takes place. This involves a second seasoning in a modern climatic oven in which the small planks are heat-treated with moderate temperatures in order not to damage the internal structure of the tone-wood. After purification from knots, flaws and other defects of the fibre, the soundboards are finished according to the plans of each customer. Fazioli, however, chooses to obtain the finished yet not glued-up planks. This young Italian piano company in the little village of Sacile near Venice and close to the Aviano air base is owned by a maker of office furniture who inherited his father's business. A trained pianist himself, Paolo Fazioli put all his dreams of uncompromising piano making into reality. At the factory, the company produces with a staff of twenty-four between seventy and eighty instruments annually. They are examples of the highest craftsmanship and elegant and delicate finishing, even if some think of these pianos as not particularly individual in terms
of sound. Only grands are produced; six models with a length from 156 cm to 308 cm are available. The largest model has, as a speciality, a fourth pedal with which the pianist can shorten the way the hammer does, thus acting similarly to the left pedal of a modern upright and producing a
particularly soft, yet altogether strong sound. A recent optional feature of Fazioli is the introduction of the so-called þMagnetic Balance Action" in which the touchweight is adjustable to the preference of the pianist. In this action, invented by Evert Snel and Hans Velo of the Netherlands, a pair of mutually attracting magnets are active at the front-end of the key lever and a pair of mutually repelling magnets are active at the rear-end of the key lever. According to Fazioli, this system has advantages with regard to the pianist's control of pianissimo playing and the speedy adjustment of the touch weight to the individual wish of the pianist as well as easy maintenance.
Piano making has, as everywhere in Europe, become almost a rarity. In Italy there is one other piano manufacturer, Schulze Pollmann (despite this German name) of Bolzano, who produces some 400 instruments per year, and both Fazioli and Schulze Pollmann use actions made by Renner of Stuttgart.
All the other pianos sold in Italy come from abroad, and it is Yamaha which is sold most.
The Europiano Association has approximately five-hundred members most of which are piano tuners and piano makers, three-hundred of whom attended the conference. Europiano as such is the umbrella organisation of the national piano tuners associations. Their Italian group, e.g., the Associazione Italiana Accordatori Riparatori Pianoforti, consists of hundred-and-fifty members which make up approximately 15% of all piano tuners and technicians in Italy. To join the group a test has to be passed in which the applicant has to demonstrate his or her craftsmanship. Knowledge of historical tunings, however, is not required. Founded after World War II, Europiano convened for the first time in Berlin in 1965. Since 1995 the association has its own booth at the Frankfurt Musikmesse.
Several papers at the Cavalese conference featured recent research, e. g. on the analysis of piano string and piano mechanism (by Hajime Hayshida of Yamaha) and on the analysis and synthesis of piano sounds (by a team from the University of Padova). An exhibition of modern pianos and a series of concerts complemented the congress proper. Despite the belief in technical progress, a replica by the Osaka piano maker Nobuo Yamamoto of the Cristofori pianoforte made in 1726 and now in the Leipzig Musikinstrumenten-Museum seem to have attracted the most attention of all the instruments exhibited. The time has past when piano makers seem to be interested in modern developments only. Instead there is a definite, if still modest, interest in the piano sound of the past. The Yamamoto replica has a sound which is rather harpsichord-like due to the fact that its hammer heads are not covered by leather but consist of several layers of glued paper only. Kerstin Schwarz, who also made a replica of the Leipzig
Cristofori, however, believes that the original hammer-heads had leather pads, and her instrument, which was exhibited in Leipzig and for a certain period of time also in Berlin, has a softer, more clavichord-like timbre. Still, both these instruments sound very different from, e.g., the Silbermann pianoforte in the Berlin Musikinstrumenten-Museum with its mellow, soft yet bodied tone. After all, the sound of music has always been and will always remain a highly personal matter.
Martin Elste
Congratulations
CIMCIM sends its heartfelt congratulations upon the hundredth anniversary of the State Museum of Theatre and Music, St. Petersburg and wishes all the best for a successful conference on The History of Musical Instrument Collecting.
Nürnberg, Germany
The exhibition "Clavier 2000 - eine Erfindung für alle" in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nürnberg, made in collaboration with the Musikinstrumenten-Museum der Universität Leipzig and the Musikinstrumenten-Museum PK in Berlin is prolonged until 4th February 2001. For further information see:
http://www.gnm.de
Frank Bär
Paris, France
La Voix du Dragon,
Trésors archéologiques et art campanaire de la Chine ancienne,
21 novembre 2000 - 25 février 2001
Dans le cadre des célébrations de l'an 2000 et à lþoccasion de lþannée du dragon, la cité de la musique a souhaité donner un éclat particulier à la saison 2000-2001 et montrer combien le nouveau millénaire tirera inspiration des cultures musicales aussi anciennes que celle de la Chine.
L'événement le plus marquant de ces célébrations sera la présentation d'une importante exposition consacrée à l'héritage musical et à l'art campanaire de la Chine ancienne, et qui parcoure lþhéritage musical de l'époque des Royaumes Combattants (env. 5ème siècle avant J.-C.) jusqu'à la République populaire de Chine (1949) dans plusieurs espaces de la cité de la musique. Lþexposition est présentée dans trois lieux: la rue, le temple et le tombeau.
La rue
En accès libre dans la rue musicale de la cité, la copie du carillon de cloches bianzhong composé de 65 cloches sera jouée avec les instruments traditionnels : phonolithe, cithare, tambour et orgues à bouche pendant lþexposition. Ces animations musicales permettront de
mieux connaître, sous forme de concerts, les principaux aspects des traditions musicales de la Chine ancienne.
Le temple
Cet espace présente les cloches du temps des Royaumes combattants jusqu'à lþépoque contemporaine. Le visiteur pourra évaluer lþétendue de lþévolution technologique et stylistique à travers la fabrication dþune cloche de carillon et dþune cloche bouddhique, et les rôles culturels, cultuels et sociaux des cloches au fil du temps. Les visiteurs pourront découvrir quelques-uns des plus grands chefs-d'þuvre illustrant les traditions de l'art campanaire - carillons cérémoniels, cloches liturgiques, objets votifs et funéraires.
Le tombeau
Cet espace présente une sélection des plus beaux trésors exhumés de la tombe du marquis Yi de Zeng qui a été enterré avec son salon de musique. A partir de cette évocation, dont la tombe (5e siècle avant J.-C.) a révélé un ensemble inégalé de vestiges archéologiques liés à la musique de cour, lþexposition fera par ailleurs une large place à l'art des grands bronzes, des laques et des jades précieuses ainsi qu'aux pierres sonores.
Les objets et trésors exceptionnels dont beaucoup ne sont jamais sortis de Chine proviennent du musée provincial à Wuhan et du site archéologique de Suizhou, situés dans la province du Hubei, ainsi que du Musée de la Grande Cloche et des Cloches Anciennes de Pékin.
La programmation de concerts dans les deux salles de la cité de la musique (amphithéâtre et grande salle) sera centrée sur les musiques d'Extrême Orient et leurs rapports avec certaines musiques occidentales.
Patrice Verrier
Stockholm, Sweden
From the 27th October 2000 to the 11th February 2001, The National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm is showing an exhibition called Music in the Visual Arts. The exhibition is a joint project by The National Museum of Fine Arts and The Stockholm Music Museum and shows how music, musical instruments and music making has been portrayed from the 17th to the 19th century. The exhibition consists of paintings, miniatures, engravings and twenty musical instruments.
Amongst other things, the exhibition reflects alternative perceptions of music as art, and a form of expression; everything from heavenly choirs performing for the greater glory of God and the harmony of music as a path to love and unification, to earthy music symbolising decay. A number of themes are presented, such as Hearing under the title The Five Senses with works by Hendrick Terbrugghen and Ferdinand Bol. Saint Cecilia, The Patron Saint of Music is portrayed in a work attributed to Agnese Dolci. The theme Musical Group is interpreted by Paul La Tarte, Cornelis Pietersz Bega and Pehr Hilleström the elder. Musical instrument still life is displayed as well as religious and antique motifs by David Teniers the elder, Jacob Jordaens and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Finally, the artists Peder Severin Krþyer, Anders Zorn and Ernst Josephson focus on how music is depicted in Nordic music life of the people, myth and saga.
Several of the instruments on display have never been shown for the public before. Highlights include a kit made by Thomas Huyghen in Utrecht in 1660, a highly decorated trombone from 1640 made by Georg Öller in Stockholm as well as several fine ivory instruments including a recorder by Coenraad Rykel from Amsterdam, made around 1700.
The opening of the exhibition coincided with the symposium Music in art - Sounds of the Sixteenhundreds. The talks dealt with works from the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm's collection. An English summary will be published in the Art Bulletin of the Nationalmuseum Stockholm, Spring 2001.
Hans Riben
Washington, USA
Invitation to visit Piano 300
The Smithsonian exhibition "PIANO 300 - Three Hundred Years of People and Pianos" has been extended to June 3, 2001. Popular with well over 150,000 visitors, the exhibition displays 25 pianos (22 from the Smithsonian collection) in cultural and musical contexts (with a lively concluding video not to be missed!) in the handsome Smithsonian International Gallery in Washington, D.C. Cynthia Adams Hoover and her co-curators Patrick Rucker and Edwin M. Good again extend an invitation to CIMCIM members to visit the exhibition, perhaps by combining it with a visit to the impressive guitar exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (November 5 - February 25) or attending the meetings of the American Musical Instrument Society in North Carolina (May 30 - June 2). Check the website http://www.piano300.org for current and future programmes.
Cynthia Adams Hoover
FRANK BÄR (ed.) Musica instrumentalis , Issue no. 3 of the German-language yearbook for general organology will appear in December 2000. The volume containing contributions of international scholars is dedicated to John Henry van der Meer's 80th birthday.
Musica Instrumentalis is published by the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg in collaboration with the Fachgruppe für Instrumentenkunde in der Gesellschaft für Musik-forschung and GEFAM (Gesellschaft der Freunde Alter Musikinstrumente, Zürich).
Board members are John Henry van der Meer, Ellen Hickmann, Manfred Hermann Schmid, Konstantin Restle, Martin Kirnbauer, Thomas Drescher and Frank P. Bär. The forthcoming issue contains approx. 200 pages (size 220 x 270 mm, softcover) and many photographs, drawings etc. Prices: single issue DM 54.-, subscription DM 45.-. Musica Instrumentalis can be ordered from: Germanisches Nationalmuseum Verlag, Kartäusergaáe 1, D-90402 Nürnberg, Germany. Some copies of Musica Instrumentalis No. 1 (1998) and 2 (1999) are still available.
Berlin, Musikinstrumentenmuseum:
In the series "Klingendes Museum" (the sounding museum) the fourth CD has been released in 1999: "Die Blasinstrumente aus der St. Wenzelskirche in Naumburg" (The Wind-Instruments of St. Wenzels church at Naumburg) Booklet by Dieter Krickeberg and Tom Lerch. Berlin 1999. 18,- DM
In 1890 the St. Wenzelþs parish at Naumburg sold 37 historical wind instruments to the collection of old music instruments at the royal academy of music in Berlin. Some of these most important wind instruments of the 17th century, such as recorders, cornetts, shawms, dulcians, trombones, crumhorns survive. During the years between 1988 and 1999 the finest of these instruments were, as far as possible, carefully brought to playing conditions and recordings have been made in close collaboration of experienced musicians and conservators, to get an adequate and also entertaining sound-documentation. A delicate selection of these recordings with period music is now published on this CD, which is specially unique, as for conservation reasons most of these instruments will never be played again.
Tom Lerch
Postal addresses:
Dr. Sabine Klaus: P.O. Box 190, Landrum S.C. 29356, U.S.A.
Fax numbers:
Horniman Museum, London: +44 208 291 5506
E-mail addresses:
Heather Dumka: hdumka@glenbow.org
Sabine Klaus: sabine.klaus@worldnet.att.net
Kenneth Mobbs: Ken@kwmobbs.freeserve.co.uk
Please send your contributions, preferably by e-mail, by 15 February 2001 to the editor:
Corinna Weinheimer
Ringve Museum
Pb 3064 Lade
N- 7441 Trondheim, Norway
Fax: +47 73 92 04 22
E-mail: corinna.weinheimer@ringve.museum.no
Musical Instruments on Display: Mounting, Security, Labelling
In times of change in the museum world with different expectations through the visitors and often tight financial possibilities the display of musical instruments presents a new challenge. The trend towards the museum as an adventure park, mass tourism and the cut backs for security personnel needs reflection on the mounting and labelling of the objects. Discussions and exchange of experience on these topics can help museum workers finding satisfying solutions. Presentations to the theme are invited.
Papers will only be accepted if they are (a) on the topic as described above and (b) relevant to museum practice. Abstracts of 200 to 300 words should be submitted by post, fax or preferably by e-mail to:
Corinna Weinheimer
Ringve Museum
Pb 3064 Lade
N- 7441 Trondheim
Norway
Fax: +47 73 92 04 22
E-mail: corinna.weinheimer@ringve.museum.no
Communications about the content of these pages to Arnold Myers, Co-ordinator, CIMCIM Communications Working Group: E-mail Arnold.Myers@ed.ac.uk.
Text © CIMCIM, 2000.
This page updated: 17.11.00
