The Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels is a real two-for-one proposition: a world-class museum about the world’s music, housed in a masterpiece Art Nouveau building that once housed one of Brussels’ leading department stores, Old England.
The museum’s vast collections are on display over several floors of the beautiful building; elements of the Art Nouveau spaces can be seen often above exhibit cases, in hallways, and in its beautiful openwork elevator shaft—but that’s for another story.
The main displays start on the first floor, under the title Traditional Instruments of the world, and it’s quite a variety—and for me, quite a few surprises. For instance, I remember a small plastic instrument we ‘played’ in grade school: the ocarina, or ‘sweet potato.’ Who knew they were cousins of a serious instrument, or how many of those cousins there are? Just above, a surprising variety of flutes and their relatives.
Next up: a display of Hummels, or plucked dulcimers. There’s a wide variety of them that were used in different parts of Belgium; they have two sets of strings, one for melody and a smaller set for accompaniment. The museum makes the point that except for keyboards, just about all ‘western’ instruments either came from or have cousins all over the world. For hummels, that might include the museum’s zithers from Africa and Asia.
\
There’s actually quite a few examples of non-western instruments, including horns, lithophones and more that have their uses in religious and traditional celebrations.
The international (and intentional) diversity of the instruments goes all the way back to the museum’s birth in 1877 as part of the Royal Conservatory; the collection was intended for teaching. The first acquisitions were the personal collection of the conservatory’s first director and a hundred Indian instruments given to King Leopold by an Indian Rajah.
Over the years, the collection has grown to over 7,000 instruments, one of the world’s largest collections, with a number of pieces that are unique. It moved into its present home in 2000. The Belgian government bought the building in 1978, but planning, renovation and moving ended up taking 16 years!
Before we head upstairs for other exhibits, let’s stop for a look at a collection of accordions, and a ‘hats off!’ to the St Jean Accordion Club of Molenbeek, Brussels, posed with their instruments in 1910 when accordion bands were at a peak of popularity. And, a Flemish ‘hurdy-gurdy’ or street organ, probably 18th-century.
Keyboards are a key Western contribution to the history of musical instruments, and the museum has plenty of them, in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes and decor. Included are harpsichords, clavichords, double pianos and more
One of the most unusual is this 1832 Piano-Viole, in which the looped strips rotate on a wheel, acting like bows that move against the strings to produce sound; the keys control which strings are in contact with the ‘bows’ to produce a sound somewhat resembling a viola. Don’t take my word for it—clip on the museum’s YouTube video below!
Before we move on… here’s a bit more keyboard lore. We’ll start with Beethoven’s attempt at a German word to replace the Italian ‘pianoforte,’ or ‘soft-loud’ for the newly-popular piano; he came up with ‘soft-loud-key-case,’ or ‘Starkschwachtastenkasten.’
This 1955 typewriter adapted to writing musical scores apparently called to mind a snarky quotation…
Horns, next, and since Brussels was the home of Adolphe Sax, it’s not surprising to see lots of attention to him and his instruments, including a bewildering variety of saxophones, some very unlike what we’re used to.
Put them together and what have you got? This horn that looks more complicated than a plate of spaghetti and a trombone with six valves and seven bells—all products of Adolphe Sax’s workshop. But perhaps I shouldn’t harp on that…
Tools of the trade for a luthier…
Last stop for my visit was at basement level where the museum has its ‘mechanical’ instruments including player pianos and organs, mechanical organs with moving figures, early phonographs, and more.
And, a reminder for perspective: the hyper-modern of our childhoods finds its way in our lifetimes into museums of history. What once seemed the future, now seems quaint and outmoded like this 1960s digital recording system.
A fascinating collection!