National Museum of Musical Instruments
(Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti
Musicali )
The
Museum was inaugurated in 1974 and is housed in
one of the halls of the former "Principe di Piemonte"
barracks built in 1903.
The
museum's entrance is located on the left side of
the garden next to the church of S. Croce
in Gerusalemme.
The main
nucleus of the collection originated from an
agreement stipulated in 1949 between the Italian
State and the tenor Evangelista Gorga (1865-1957),
who after a very brief career full of important achievements
(on the explicit wish of Puccini, he played the role
of Rodolfo in the first performance of La Soheme
directed by Arturo Toscanini) abandoned his profession
and devoted himself to collecting and creating an extraordinary
collection of musical instruments; under
the quoted agreement, the Italian State, by confiscating
the whole collection, committed itself to paying the
artists debts who was in a difficult financial position
and the State offered him an income for the rest
of his life.
Further
acquisitions were added to the original nucleus of
the Museum, including the collection of Benedetto
Marcello with the piano built in 1722 by
the inventor of the piano Bartolomeo Cristofori,
the Barberini harp built with three rows of strings
between the second and third decade of the XVII century
for the family of Pope Urban VIII and given for
use to the great composer Marco Marazzoli from
the Roman school, this is why he was called "Marco
of the harp" and the instruments from the collection
of Marcello Giusti del Giardino like the twisted
bagpipes made in 1524 by the Bavarian Joerg Weier
and the harpsichord by Hans Muller, which was
made in 1537 and is the oldest.
The exhibition
tour is organised in 18 rooms on the first floor
of the building and follows an assorted form: some instruments
are displayed by typology (archaeological,
non-European, popular, military,
mechanical, instruments etc.) others,
however, are presented according to a chronological
order (from the XI to the XVIII century).
Among
the instruments of particular interest are those
from the Greek and Roman eras such as
sistrums, crotalas and bells accompanied
by a wealth of iconographic documentation composed
of bas-reliefs, Oil-lamps, small statues,
etc. which portray scenes of musical activity.
Information
and Addresses
Address
Piazza Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, 9/A
Visiting
Hours Every day from 8.30 am to no pm (the ticket
office closes half an hour before the scheduled closing
time)
Closed
Monday, Dec. 25, Jan. 1
Telephone
06 7014796; Fax 06 7029862
Price
€ 4,00; concessions € 2,00
For
Tours information –
private guided tours – special entrances, no waiting
in line - VIP services
www.tourinrome.com
www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com
www.vaticanmuseumticket.com
