The Museum of Musical Instruments of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

exhibits over 700 musical instruments from the fifteenth to twentieth centuries with particular attention to Lombard instruments. The collection contains plucked instruments, Lombard and Cremonese violins, hunting horns, numerous wood instruments (e.g.

flutes The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

oboes The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

, clarinets, English horns), bassoons,

pianos A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an action mechanism where hammers strike strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal tempe ...

and some ancient

organs In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...

. In particular the Cremonese lutherie (from

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

in low

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

) is appreciated all over the world for the high quality of its musical instruments. The museum also displays the equipment of the former

Studio di fonologia musicale di Radio Milano The was established 1955 in Milan following a joint initiative by Luciano Berio and Bruno Maderna. The aim was to create a third European facility for experimental electronic contemporary classical music after the Studio für elektronische Musi ...

. In 2000 a donation by the added 79 musical instruments, made between the 18th and 20th century, to the civic collection; they had been collected by the Monzino family. These musical instruments represent the strong tradition of Lombard lutherie. The museum is situated in the

Sforza Castle The Sforza Castle ( ; ) is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 1 ...

complex that also includes The Museum of Ancient Art, the

Pinacotheca A pinacotheca (Latin calque, borrowing from = + ) was a picture gallery in either ancient Greece or ancient Rome. The name is specifically used for the building containing pictures which formed the left wing of the Propylaea (Acropolis of Athen ...

, the Applied Arts Collection and the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

(that includes the

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

sections of the

Archaeological Museum An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological artifacts. Many archaeology museum are in the open-air museum, open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum.David Watkin. ''The Roman Forum ...

Gallery

File:Museo strumenti musicali milano.JPG, A room of the museum File:Museo strumenti musicali milano 1.JPG, The

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...

s hall File:Museo degli strumenti musicali di milano - copia di corni naturali - vienna 1712.JPG, Horns, ''Michael Leichamschneider'', Vienna 1712 File:Museo strumenti musicali 8.JPG,

Virginal The virginals is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Description A virginals is a smaller and simpler, rectangular or polygonal, form of harpsichord. ...

, ''Ioannes Ruckers'',

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

1600 File:Museo strumenti musicali -milano- Organo , Toscana XVIII sec..JPG,

Organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, Tuscany, XVIII File:Museo strumenti musicali -milano- Organo , Emilia XVIII sec.JPG, Organ, Emilia, XVIII File:Museo strumenti musicali -milano- fortepiano a coda attribuito a johann fritz, vienna 1815 ca..JPG, Piano, ''Johann Fritz'', Vienna 1815 file:Pianofote a giraffa - Vienna - XIX secolo - Museo degli strumenti musicali del castello sforzesco - Milano.JPG,

Giraffe piano The giraffe piano is a type of an upright piano that has a "long-necked" appearance due to a narrow, but tall, upright case, essentially a grand piano set up vertically. The design had been invented in Austria around 1805 and was manufactured thro ...

, Vienna, 19th century File:Studio di fonologia del 1955 della sede Rai di Milano - Museo degli strumenti musicali del castello sforzesco - Milano.JPG, Synthesizer File:Studio di fonologia del 1955 della sede Rai di Milano - Museo degli strumenti musicali del castello sforzesco - Milano (3).JPG, Audio console

References

*''Le città d'arte:Milano'', Guide brevi Skira, ed.2008, eutori vari *''Milano e provincia'', Touring Club Italiano ed.2003, autori vari *https://web.archive.org/web/20131111124406/http://www.comune.milano.it/dseserver/webcity/documenti.nsf/0/5A4CA30F4FDC7CA8C125726C005484BE?opendocument
COLLECTIONS OF APPLIED ARTS AND THE MUSEUM OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ON THE FIRST AND SECOND FLOORS OF THE ROCCHETTA
*https://archive.today/20130218110516/http://www.ufficiostampa.rai.it/comunicati_aziendali/20120614/rai__lo_studio_di_fonologia_torna_a__suonare_.html

External links

* {{Authority control Museums in Milan Musical instrument museums in Italy Castello Sforzesco Music museums in Italy Tourist attractions in Milan

Gallery

See also

References

External links