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Barcelona Music Museum

Barcelona

The Music Museum is housed at L'Auditori de Barcelona, very close to the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC) and Plaça de les Glòries. Photo by Sara Guasteví.

The Music Museum is housed at L'Auditori de Barcelona, very close to the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC) and Plaça de les Glòries. Photo by Sara Guasteví.

Music stirs our emotions and plays a decisive role in constructing our social lives.

The Barcelona Music Museum takes us on an itinerary through the different worlds of music —history and cultures — through musical instruments and from listening to music in the display rooms themselves. There is a collection of nearly two hundred instruments on display, each of which bears the hallmark of the people who made them and used them to make music.

The visit begins with the common elements of music, such as melody, rhythm and timbre. It continues with the audio-visual presentations, travelling from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century with stopovers at two special stages, the Catalan composers’ room and the guitar collection, and ending in the interactive room.

And from the instruments we move on to the experience of music: the Museum organises concerts at which its historical instruments are actually played, which complete the programme at the Auditori, today the Casa de la Música de Barcelona (Music House of Barcelona).

AUDIOGUIDE

Listen to the audio guide of this museum

All audios available

SPACES

<p>The orchestra took form during the classical period. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
Classicism and the Northern European movements
Classicism and the Northern European movements
<p>In the 19th century keyboard instruments began to be mass produced. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
Romanticism and the 19th-century sound industry
Romanticism and the 19th-century sound industry
<p>New instruments and new ways to record and listen to music. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
The 20th century: new styles and new technologies
The 20th century: new styles and new technologies
<p>Our journey through the history of music begins with the birth of polyphony. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
The Middle Ages and Renaissance: polyphony
The Middle Ages and Renaissance: polyphony
<p>The Museum&rsquo;s guitar collection is regarded as one of the best in the world. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
The guitar: a permanent dialogue between popular and art music
The guitar: a permanent dialogue between popular and art music
<p>The forest of instruments explains these common elements of music. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
Music as a universal phenomenon
Music as a universal phenomenon
<p>The keyboard room exhibits some of the most outstanding pieces and provides the setting for concerts. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
The new music: the harmonic sense of the Baroque
The new music: the harmonic sense of the Baroque
<p>Group of instruments of the cobla. Folk and ethnic music lived alongside the orchestral music of the 19th century. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
Tradition and folk music
Tradition and folk music
<p>Room dedicated to Catalan music from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Photo by Pep Herrero.</p>
Music and society in Catalonia (1880-1950)
Music and society in Catalonia (1880-1950)
<p>Access to new media has opened up our cultural frontiers and music may now travel more than in the past. Photo by Rafael Vargas.</p>
People travel, music travels
People travel, music travels

OBJECTS

<p>Balafon (Equatorial Guinea), 1850-1900. Photo by Gabriel Serra.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>
Balafon from Equatorial Guinea
Balafon from Equatorial Guinea
<p>The bandoneon and concertina are free reed aerophones with keyboards. CC-BY- SA-3.0 Photo by Enfo. Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Reed instruments
Reed instruments
<p>Andr&eacute;s Vidal bassoon (Barcelona), 1850-1900. Photo by Gabriel Serra.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
The Vidal bassoon
The Vidal bassoon
<p>The Museum has a good collection of these folk instruments, especially from Catalonia. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Flutes and tambourines
Flutes and tambourines
<p>Miguel Slocker Pianoforte (Madrid), 1831. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Slocker Pianoforte
Slocker Pianoforte
<p>Johannes Zumpe Pianoforte (London), 1776.&nbsp;CC-BY Photo by Sara Guastev&iacute;.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Zumpe pianoforte
Zumpe pianoforte
<p>Keybar gamelan gong&nbsp; This gong was exhibited at Expo 92 in Seville. The Museum displays only part of the full set of 31 instruments. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Indonesian gamelan
Indonesian gamelan
<p>Garamut (New Guinea), 1900-1950. Photo by Gabriel Serra.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Garamut from New Guinea
Garamut from New Guinea
<p>Baroque guitar, known as the Guitarra de los Leones (Spain), <em>c.</em> 1700. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Lion-ornamented guitar
Lion-ornamented guitar
<p>Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar. Photo by Eduard Selva.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
The Gibson electric guitar
The Gibson electric guitar
<p>The Museum exhibits the guitar that belonged to Vict&ograve;ria dels &Agrave;ngels. Photo by Eduard Selva.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Pagés guitar
Pagés guitar
<p>Manuel P&eacute;rez Molero Organ (Segovia), 1739. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Pérez Molero Organ
Pérez Molero Organ
<p>Chassaigne Fr&egrave;res (Barcelona) Piano, 1915. Photo by Pep Herrero.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Mompou Piano
Mompou Piano
<p>The rubab and gralla are two surviving medieval instruments still played today. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Rubab and Gralla
Rubab and Gralla
<p>Christian Rault hurdy gurdy (Le Vanneau, France), 2006. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>
Hurdy gurdy
Hurdy gurdy
<p>Jos&eacute; Contreras Violin (Madrid), 1741. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Contreras Violin
Contreras Violin
<p>Stroh violin Compagnie Fran&ccedil;aise du Gramophone, <em>c.</em> 1900. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Stroh violin
Stroh violin
<p>Joan Guillam&iacute; Violoncello (Barcelona), 1756. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Guillamí Violoncello, 1756
Guillamí Violoncello, 1756
<p>Yangqin (China), 19th and 20th centuries. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Yangqin from China
Yangqin from China
<p>Zamar (Rif, Morocco), 1900-1950. Photo by Gabriel Serra.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Moroccan Zamar
Moroccan Zamar
<p>Kundu. Photo by Gabriel Serra.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Kundu
Kundu
<p>Mute cornett. Photo by Esther Fern&aacute;ndez.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Bassano Cornetts
Bassano Cornetts
<p>Lorenz Hauslaib claviorganum (Nuremberg),<em> c.</em>&nbsp;1590-1600. CC-BY Photo by Sara Guastev&iacute;.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Hauslaib claviorganum
Hauslaib claviorganum
<p>Christian Zell harpsichord (Hamburg), 1737. CC-BY Photo by Sara Guastev&iacute;.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Zell harpsichord
Zell harpsichord
<p>Archlute. Photo by Gabriel Serra.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Archlutes and lute
Archlutes and lute
<p>One of the lutes (rear view) was built by Max Unverdorben in Venice, while the other (front view) was made by Hans Hovb Muler. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Renaissance lutes
Renaissance lutes
<p>Baby Grand Piano, Carl R&ouml;nisch (Dresden, Germany), <em>c.</em> 1905. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Rönisch - Albéniz Piano
Rönisch - Albéniz Piano
<p>Psaltery. Photo by Eduard Selva.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Psalteries
Psalteries
<p>Violin. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Violin Etienne Maire
Violin Etienne Maire
<p>Player piano. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Player piano
Player piano
<p>Concert flute. Photo by Jordi Puig.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Transverse crystal flute
Transverse crystal flute
<p>Walking cane violin. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Walking cane violin
Walking cane violin
<p>Buccin. CC-BY Photo by Sara Guastev&iacute;.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Buccin
Buccin
<p>Guita. Photo by Eduard Selva.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Guitar "Pascuala" and Anselm C
Guitar "Pascuala" and Anselm Clavé's Guitar
<p>Guitar by Antonio de Torres Jurado (Seville), 1859. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Torres guitar
Torres guitar
<p>Atari Computer 1987 (Corea). Photo by Sara Guastev&iacute;.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Atari Computer
Atari Computer
<p>Crystal trombone. Photo by Pep Herrero.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Crystal trombone
Crystal trombone
<p>Technological advances were applied to brass instruments, which gained in diversity and chromatic range. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
19th-century brass instruments
19th-century brass instruments
<p>Tenora Andreu Toron (Perpiny&agrave;), 1854-1900. CC-BY Photo by Sara Guastev&iacute;.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Tenora Toron of Pep Ventura
Tenora Toron of Pep Ventura
<p>Sitar. Photo by Rafael Vargas.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Tabla, Sitar and Tambura
Tabla, Sitar and Tambura
<p>Ocarina. Photo by Gabriel Serra.&nbsp;Barcelona Music Museum.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
Ocarina
Ocarina

INFORMATION

ADDRESS
FEES
TELEPHONE
WEBSITE
http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/museumusica/
OPENING TIMES
GETTING HERE
EMAIL
museumusica@bcn.cat

MAP

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