Old musical instruments

Seeing this, I wish I know how to play piano. Museum of Musical Instrument, Vienna. Dec 14, 2011.

I didn’t go to any musical performance during my visit in Vienna. Partly because of the schedule, and partly because I wasn’t a big fan of sitting though a concert unless it’s an artist I know of. So while I was in the city of music, this was the closest I got to the world of music: The museum of Musical Instruments at the Neue Burg. I have to admit that if entry to the Neue Burg wasn’t included in my combi ticket to the Hofburg, I doubt I’d have visited this place. Turned out, it was a nice place to scroll around if you weren’t in a hurry.

Once I stepped inside the Neue Burg, it was slightly confusing, as it had 2 separated entrance to different museums inside. After I failed to locate the cloak room, which might be that small unguarded room next to the entrance, I waked into the entrance to the Museum of the Musical Instrument.

There was only one arrow that reads “tickets”. Since I already had my combi ticket from Hofburg, and there were a long line at the only ticket counter, I walked straight past the line, stood next to the ticket lady for a few second. She sorta ignored me while helping other visitors, so I walked past her and up the stairs. I thought there would be a staff at the end of the stairs checking tickets, and the point of getting museum pas or combi ticket was “no queue at ticket counter” as in many other countries’ museums. Then the lady behind the counter finally gave a damn about me and *yelled* at me (in German I assumed). I had to walked back down to have her stamped my ticket, while everyone was staring at me. Couldn’t they kindly put out some instructions, so we know what to do and not having to end up like an idiotic tourist who wants to cut the line or sneak in a museum without paying?

The interior of the Neue Burg is a work of art itself. I can picture a Viennese lady walking down this staircase wearing a sumptuous evening gown. Neue Burg, Vienna. Dec 14, 2011.

Okay, done with the embarrassment, and it was time to look at some beautiful instrument. I was amazed by how an instrument was decorated in the past. Most of the time when I see a modern piano, it would be just that sleek black object. So seeing all these beautiful pianos adorned by sculptures, paintings marble and gems, it was like seeing the contrast between a florescent tube and a crystal chandelier. I don’t know if it was to save some spaces or what, but some pianos were hidden within some furniture pieces, and they often in an unfamiliar shape.

I can't quite understand the idea of "hiding" a tiny piano within a cabinet. Museum of Musical Instrument, Vienna. Dec 14, 2011.

I think this is one played by Schubert before. Museum of Musical Instrument, Vienna. Dec 14, 2011.

They are actually quite huge in size. Live the contrast between the decorative one and the plain one. Museum of Musical Instrument, Vienna. Dec 14, 2011.

I like the idea to heavily decorate a musical instrument: it’s an object of art used for producing another kind of art. I really enjoyed seeing all these rare pieces of art works while imagining the sounds it made when it was working properly. The best part about this museum was that I could walked up so close to some of the display, and in some rooms, I was actually walking in between them. Whenever I got this close with antiques, they no longer appeared to be just a display item inside a museum. They were more like an everyday item which people actually live and play with.

I still have no clues of what they were. Museum of Musical Instrument, Vienna. Dec 14, 2011.

A pretzel. Quite the oddest one I've seen. Museum of Musical Instrument, Vienna. Dec 14, 2011.