Danny has a day off today(Tuesday) and I decide we need to do something cultural. I let Danny pick and he chooses MIM.
The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) is a music museum in central Brussels. It is part of the Royal Museums for Art and History and internationally renowned for its collection of over 8,000 instruments.
Originally attached to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with the purpose of demonstrating early instruments to students, the MIM collection was created in 1877 with a collection of a hundred Indian instruments given to Belgian King Leopold II by Rajah Sourindro Mohun Tagore in 1876 and the collection of the celebrated Belgian musicologist François-Joseph Fétis, purchased by the Belgian government in 1872 and put on deposit in the Conservatory, where Fétis was the first director.
Its first curator, Victor-Charles Mahillon, greatly expanded the already impressive collection so that, by the time of his death in 1924, the MIM consisted of some 3,666 articles, among which 3,177 were original musical instruments. He was noted of his astute judgments in obtaining these large augmentations by calling on philanthropists, mixing with erudite amateurs who sometimes became generous donors, and through friendly relations with Belgian diplomats in foreign posts, who sometimes brought back instruments from beyond Europe.
Among the notable pieces of the collection are the famous Rottenburgh Alto recorder, instruments invented by Adolphe Sax, a unique set of giant Chinese stone chimes, and the only existing copy of the luthéal, an instrument used by Ravel.
That is the basic description. We enjoyed the audio guide, which consisted only of music. You hang it around your neck and it picks up its cue from the floor in front of the display case. As you approach, music which features the instruments on display begins to play! It is really neat and enhances the experience greatly.
The building itself is a work of art. The museum's current location, as of 2000, is in the former Old England department store, built in 1899 by Paul Saintenoy out of girded steel and glass in the art nouveau style as well as an 18th-century neo-classic building designed by Barnabé Guimard. The interior is all exposed steel girders, a cool cage elevator and beautiful wood.
The temps outside and a slightly aggravated knee from a long run yesterday prevent further Brussels exploration today, but spring is coming! At home we enjoy a tasty lunch and a relaxing afternoon filled with No School!
And Cake!!
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