{"id":74631,"date":"2024-08-19T09:59:30","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T08:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=74631"},"modified":"2025-05-04T17:04:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T16:04:31","slug":"historical-instrument-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/historical-instrument-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"Historical instrument highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/violinsmall.jpg\" alt=\"Part of a violin\" class=\"wp-image-74633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/violinsmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/violinsmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>What beauty and encounters with greatness might you find in the historical musical instrument collection inside the Weltmuseum? Here my highlights&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Instruments played by Schubert, Brahms, Liszt, Mahler, Strauss, and others<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many items with their own fascination, regardless of provenance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/concerts-opera-vienna-tickets-l206741\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_Welt\" rel=\"sponsored\">classical concert experience<\/a>* for your Vienna trip<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/historical-instruments\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"8887\">Historical instrument collection overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/weltmuseum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"9264\">Weltmuseum overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/classical-concert\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"5359\">Classical concerts<\/a> in Vienna<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Touched by genius<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"357\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/fortepianomusicalinstrument.jpg\" alt=\"Early 19th-century Fortepiano\" class=\"wp-image-62033\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/fortepianomusicalinstrument.jpg 357w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/fortepianomusicalinstrument-238x300.jpg 238w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 357px) 100vw, 357px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Illustrative only. A fortepiano from 1825\u20131845, manufactured by Ignaz B\u00f6sendorfer and fomerly owned by the famous writer and friend of Beethoven, Franz Grillparzer; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. Grillparzer 131; reproduced under the terms of the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0 license<\/a>; photo by Birgit and Peter Kainz, Wien Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will never cease to marvel at being able to stand next to instruments that great composers once played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such items seems to grant an almost physical connection to historical figures of the past. Just like when you look out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/mozarthaus\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"5858\">same window<\/a> Mozart did. Or see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/military-history\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"13063\">the car<\/a> carrying Franz Ferdinand to his 1914 assassination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On my last visit to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/historical-instruments\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"8887\">collection of historical instruments<\/a>, for example, the public displays included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A violin that once belonged to Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus&#8217;s dad and an accomplished musician in his own right)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A square piano from c. 1820 that Schubert used when composing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An 1839 grand piano that once felt the touch of Brahms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"298\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/historicalinstrumentorchestra.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of 19th-century ensemble musicians\" class=\"wp-image-77398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/historicalinstrumentorchestra.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/historicalinstrumentorchestra-300x179.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Kapellmeister Margold and five musicians from a salon ensemble photographed by the Baldi &amp; W\u00fcrthle photo studio, possibly around 1860\u20131870; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 72823\/4; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The 1862 \u00c9rard piano used by Franz Liszt for compositions, lessons and private concerts while in Rome<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The 1868 grand piano performed on by Clara Schumann at the inaugural concert in the Brahms-Saal of the famous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/musikverein\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"5593\">Musikverein<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A grand piano from the apartment of piano manufacturer Michael Schweighofer that Johann Strauss II used to play. (And here&#8217;s a fascinating bit of trivia: I *think* Michael is the brother of Carl Schweighofer, whose grave <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/songsfilms\/vienna-by-ultravox\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"34931\">features in the official video<\/a> to Ultravox&#8217;s hit single Vienna)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A 1902 piano owned by Mahler<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A 1950 zither once played by Anton Karas of <em>The Third Man<\/em> theme tune fame (the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/third-man-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"60290\">Third Man Museum<\/a> has the zither used for the actual film music)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-slug-ids=\"exp206741,exp238032\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_ConcTour\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if you ignore any renowned former owners and players, certain instruments impressed me entirely through their design. Especially those predating the eras of such famous composers. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dual purpose instruments, such as a glorious 17th-century lacquered and mosaiced cabinet with a built-in keyboard. Or a table inlaid with ebony and ivory that turns out to be a pipe organ<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gorgeous harps from the 1700s with golden scrolling and covered in delicate paintings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gilded mid-18th century trumpets used by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/wiener-hofmusikkapelle\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"57096\">Hofmusikkapelle<\/a> during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A travelling clavichord from c. 1785, complete with quill holder for those last minute changes to the sheet music<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"378\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/historicalinstrumentquartet.jpg\" alt=\"String quartet from around 1865\" class=\"wp-image-83057\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/historicalinstrumentquartet.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/historicalinstrumentquartet-300x252.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Helmesberger-Quartett photographed by Amand Helm around 1865; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 120303\/130; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Late 18th century fortepianos: the kind that Jane Austen&#8217;s heroines (or Jane Austen herself) might have played on<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A B\u00f6sendorfer grand piano built in the 1860s for the Paris World Fair. Imagine an opulent salon in a majestic palace. Now imagine that salon in the form of a grand piano: all neoclassical wood inlays, decorated scrollwork, and gilded female figures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Nor do the collection highlights limit themselves to instruments. Works of art add another component to the displays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I found, for example, a coloured wax bust of Joseph Haydn: created while he was still alive in around 1800. And an 1898 bust of Brahms by Ilse Conrat, who also designed the composer&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/brahms-grave\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"32076\">gravestone<\/a>. Not to mention portraits of Beethoven (1823) and Schubert (1814).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nationallibrarynight.jpg\" alt=\"The National Library at night\" class=\"wp-image-42861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nationallibrarynight.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nationallibrarynight-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/neue-burg\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1493\">Neue Burg<\/a> home to the collection: suitably magnificent)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, finally, as with many museums in Vienna, the galleries themselves possess their own intrinsic worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The room at the centre of the collection, for example, has marble columns, stucco decoration and ceiling paintings. I believe it also hosts very occasional morning concerts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Concerts in historical surrounds is a big deal in Vienna. I have some suggestions for an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/classical-concert\/#mozart-strauss-concerts\">evening of light classical music<\/a> in churches, palaces and other such locations carrying echoes of the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What caught my eye among all the magnificent instruments in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-74631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-khm","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74631"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83060,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74631\/revisions\/83060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}