The Melodies of Brussels
Music is more important in Brussels than the city’s restrained reputation may suggest. Its bustling cafés and bars host a lively jazz scene, while the national opera and symphonic orchestras provide more musical enchantment. What’s more, the city is also home to one of the most fascinating and diverse displays of musical instruments in the world.
The Museé des Instruments de Musique is a rather intriguing attraction housed in the whimsical Old England building. A striking façade of large glass windows framed by wrought-ironwork has made MIM something of a landmark in a city notable for its fine architecture, much of which is credited to Victor Horta, one of the leading proponents of Art Nouveau in Belgium. But not this one.
“The Old England building was designed by Paul Saintenoy and not by Victor Horta, as many tourists seem to think,” explains Jo Santy, Head of Communications at MIM. “Horta loathed this building and thought it had nothing to do with the refined architectural style he had developed.”
While Horta may have disapproved, the building’s arresting design is a definite draw for visitors, as are the assorted activities the museum puts on, which include live music performances in the 200-seat concert hall.
Visitors can also hear the music of the varied instruments on a regular visit, by picking up a pair of Sennheiser infrared headphones at the start of the tour. A wander around the museum is full of musical interludes, as visitors pause beside an instrument and revel in the sounds it produces via the magic of those swish headphones.
And there are plenty of wonderful sounds to savour from a vast collection of 6,000 instruments that was started in 1877 and is now believed to be the world’s largest. As many as 1,500 specimens are on display and together they reveal the fascinating history and evolution of music. There are renaissance crumhorns, south German barrel organs and African drums, ancient Chinese stone chimes, eighteenth-century violins and bagpipes from several countries among the collection. A number of instruments designed by Adolphe Sax – the Belgian inventor of the saxophone who lived in Brussels for a time before moving to Paris – are also on display.
“There are not many museums for musical instruments around,” says Santy, “and very few of those can boast collections from all regions and time frames like the MIM.” That must be music to the ears of visitors wanting to sample a different beat in Brussels.
www.mim.be/en
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22-03-2011
