Museum of Musical Instruments
The permanent exhibition at the Museum of Musical Instruments presents musical instruments through the context of the period, workmanship, locality and musical tradition, with each of the 16 galleries showing the visitor a selected area or phenomenon. The first two floors are devoted to the history of European and Polish art music. The ground floor display covers the period from the late Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century, revealing the emerging world of secular instrumental music and the sacred vocal and instrumental music that dominated the Baroque period. On the first floor, the visitor progresses from court music from the 18th century, through to the instruments that resounded in 19th century concert halls, the era of brilliant virtuosos, salon and chamber music, to the avant-garde works of the 20th century. The second floor, in turn, takes the visitor on a journey through the musical traditions of world cultures, exploring the richness of instrument forms and their varied functions. It presents a remarkable array of musical modalities, from the simplest pre-Columbian rattles and whistles to extremely sonically and structurally complex Indian music.