By Natalie Blackbourne, to Museum Spotlight Europe
July, 2019
While you’re spending time in Poland, Germany, or Austria, meander through the homes of musical geniuses and stop at beautiful and interactive museums. These edifices often lend themselves to kid-friendly activities like Sound Gardens, or live concerts in halls and amphitheaters in the style of their respective composers.
Poland:
The Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw, Poland has the largest collection of the composer’s memorabilia with over seven thousand items. Find music manuscripts, editions of Chopin’s works, his correspondence, historical and contemporary iconography, personal items, and criticism of his works.While the musician was born Polish, he became a French citizen in 1835 and became Frédéric François Chopin, which is his most common association. The museum explores his life, works, and the world’s reception to his music.
Germany:
The Bach Museum Leipzig is interactive! Explore the whole family of musicians and items from his family home. Bach’s favorite instrument, the organ, and a violine from his orchestra make appearances and are wonderfully preserved. There are often visiting exhibits with artifacts from his time employed in the royal court like sheet music and fine dining sets. Make sure to drop in for a Summer Baroque concert in the Summer Hall!
After five years of renovations, Richard Wagner‘s former residence, “Wahnfried“ and the Richard Wagner Museum in Bayreuth are now incorporated together and have grand new extensions. The Wahnfried House is a documentation of the life, work, and art of famous composer, with handwritten documents and illustrations on display. In the treasury, you can find a whole display on Wagner’s writing and composing process from start to final musical score.
Located close to his old home, the Johannes Brahms Museum in Hamburg is full of preserved memorabilia, writings, facsimiles, musical artifacts, and photographs of the composer who wrote one of the most famous children’s melodies. His well-known Symphony 1, Op. 68, is a lullaby that you have most likely heard before! The Johannes-Brahms-Association to this day promotes national and international research into Brahms’ life and music, and they have maintained a reference library which is available to peruse by making arrangements prior to arrival.
George Frideric Handel’s childhood home is now where the exhibit ‘Handel – the European’ runs year-round. The exhibition explores the life and legacy of the German-born English Composer. There is even a miniature baroque theatre stage with special effects that has a virtual, superimposed Handel playing for a ‘live’ performance!
Schumann-Haus Leipzig showcases the life of Clara and Robert Schumann in the home from their first four years of marriage. This is the house in which they entertained companions such as Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and Hans Christian Andersen. Everything has been restored to its former glory and provides insight into the captivating couple and how they lived. Be sure to check out the kid-friendly Sound Garden for some interactive fun!
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s house in Leipzig has been carefully restored and transformed into a museum. Mendelssohn was not only a composer and music director, but also a “cultural politician” and piano virtuoso. Amble through the composer’s life and work, illustrated letters and music sheets, watercolor art done by the composer himself, and enjoy the music salon in the mornings for concerts.
The Gustav Mahler Museum in Hamburg is dedicated to the memory of the romantic composer and his contribution to the city. Mahler worked from for a number of years in Hamburg as the Chief Conductor of Operas. In this memorial are his famous works like Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and his second and third symphonies. The museum houses several exhibits: one includes a player piano made by Welte-Mignon, which reproduces the composition accurately in the way Mahler intended it to sound. Find reproductions of his work next to his black bike, as he was also a passionate cyclist.
Austria:
The Museum of the Johann Strauss Dynasty is the first museum in the world to include the entire Strauss family background, and the musical activities of the full lineage: Johann Strauss (Father), Johann Strauss (Son), Josef Strauss, and Eduard Strauss. Find numerous historic materials and documents from Vienna’s “Biedermeier” era, the 1848 revolution, and the development period of the 1870s and 1880s, which included strong European influence and the operetta phenomenon. There are over fourteen themes to walk through with corresponding musical audio!
The birthplace of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart is one of the most frequently visited museums in the world! This three-story exhibition shows where the musical genius grew up, when he began to play music, who were his friends and patrons, his relationship with his family, and his love of opera. Find this child prodigy’s violins, viola, forte piano, and clavichord, all in their natural environment. In the summer, be sure not to miss “Organs at Noon,” and a stroll in the Bastion Garden to take a peek at the Magic Flute House in the back.
At Haydnhaus, you can visit the home in which the composer lived in the last years of his life after moving to Austria. Joseph Haydn was considered the most famous composer in all of Europe during the final years of his life. His important works were created here, including the two oratorios, “The Creation” and “The Seasons.” Besides Haydn’s favored fortepiano, there is also his clavichord, which was later acquired by Johannes Brahms. The highlight of the Haydnhaus is the garden, which was redesigned as a replica of a bourgeois garden from around 1800.
Franz Schubert’s life is preserved where he took his last breath – the house where Schubert died near Naschmarkt in Vienna holds his final study and bed. Franz Schubert lived there for several weeks as his brother’s guest until his death in November of 1828. Here he composed his last works, like “The Shepherd on the Rock.” The exhibits inside memorialize the last weeks of his life, his death, the funeral, and the grave of the composer, which is near Beethoven’s last resting place in the local cemetery.
As the The Beethoven House in Bonn, Germany, is now permanently closed, The Beethoven Museum in Vienna, Austria is the grandest tribute to the iconic composer. He came to Vienna to study with Mozart in 1787, and he moved there a couple years later. Here you can find sculptures in the musician’s likeness, chests of music, and various artifacts from the deaf composer’s life.
