The collections The museum is not only unique in the wealth of its instrument collections (4.500 instruments ranging from the Renaissance to the present day); it also possesses an important body of iconography (paintings, sculptures, engravings) which will greatly entrance permanent and temporary exhibitions concerning the evolution of instrument-making through changing cultural and economic contexts. a tour of the permanent exhibition With a surface area in excess of 3.000 square meters, the halls of the permanent exhibition deploy 900 instruments, paintings, sculptures and diverse objects following the museographic designs of Henri Loyrette. As the visitors penetrate the halls of the museum, they are at once struck by the feeling of being elsewhere, in a place of reflection and mystery in which the instruments - as many precious objects under showcases or on plinths, in series or reflecting specific orchestral configurations, isolated or meshed in delicate visual harmonies -- literally vibrate to the underlying museographic dialectics : useful objects /æsthetic objects seen in the context of the cultures and societies within which they emerged, evolved and were transformed. Infra-red headsets enable visitors to penetrate (sound pockets) and to listen to extracts from important works as they tour the museum's various level. Nine chapters On polished concrete or pale parquet floors, the showcases, plinths and interactive audio-visual terminals lend continuity to a chronological survey enriched by thematic sections. But this fluid movement is broken up by specific spatial arrangements into nine chapters setting the instruments within the historical, social and cultural contexts that saw their emergence. In each case, a common device makes it possible to literally see a given work. Even the lay visitor can thus grasp and appreciate considerations underlying all musical practice : architecture, acoustics, the role of the public amongst others. With Claudio Monteverdi, we discover Baroque Italy; with Jean-Baptiste Lully's Akeste, the pomp and circumstance of Versailles; Jean-Philippe Rameau's Dardanus takes us to Paris, the Opera and the salons of 1755 at the Palais-Royal; the birth of public concerts is evoked by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphonie parisienne, first performed in 1778 in the Tuileries Palace. The museurn's Western music collections from the 17th and 18th centuries are particularly exceptional. Four chapters illustrate the l9th century. One is devoted to Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantast74ue, first performed in the auditorium of the Paris Conservatoire, and reveals the principles of the romantic orchestra; another shows Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le diable, a lyrical drama performed at the rue Le Peletier opera-house in 1831; RichardWagner is also present, with Parsifal and the auditorium of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Finally, because the l9th century was the age of World's Fairs we discover the Salle des Fêtes at the Trocadéro, which provided the framework for the premiere of Camille Saint- Saëns's Symphonie no3 avec orgue in 1878. The museum which, since 1991, has implemented a vigorous policy of contemporary acquisitions, also evokes Igor Suavinsky's Sacre du Printemps first performed at the Theatre des Champs-Élysées in 1913, and Mauricio Kagel's Ex-position, the premiere of which took place at the Ircam's espace de projection in 1978. Of course, these nine chapters are strong points, the most spectacular moments of the visit but the visitors are also attracted by details revealing the many ways to enhance one's love of music.

cédit photo: Vue des espaces de l'exposition permanente Espaces d'exposition - architecte : Franck Hammoutène Vitrine ³Typologie de la Guitare² (1) Guitares A et J Voboam - paris XVIIè siècle Photo Georges Fessy Collection Musée de la musique © cité de la musique

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