Fruit watercolors – Apples | © UB
At LMU, the scientific study of music is a tradition dating back more than 120 years. To begin with, however, the discipline encountered huge problems with its elusive subject: Sources slumbered in libraries and archives, historic notations had been forgotten, new scores – let alone recordings – did not yet exist, and historical instruments had been taken out of service…
LMU’s musicological collections are thus a testimony to years of relentless efforts to bring philological research, new technologies and innovative approaches together. For the purposes of the exhibition, objects were selected that convey a sense of this process as it is applied in teaching and research. They range from acoustic apparatus used for research by Carl Stumpf, to historical instruments and sources, to attempts to reconstruct music that even led to performances at Carnegie Hall. Modern technologies likewise help the science of musicology to further advance its fundamental objectives.
For more information, please visit the University Library website.