Monday, March 26, 2018

THE ART OF MUSIC at the MET: Review By Polly Guerin

Humanity has been drawn to make music and communicate beyond the human voice, across cultures and time, with instruments of incredible beauty and ingenuity, and nowhere is it more effectively represented than today at the Met's Andre Mertens Galleries for Music Instruments. 
     Daniel W. Weiss, President and CEO of the MET commented, "Nearly two years in the making the reopening of our Musical Instruments galleries has resulted in a new, more insightful narrative for our visitors that draws and reflects the unique strengths of the Museum's musical collection, presenting a comprehensive perspective on global music."  Image clockwise fro top left: Bartolomeo Christofori, Grand Piano (detail) 1720. Cypress, boxwood, paint, leather and fir. The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments. 1889. Alolphe Sax, Alto saxophone in E-flat, ca. 1855. Brass. Purchase, Robert Alonzo Lehman Bequest 2005. William Forster, "Royal George" cello, 1782. Spruce, maple, and ebony. Gift of Mona and Bradford Endicott, in honor of Ken Moore, 2016. Sankh. Indian, 19th century. Shell (Turbinella Pyrum), brass, and wax. Purchase, the Barrington Foundation Inc. Gift, 1986)
     THE ART OF MUSIC explores the artistry of music and instruments across four thousand years of musical instruments from across the globe. The four renovated galleries display the treasures of the collection. These include the world's oldest surviving piano, made by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence in 1720.  the scope of The Met's instruments collection offers the rae opportunity to illustrate the use of music and instruments to express status, identity, and spirituality, along with the impact of trade. Not to be missed is the Openwork, rattle bell, ca, early 1st millennium B.C., the Ming Dynasty cloisonne trumpets and  pre-Columbian drums; Andres Segovia's guitar, and violins by Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Amati.
       
The Art of Music, Andre Mertens Galleries
Of particular note is the Kona,  from Senegal made of such diverse materials as goatskin, antelope hide, ebony, metal, wood, from The Koyate family, a dynasty of West African storytellers who chronicle history and preserve epic stories. 

     Then, too, the 1845 Saxophone, by Adolphe Sax (Belgium), introduced in 1834, was original and before its time.  However during Sax's lifetime it achieved success and universal popularity through jazz and pop, two genres that  ironically did not exist until long after the saxophone's introduction. 
New to the gallery are two audio and video kiosk and an Audio Guide with more than 50 audio clips of the instruments.
   
Stuart Davis Mural for Studio B WNYC
Observational review points to the fact that although instruments are primarily intended to create sound, they are also powerful visual expressions and are often works of art in their own right. As such, their artistic appearance frequently reflects contemporary style, and the production techniques and materials used to make them are often found in other art forms. Included in the gallery are related objects and paintings from across The Met collection that illustrates the universal presence of music and instruments in art and society.

       The much favored instrument by today's artists on display is the Antonius Stradivari. Italian, Cremona 17ll. The arching of the Stradivari's top and back contributes to providing a louder volume, which helped to make the instrument popular with soloists in the nineteenth century. Image: At the end wall of the show is the magnificent Stuart Davis mural for Studio B, WNYC Municipal Broadcasting Company, 1939 incorporating elements that reflect musical instruments and broadcasting theme. Take note also, of a painting paying tribute to Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown. In 1889 she donated 300 instruments. Then, too, Brown would continue to collect until 1918, building a collection of more than 3,600 instruments for the Met Museum.
     A series of gallery-based concerts inspired by The Museum's Musical instruments collection, called TRADE WINDS  take place on April 27 and June 15.  The concerts are free with Museum admission.  For further info contact www.metmuseum.org/music galleries.
     Ta Ta Darlings!!!  "If music be the food of Love," (Purcell), the new Musical Instruments Galleries are indeed worth a visit  Fan mail welcome: pollytalknyc@gmail.com.  Visit Polly's Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and click on the left-hand list of Blogs that solicit your attention.

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