Magical Music Machines e Catalogue

8/10/2019 Magical Music Machines e Catalogue

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PUBLICATION ON THE OCCASION OF THE EXHIBITIONMONARCHY MAGICAL MUSIC MACHINES


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MONARCHYMAGICAL MUSIC MACHINES

AUTHORSBALOG, PeterSOUKOV, Tana

www.nm.cz

First published in 2013 by the National Museum.

ISBN 9788070364086


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tablE of coNtENtS 1 INTRODUCTION 2 CARILLONS 3 SELFPLAYING ORGANS (ORGAN AUTOMATOPHONES)

4 COMPOSITIONS FOR FLUTE CLOCK

PRIMITIVIUS NIEMETZ

5 MUSIC BOXES

6 POLYPHONS AND SYMPHONIONS

7 AUTOMATONS AND ANDROIDS

FANTASMAGORY

8 BARREL ORGANS

THE CHILDRENS OPERA BRUNDIBR

FAIRS AND PUPPET THEATERS

BROADSIDE BALLADS

9 REED AUTOMATOPHONES

10 PIANOLA AND REPRODUCTION PIANO

11 ORCHESTRIONS

12 ELECTRONIC AUTOMATOPHONES

13 FEEDBACK FROM THE VISITORS BOOK

14 ACCOMPANYING PROGRAM

15 LIST OF THE EXHIBITED INSTRUMENTS

16 INSTALLATION OF THE EXHIBITION

17 PHOTOGRAPHS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

18 COLOPHON

NOTE

There are video hyperlinks in the text.

Click on the arrow icon to play the video.

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iNtroductioN

Dear readers,

Welcome to the publication that has originated on the occasion of the Magical

Music Machines exhibition held in 2012 at the Czech Museum of Music. Our playing

machines sounded forth as the introduction to the National Museums exhibition series

called Monarchie (The Monarchy), a project taking a look at life in the Austro-Hungarian

monarchy of the Habsburgs via a total of eight exhibitions.

To a large extent the exhibition traced the chronolog ical evolution of

automatophones from the sixteenth century to the present day. The oldest and most

valuable item was the unique Trauttmansdorff Clock with an automatic carillon, on

loan from the National Library. The eighteenth century was represented by anothergroup of instruments, namely flute clocks, whose advanced technical construction so

enchanted composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn that they

composed works for them. From the long nineteenth century we had musical boxes

and polyphons that still play today almost without any restoration work having been

done. We devoted special attention to automatons mechanically-moving figures

imitating human behaviour. There are only a few such gems in the collections of

Czech museums, and thus we were proud to be able to display the Monkey Playing

a Violin from the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Flute Player and Singing Bird from

the National Technical Museum, and our own Banjo Player by the famous Paris maker

Gustav Vichy. As the most horrifying item we displayed a barrel organ with a monkey

band a group of six monkeys that appear to play violin, trombone, contrabass, harp,

and drum. This rarity is normally hidden from the eyes of visitors in the depositaries

of the National Technical Museum. In a room devoted to the twentieth century we

presented a player piano that visitors could try out on the spot, just as they couldobserve piano orchestrions playing. The whole exposition was then concluded by

modern electronic automatophones including a p rominent exhibit item called slizvuk

(Sounding Numbers).


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The exhibition was enhanced by a series of accompanying events such as

a performance by barrel organ players in the museums atrium, show-and-tell player

piano evenings with Jan Hochsteiger, a lecture by Antonn vejda, and a presentation

by the Archioni Plus Chamber Orchestra and the Disman Radio Ensemble led by Zdena

Fleglov of the opera Brundibr.

Special thanks go to Pavel evk for graphic treatment of the entire exhibition

based on optical illusion, as a metaphor characteristic of musical playing machines

machines that come to life like a static picture that begins to move.


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CarILLONS

It was the Dutch who bestowed on Europe the first carillons when, starting in

the early fourteenth century, they combined them with the mechanism of tower clocks

driven by weights. A large wooden drum studded with pegs automated the playing.

From monasteries ad convents carillons gradually spread to churches in towns, and

their regular sounding served as a public marking of time, or drew attention to the

closing time of city gates or to approaching danger.

Late in the fifteenth century the free inhabitants of Flanders and towns of the

Netherlands were so prosperous that the building of tower clocks with moving figures

and a carillon became a symbol of their independence and success. Individual towns

even competed for the honour of having the highest and most elaborate tower with

the largest number of bells. Very well known to this day is the double carillon in thecathedral tower in Mechelen (49 + 49 bells), which has been entered on the UNESCO

World Heritage List. The popularity of carillons spread to France and gradually to the

whole world. The first carillon in the Czech lands was placed in the astronomical clock

in Olomouc, made in 141922.

The invention of clocks driven by a spring in the early fifteenth century allowed

them to be miniaturized and more delicate mechanisms to be introduced. Decorated

clocks of precious metals fitted with technical innovations such as an alarm clock,

moving figures (automatons), and carillons created a sensation. Their musical

expression was primitive, but fascinating. Clocks became a popular gift among kings

and princes. In time their public importance declined, and craftsman began making

them mainly for private use by wealthy ruling families.


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Trauttmansdorff clock with carillon

Anonymous, Prague (?), 1596

(National Library of the Czech Republic, P 803)

During the fifteenth century the renewal of interest in ancient philosophy, science, and art together

with a higher standard of living led to the development of the Renaissance culture, one of whose

manifestations was production of clocks having high technical as well as artistic quality of which

the specimen here displayed is an example. Four decoratively-painted plates joined by little columns

protect the clock mechanism and the carillon, having a cylinder with holes into which metal pins are

inserted that strike ten small bells. The table clock ends with a metal plate having two bells and an

automaton in the shape of a rooster. When the carillon stopped playing the rooster crowed three

times, waved its wings, and opened its beak.

The front side contains four clock faces. The uppermost presents a calendar of church feasts

and also shows the four seasons of the year. Beneath it is a clock face divided into twenty-four

parts depicting the relative positions of the Sun and the Moon as well as the phases of the Moon.

The lower clock faces show quarter hours and hours. Between the clock faces is a gilded cylinder

with Latin and German names of the days of the week and carved figurines. Painted on the sides

of the clock are decorative pictures, including a song book ornamented with a blossom and primarily

allegorical figures Astronomia with a globe and Musica with a trombone. According to an

inscription on a silver plaque on the pedestal this clock was donated in 1753 by Count Franz Adam

Trauttmansdorff to the Jesuit college in Pragues Clementinum, where it is deposited to this day.


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Carillon mechanism

Anonymous, Bohemia (?), eighteenth century

(National Museum - Czech Museum of Music, E 2112)


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Photograph from the exhibition


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SElfPlayiNgOrgaNs (OrgaNautomatophoNEs)

A favourite mechanical instrument of Emperor Rudolf II was the self-playing

organ, whose manufacture was concentrated in the Bavarian town of Augsburg. The

opening and closing of the pipe va lves was controlled by a cylinder with inserted pins,

set in motion by a stream of water or by weights. By contrast with a carillon, the set

of pipes allowed playing of a melody with a recognizable harmonic accompaniment.

One of the oldest preserved self-playing organs, a horn machine, is found in

Salzburg. It comes from the sixteenth century and originally had 350 pipes. Before

the beginning of a composition a chord that the local residents called the Salzburg

Bull was played by 150 pipes The cylinder originally contained only one composition,

but in 1753 Leopold Mozart, the father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, expanded the

repertoire to twelve pieces composed by masters of the classical style.

The Renaissance enthusiasm for artistic galleries knew no bounds. Rulers loved

to commission artistically-adapted cabinets with astronomical or optical equipment

and also with self-playing organs. In the eighteenth century the zeal for luxurious

cabinets declined and the appearance of organ machines became more simple. This

trend is shown by this self-playing organ built into a cabinet, the work of imon Josef

Truska, the last lay brother of the Premonstratensian monastery at Strahov in Prague.


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Self playing organ in secretary

imon Josef Truska, Prague, 1774


Self playing organ with animal voices and singing bird

Athanasius Kircher, Musurgia U niversalis, 1650


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Self playing organ with blacksmiths

Athanasius Kircher, Musurgia Universalis, 1650


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CompositioNsfor flutE ClocK

Starting in the second half of the eighteenth century the use of small self-playing

organs associated with a clock was not only a privilege of kings and the most exclusive

elite. The carillon was replaced by pipes, and flute clocks became very popular among

the nobility and wealthy burghers.

Flute clocks most often played opera arias, overtures, parts of flute concertos,

minuets, other dances, or parts of symphonies. Compositions originally intended for

human performance were adapted for a playing cylinder, but original compositions

were also written for the flute clock, including some by the greatest masters: the

triumvirate of the Viennese classical style Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

In the output of Joseph Haydn (17321809) we find at least thirty-five piecesthat he either composed for or arranged for the flute clock. He did not quite know

how to accommodate himself to the small space afforded by the rotating cylinder

as a recording medium, but his contemporary Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91)

succeeded in this and strove to create his own style of mechanical music, differing

from that of his other works. His pieces were played by a clock with a cylinder having

spirally-arranged pins for as much as ten minutes at a time, and used a compass of

three octaves with more than one note sounding simultaneously. Toward the end

of his life he composed short pieces for automatophones primarily owing to his

unfavourable financial situation. The Czech nobleman Joseph Deym-Mller (1750-

1804) commissioned compositions from Mozart for his Viennese gallery of wax

figures. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) also received a commission from Deym;

best known of Beethovens five short pieces for flute clock is an Adagio from ca. 1792.

In the nineteenth century mechanized organs in clocks were replaced by musical boxmechanisms. Self-playing organs were transformed into barrel organs and orchestrions.


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Flute clock

Vclav Vencl, Prague, 1st half of 19th centrury


Flute clock

Petr Heinrich, Prague, first half of the nineteenth century

(National Museum - Czech Museum of M usic, E 2113)


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Primitivus NiEmEcz

Primitivius Niemecz Cmi Principis Esterhzy Bibliothecarius fecit in Esterhas

Anno 1793

(Lettering on the preserved mechanism from a flute clock by Primitivus Niemecz)

An unjustly neglected figure from this period in fact totally forgotten is

Primitivus Niemecz (born 1750 in Vlaim, Bohemia, died 1806 in Vienna), librarian

of Prince Esterhzy. He acquired his name in the monastery of the merciful brothers

in Prague, where he took his monastic vows as frater Primitivus. In 1780 he became

court librarian for Prince Nikolaus Esterhzy in Hungary. Prince Nikolaus I of Galntha,

true to his nickname der Prachtliebende (Lover of Splendour), loved pomp, but also

had a good understanding of music. In his palace Esterhza, in the style of Versailles,

he maintained the largest resident orchestra in Hungary, whose members includedseveral Czechs and which was conducted by the celebrated Joseph Haydn.

Haydns friendship with Primitivus Niemecz influenced the latters musical

education. However, he was famous mainly for his outstanding abilities in mechanics.

Where he acquired these skills is not known, but most likely it was in his native

Bohemia, where production of musical clocks was widespread at that time. He made

various automatophones for his own pleasure, and several of them are mentioned in

lexicons written already during his lifetime a musical spinning wheel, a musical chair,

and a chess-playing automaton. Niemecz made perfect playing machines admired

by the most famous Viennese composers: [] He also engaged in very successful

experiments with diverse organ and clock machi nes and ornamented them with figures

and little pieces, sonatas and small concerts.

Niemecz made four flute clocks for which Haydn composed pieces or arrangedthem. Of the many instruments he made during his lifetime only three flute clocks have

been preserved, remaining in private collections to this day. They contain up to thirty

various pieces by Joseph Haydn.


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The preserved portion of a flute clock by the Czech librarian Primitivus Niemecz, for whom

Joseph Haydn compos ed or arranged twelve pie ces. The clock had twent y-nine tones with

a compass of two and a half octaves and played sonatas and symphonies by Haydn.

(Museum Speelklok, Utrecht)


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Musical BoxEs

In the nineteenth century a new type of mechanical instrument appeared, and

throughout this century its sound was a popular musical companion in households that

could afford it. Unlike the wooden cylinder and pipes found in flute clocks, the mechanism

of a musical box consisted of a small metal cylinder studded with tiny pins of steel.

The circular motion of the barrel was driven by a stretched spring, and the pins plucked

a steel comb with tuned teeth that sounded according to a set program. The cylinder

commonly contained as many as six compositions, mainly opera melodies, patriotic and

folk songs, and/or waltzes. Although musical box mechanisms were normally placed in

wooden cases, the high-quality sound and small dimensions of the machines inspired

makers to place them into other objects as well porcelain figurines, Christmas tree

stands, chairs, pendants, jewellery boxes, goblets, and photo albums.

The area of Switzerland near the border with France may be considered

the cradle of musical boxes. In Geneva and the town of St. Croix clockmakers and

craftsman made individual parts which they then assembled.

Important makers of musical boxes also included, starting in 1813, Frantiek

ebek, a native of Josefov in Bohemia. He won several awards in world expositions

in Paris and London. I n 1870 his enterprise was taken over by his son Gustav.

Because of the great demand for musical boxes, starting in the second half of

the nineteenth century home production was replaced by manufacture in factories.

The number of compositions on a cylinder increased, and musical box mechanisms

began to be complemented by carillons, drums, or small organs. Toward the end of the

century the cylinders were standardized and it was possible to change them, but not

even this innovation prevented the gradual fall from favour of these once-so-popularmachines.


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Music Box

Frantiek ebek, Prague, ca. 1830-70


This simple music box with up to 103 teeth plays four compositions.

The same models were also made by Frantiek ebeks son Gustav.

http://youtu.be/zDlyKGsMRY4
http://youtu.be/zDlyKGsMRY4http://youtu.be/zDlyKGsMRY4http://youtu.be/zDlyKGsMRY4


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Swiss Music Box

Anonymous, western Europe, ca. 1870-90


Between the two steel combs, each having thirty-six teeth, is a mechanical system for opening

and closing valves that release air to free reeds. In the lower part of the mechanism are bellows.

The sound of the reeds is sharp and penetrating. This playing box was originally called Voix Cleste,

i.e. Celestial Voice. It plays eight compositions.

http://youtu.be/BrYDTuOOoj8
http://youtu.be/BrYDTuOOoj8http://youtu.be/BrYDTuOOoj8http://youtu.be/BrYDTuOOoj8


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Swiss Music Box

Anonymous, western Europe, ca. 1870-90


The comb is divided into four parts, of which the longest has a hundred tuned teeth. Another

eight teeth are sounded by mallets next to a wooden drum at the right, while the same number

of teeth are sounded by mallets next to the metal drum at left, and the last six serve for controlling

the hammers next to bells arranged in the shape of a pyramid. The hammers often had the shape

of bees, blacksmiths, or dwarfs. This box plays six compositions.

http://youtu.be/H_KNiHtfSW0
http://youtu.be/H_KNiHtfSW0http://youtu.be/H_KNiHtfSW0http://youtu.be/H_KNiHtfSW0


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Music goblet

Anonymous, nineteenth century

(National Mu seum - Czech Museum of M usic, E 2111)

Music Box

Johann Heinrich Heller, Bern, late nineteenth century

(National Museum - Czech Museum of Musi c, E 1968)

This music box plays eight compositions. Corresponding to this large number is the greater distance

between the seventy-four teeth: the cylinder must have sufficient space for shifting to be able to playthe next piece. Heller made music boxes and also monumental orchestrions.


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Table symphonion

Symphonion Musikwerke, Leipzig, late nineteenth century(National Museum - Czech Museum of Music, E 694)

This symphonion contains two playing combs with thirty teeth. The model is designated 41N

(N standing for Nussbaum, i.e. nut tree). It was sold in three sizes. The larger models had

seventy-two and eighty-four teeth.

http://youtu.be/ofe2XvVBI5E
http://youtu.be/ofe2XvVBI5Ehttp://youtu.be/ofe2XvVBI5Ehttp://youtu.be/ofe2XvVBI5E


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Table polyphon with bells

Polyphon Musikwerke, Leipzig, early twentieth century


This polyphon features a coloured lithograph of angels playing a contrabass, lute, and drum.

It has forty-one teeth and six bells which can be turned off. This model is designated 41G

(G standing for Glocken, i.e. bells). The spring is stretched via a crank in the front part of the case.


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Table polyphon

Polyphon Musikwerke, Leipzig, ca . 1900


A polyphon with a coloured lithograph of the Dresden docks on the inside of the cover. Beneath it is

a small label with the name of the seller: mal brothers of Prague. The polyphon has fifty-four teeth

and allows regulation of the speed of playing. This was one of the most popular models.


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Polyphon with disc changer

Polyphon Musikwerke, Leipzig, ca . 1900


A polyphon with a pair of combs each having seventy-five teeth and a disc changer. The desired disc

can be selected with a lever. A small lift raises it to the proper position, plays it, and then returns it

to its original place. Advertisements claimed that this polyphon had an unusually sweet tone.

Polyfon Musikwerke factory advertisement

Zeitschrift fr Instrumentenbau, Leipzig, 19001901

(private collection)http://youtu.be/Z84LZEXirbI
http://youtu.be/Z84LZEXirbIhttp://youtu.be/Z84LZEXirbIhttp://youtu.be/Z84LZEXirbI


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Polyfon Musikwerke factory advertisement


(private collection)

Music machine with snooker advertisement




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automatoNsaNd aNdroids

The first mentions of automatons come from ancient times and the Middle Ages.

In the thirteenth century automatons were included in tower clocks. Often they were

associated with horrifying stories. For instance the creator of the oldest preserved

automaton, an iron rooster from the clock of the cathedral in Strasbourg from 1350,

was allegedly blinded by the town councilmen to prevent him from ever again making

anything like it. And puppets endowed with life aroused fear, as though they could

destroy even their own maker.

During the Renaissance the concept automaton included a whole group of self-

moving machines, various astronomical models, and mechanical puppets, which were

acquired by the high nobility as luxuries. A Renaissance table automaton had a base

in which the mechanism was hidden, and the main part consisting of moving figures,boats, animals, or whole scenes. Complica ted long-playing automatons were collected

by Emperor Rudolf II, who deposited them in his famous Prague Kunstkammer.

The Thirty Years War and the beginning of the scientific revolution slowed the

development of automatons. Ren Descartes, in his Discourse on the Method of

Rightly Conducting the Reason (1637), cast doubt on the perfection of automatons

and degraded them to mere toys.

A century later a completely opposite attitude toward mechanical hominoids was

adopted by Jacques Vaucanson, who elevated the construction of such machines to

the level of philosophical experiments. He understood the making of androids as an

effort to capture and simulate mechanically the behaviour of living beings, including

physiological events that produce that behaviour but are not themselves normally

visible to the eye. Voltaire even called Vaucanson the rival of Prometheus. Production

of androids was also associated with the name of Jaquet-Droz. In the nineteenthcentury new makers of automatons appeared, such as Vichy, Dechamp, and Bontems.

The first robots provoke amazement to this day, and raise the disturbing question of

where the boundaries lie between real and artificial life.


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Banjo player

Gustav Vichy, Paris, late nineteenth century


Gustav Vichy (1839-1904) was the son of a French clockmaker. He learned that trade from his father,

but was more interested in mechanical toys. He began making automatons together with his wife,

who sewed clothing for the figures. In 1866 he opened a store in Paris, and at the world exposition

in 1878 he won several prizes. He made various moving figures: acrobats, clowns, dancers, musicians,

and exotic characters. Among his contemporaries were highly-acclaimed makers like Throude,

Roullet, Decamps, and Bontems. This banjo player is a playing minstrel. Hidden in his back is

a musical box mechanism that plays two short melodies in sequence. His neck and lips move,

he blinks, and with his hand he imitates the playing of the banjo.

http://youtu.be/ZgLNYXDhFtI
http://youtu.be/ZgLNYXDhFtIhttp://youtu.be/ZgLNYXDhFtIhttp://youtu.be/ZgLNYXDhFtI


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faNtasmagorY

On plazas under the open sky, in the halls of restaurants and taverns, and also

on Prague islands one could see the most diverse rarities, including curiosity shows

of moving automats: physical objects, automatons in the shape of human figures,

androids, and mechanical theatres. Visually-interesting posters decorated with simple

woodcut or lithograph prints lured viewers to these presentations and promised

amazing experiences a life-size figure of a cavalryman who walked, trotted, and

could trumpet twenty different melodies, a mechanically-moving horseman and tight

rope walker, and an automaton that a llegedly could even count, write, draw, and pl ay

various games.

Mostly it was artists from foreign countries who demonstrated curious musical

automatons. Viewers were drawn not so much by enjoyment of the music as by specialvisual attractions and curiosities. For example in 1837 it was a 180-cm tall figure of

a flute player with artificial lungs who could play twenty compositions. A Phonoganon

by Prof. Robertson from 1842 imitated the human voice. Great interest was aroused

by a musical automaton of Bedich Kaufman called Symphonion, in which a piano

mechanism was hidden along with a set of flutes, small drums, timpani, and a triangle.

Josef Faber built a figure of a woman who was operated via a keyboard; the speaking

woman reproduced the alphabet and some words, even sentences. Among them was

the Czech tongue-twister Str prst skrz krk. (Stick your finger through your throat.)

The dazzling beauty Olympia a brilliantly singing automaton is one of the

characters in the fantastic opera The Tales of Hoffmann (premiered 1881) by Jacques

Offenbach, a soprano role that offers great opportunities for its performer in both

singing and acting.


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BarrEl OrgaNs

The construction and appearance of barrel organs became stabilized in the

eighteenth century. Organ grinders were recruited from various social strata and

professions, and were an indispensible part of the ambience of public spaces in

Europe especially in the period around 1900.

They were mostly people eking out a living at the periphery of societybeggars,

paupers, wounded veterans of famous battles, but also men of the world who loved

to chat, for whom the barrel organ was an important source of income. Already during

the reign of Maria Theresa wounded veterans earned extra income by playing barrel

organs and thus eased the burden on the state treasury. Often they borrowed their

instruments from the makers for a deposit or a weekly fee, because they could not

afford to buy their own.

The barrel organ, an instrument of street singers, sellers of fair songs, and

travelling puppeteers, became a standard part of fair attractions including carousels.

Organ grinders were attracted to large cities like Prague, Vienna, Paris, and London.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century their presence there became such a burden

that the government had to regulate them. Special licenses restricted the operations

of organ grinders in large cities to only certain days in the week. Residents of London

even sent a request to parliament to forbid the playing of barrel organs. At markets,

church fairs, and taverns in rural areas , however, organ grinders were welcome guests.

They brought news, and unknown urban melodiespolkas, waltzes, marches, cabaret

songs, psalms, preludes, and chorales. Many broadside ballads even lived to see the

twentieth century and became a source of nostalgic or humorous parodies.


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Barrel organ

Josef Kamenk, Vyehrad in Prague, second quarter of the twentieth century


One of the latest instrument by the Czech barrel organ maker Josef Kamenk (1881-1946).

With his work the history of barrel organ production in our country came to an end.


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Barrel organ (original photography)

Gebrder Riemer M usikwerke, Chrastava, 1897


Barrel organ (original photography)

Gebrder Riemer Musi kwerke, Chrastava, 1897



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Brother Riemers first employees

Chrastava, 1897



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ThE ChildrENsOpEra BruNdibr

I sang in the chorus, which is constantly on stage. [...] In Terezn I even thought the

closing song of Brundibr was the Czech national anthem!

(Tommy Karas)

Terezn (Theresienstadt), a town in northern Bohemia ringed by fortress walls and

moats, was chosen by the Nazis for the internment of Jews. The concentration camp,

established in November 1941, served to intern Jews not only from the Czech lands

but from all of occupied Europe. The large majority of them departed therefrom only

to the extermination camps in the east, mainly Auschwitz. For artists and amateurs in

Terezn music was an expression of the will to live and also an answer to the unequal

struggle with brutality. At first cultural activities in the camp were forbidden, but then

they were tolerated and later even officially supported by the camps administrationas par t of Freizeitgestaltung.

The Czech composer Hans Krsa (born 1899 in Prague, died 1944 in Auschwitz)

was deported to Terezn in August 1942. He composed even in the conditions of

the camp and his works included the most successful presentation in Terezn, the

childrens opera Brundibr, which he wrote together with the author of the libretto

Adolf Hoffmeister already in 1938. The victory of the children over the evil organ

grinder Brundibr became a symbol of defiance against a dictator on the part of

defenceless children.

Rudolf Freundfeld-Frank brought a piano-vocal score of Brundibr to the

ghetto and had the greatest share in bringing about the production of the opera. His

work was not easy. Departing transports removed Jewish children to extermination

camps in the east, and they had to be replaced by children from new transports thatarrived. The opening was on 23 September 1943 in the Magdeburg barracks. The

opera scored a great success, and by the autumn of 1944 when the last transports

left Terezn it had been given fifty-five times, which is to say about once a week.


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BroadsidE Ballads

Broadside ballads, which served as precursors to newspapers, were immensely

popular among the common folk and encompassed a broad range of topics from

the latest events through lyrical and religious subjects and treatments of folk songs

all the way to humour and parody.

(Eva Ryav)

Popular at fairs, markets, and other festivities were broadside balladshuman

stories with a dramatic text whose visual presentation was a painted picture divided

into several smaller parts, illustrating the text of the song. The singer, accompanied

by a barrel organ, illustrated the sung text by pointing to the individual pictures. Live

performance had to capture the listeners attention to the extent that the listener

purchased the printed song. The topics of the songs were often current events murders, suicides, or human stupidity, but also religious subjects. Authentic broadside

ballads often served the function of sung news reports.


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Singers (drawing)

Alfred Kubn

Publ., Simplicis simus, 1933

(National Museum National Museum Library, R. Hlava fund)

Josef vb Malostransk with broadside balla d (photograph, 1896)

Publ., esk slovo, 4. 11. 1932

(National Museum National Museum Library, R. Hlava fund)


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J. M. Boick: O tom tiflpucrovi, anebo: Kdo jinmu jmu kop, sm do n pad .

Broadside ballad parody

Print, Mikul a Knapp, Prague Karln, 18751880

(Nrodn Muzeum National Museum Library, KP B 122/1)


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rEEdautomatophoNEs

In the late eighteenth century the effort to achieve variety and originality of

sound led acousticians to experiment with metal reeds, so as to make the sound of

machines resemble that of brass instruments. Among makers of automatophones who

proceeded in this manner were Johann Kaufmann and his son Friedrich Kaufmann.

In 1805 they assembled an instrument they called a belloneon, containing

twenty-four free reeds with appendages in the shape of trumpets and two kettle

drums. They made it for the King of Prussia and placed it in a mahogany case. It is said

that when Napoleon, after winning the battle at Jena in 1806, settled at the palace

in Charlottenburg, the sound of trumpets suddenly rang out in the still of the night.

Napoleon supposed he was being attacked and sounded the alarm. It turned out that

the sounds emanated from the belloneon, which stood in the middle of a marble halland had in its repertoire all the signals of the Prussian cavalry. The machine was

probably activated accidently by some member of Napoleons entourage.

In the late nineteenth century free reeds were used in new types of

automatophones. They were sounded by a perforated piece of cardboard in a circular

shape, a metal disc, or a perforated belt joined in a circle. Instruments like the Intona,

Ariston, Manopan, and Mignon were popular also as childrens toys.


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Manopan

Euphonika Musikwerke, Leipzig, ca. 1900


The Manopan was produced in several different types. Various models differed in the kind of reeds

used and the breadth of the cardboard belt. This model has twenty-four reeds and is driven by

a crank. The Manopan was on the market for about twenty-five years.


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Tanzbr

A. Zuleger, Leipzi g, 1900-50


A mechanical accordion called a dancing bear. Inside the instrument is a perforated paper cylinder

that controls admission of air to twenty-eight reeds. Motion of the cylinder is controlled by pulling

a special level. The buttons are only for the sake of appearance.


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PiaNolaaNd rEproductioNpiaNo

A Player Piano in Every Home in the Country!

Because the straight piano usually gets out of the home together with the boy or

girl who learned to play it, while the Player-Piano stays at home because any of

the remaining members of the family know how to operate it and make music for

themselves.

(Standard Player Monthly, 1926)

Late in the nineteenth century a clever combination of a perforated roll,

pneumatic equipment, and a piano gave rise to a new instrumentthe player piano. Its

first types had the mechanism separate from the piano, and it had to be placed next to

the piano for playing. Little mechanical fingers were positioned over the keyboard and

played compositions according to perforations in a roll. Tempo, dynamics, and dampingwere controlled by a human, the driver of the player piano. Later types of dampers

were built directly into the piano. Up to a thousand new compositions were issued

for the player piano each month, offered in print and in special catalogues. The broad

repertoire of the perforated rolls ranged from Bach to ragtime.

In the twentieth century the Aeolian Company and Welte-Mignon presented

a new type of mechanica l pianothe reproducing piano, which faithfully played what

was recorded on a roll including all phrasing, tempo changes, and dynamics. Even

piano virtuosos and composers of the time, like Igor Stravinsky and Claude Debussy,

were favourably impressed by the reproducing piano. In amazement they listened

to their own performances, duplicated much more perfectly than on phonograph

recordings. The superhuman possibilities of the mechanical piano inspired composers

to write works whose performance surpassed the physical limits of players. These

pieces reflected various avant-garde musical styles.

Production of mechanical pianos was halted in the 1930s by the economic

depression, and not even after World War II did their sales reach such levels as before.

However, the reproducing piano preserved the interpretational style of great masters

even for todays listeners.


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Phonola advertisement

Zeitschrift fr Instrumentenbau, Leipzi g, 19041905


Player piano

Popper & Co., Leipzig, first third of the twentieth century.

(National Museum - Czech Museum of M usic, E 2947)

A player piano powered by electricity, originally at 110 Volts. The perforated roll controls eighty-

three keys and also a xylophone having twenty-seven tones, placed in the upper part of the piano.


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Player piano

Baker. Newark, New Jersey, ca. 1920-30.


The pneumatic mechanism of this player piano is activated by pressing pull-out pedals.

The mechanical piano is played by perforated roles of paper that control the movement

of all eighty-eight keys. They do not control tempo or dynamics, which however can be

influenced by a manipulation device located beneath a pull-out panel next to the keyboard.

On the perforated roll one finds only indication of what dynamics and tempo can be used.

Printed on some rolls are also the words of the song being played, so that the operator

can play and sing at the same time. Like many other makers, Baker engaged in trade in

musical instruments. He did not manufacture the player piano mechanism but only

inserted it into upright pianos.

http://youtu.be/J99wRKCGOH0
http://youtu.be/J99wRKCGOH0http://youtu.be/J99wRKCGOH0http://youtu.be/J99wRKCGOH0


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The Czech violinist and composer Jan Kubelk with Ludvk vb at the Bchory stately home

Photograph, 1910

In the foreground an automatic harmonium made by the Aeolian Company of New York. Called in

advertisements the Aeolian Orchestrelle, it was produced roughly during the period 1905-10.

(National Museum - Czech Museum of Music)


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Cover of the American m agazine Standa rd Player Monthly from 1926


The publisher of this magazine the Standard Pneumatic Action Company also produced a pneu matic

mechanism frequently used in the production of player pianos. According to this promotional monthly,

ownership of a player piano was a social necessity. Besides lists of newly-released player piano rolls,

the magazine also contained advertisements, quizzes, and profiles of musicians .

Ema Destinnov, the world-famous Czech opera singer,

in a promotional photograph with a Hardman Autotone player piano.

Photograph, early twentieth century.



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Orchestrion

Eduard Dienst & Co., Leipzig, 190010


Diensts International Orchestrion consists of a tall case

with a colourful stained-glass window in the front door.

(The height was very important, because the back side bears

the weights that drive the orchestrion.) Stored on the pinned

cylinder are six compositions. Moving the cylinder to one side

allows the playing of the next song.

The orchestrion has a piano unit with thirty-five tones, also

a mandolin (creating a tremolo effect) with fourteen tones and

a xylophone with nine tones. The percussion part consists

of a large and small drum and a cymbal. The whole instrument

is activated by inserting a coin.

The firm of Dienst & Co. was founded in 1871 and to the end

of the nineteenth century concentrated on production of

orchestrions. Later it began taking an interest in pneumatic

instruments using a perforated roll. It was one of the few

German makers to find a market in the United States.


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Eduard Dienst & Co. factory advertisement




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Orchestrion

Jan tycha, Mnichovice , second half of the nineteenth century


It is not known whether the inscription on the face of this piano orchestrion, Jan tycha in Mnichovicenear Prague, refers to the maker, the seller, or only the maker of some component. In production of

orchestrions it was common for the case to be made by one craftsman and the cylinder by another.

This cylinder bears eight short songs. The piano unit has twenty tones, and the mandolin effect fifteen

tones. The cylinder also controls a small drum, cymbal, and triangle. It is activated by inserting a coin.

http://youtu.be/PKGpF_ESoKc
http://youtu.be/PKGpF_ESoKchttp://youtu.be/PKGpF_ESoKchttp://youtu.be/PKGpF_ESoKc


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Fairground organ

Gebrder Bruder, Waldkirch, second half of the nineteenth century


A fairground organ (or fairground orchestrion) from the small Black

Forest town of Waldkirch, famous for the making of this type of

instrument. Among those who began in Waldkirch were Gavioli

and Limonaire. The firm of Gebrder Bruder was the largest

producer of fairground organs. The factory was founded by

Ignaz Bruder, and its prosperity ensured by his fourteen sons.

This instrument uses a perforated cardboard roll instead

of a cylinder, and a pneumatic system.


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Modular synthesizer called slizvuk (Sounding Numbers)

Radio and Television Research Institute, Prague, 1970s



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13

fEEDBaCK fROMTHE VISITOrS bOOK


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aCCOMPaNYINGPrOGraM

Brundibr childrens opera about the evil organ grinder Brundibr

Disman Broadcast Childrens Company and chambre orchestra Archioni Plus

4. 11. 2012, Czech Museum of Music


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Jan Hochsteiger and his show and tell evening with player piano

17. 1. 2013, Czech Museum of Music

Brundibr childrens opera about the evil organ grinder Brundibr

Disman Broadcast Childrens Company and chambre orchestra Archioni Plus

4. 11. 2012, Czech Mus eum of Mu sic


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LIST OfTHE EXHIBITEDINSTrUMENTS

CARILLONS

Pendulum clock with carillon, first half of the nineteenth century,

North Bohemian Museum in Liberec, Eg 1097

Pendulum clock with carillon, first half of the nineteenth century,

North Bohemian Museum in Liberec, Eg 2178

Table clock with carillon, Josef Uhl, second half of the eighteenth century,

National Technical Museum, 24955

Trauttmansdorff clock with carillon, 1596, National Library of the Czech Republic, P 803

Carillon mechanism, eighte enth century, National Museum, E 2112

FLUTE CLOCKS

Flute clock, Vclav Vencl, first half of the nineteenth century, National Museu m, E 718

Flute clock, Vclav Vencl, first half of the nineteenth century, National Museu m, E 759

Flute clock, Petr Heinrich, first half of the nineteenth century, National Mu seum, E 2113

MUSIC BOXES

Haberdashe ry music box, late nineteenth century, National Museum, E 1981

Music goblet, nineteenth century, Nationa l Museum, E 2111

Production machinery for mounting of playing cylinders, Willenbach er-ebek, ca. 1840,


Music mug, late nineteenth century, National Technical Museum, 30998

Photo album with music box mechanism, ca. 1895, National Technical Museum, 30999

Music box with disc in a painted case, ca. 1900, National Technical Museum, 31000

Carousel with music box mechanism, Wendt und Khn, ca. 1920,


Hand-cranked canister with music box mechanism, late nineteenth century,National Technical Museum, 57545

Christmas tree stand with music box mechanism, Adrie n Lador, ca. 1900,


Canister with music box mechanism, late nineteenth century, National Technical Museum, 57914

Dancer with music box mechanism, ca. 1900, National Technical Museum , 57948

Pocket watch with music box mechanism, 1800-30, National Technical Museum, 62958

Swiss Music Box, ca. 1870-90, National Museum, E 699


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Music Box, Gustav ebek, ca. 1870-93, National Museum, E 1972

Music Box, Frantiek ebek, ca. 1830-70, National Museu m, E 1521

Music Box, late nineteenth century, National Museum, E 1983

Music Box, Johann Heinrich Heller, late nineteenth century, National Museum, E 1968

POLYPHONS AND SYMPHONIONS

Polyphon with disc changer, Polyphon Musikwerke, ca. 1900, National Museum, E 1941

Polyphon, Polyphon Musikwerke, ca. 1900, National Museum, E 2080

Table polyphon, Polyphon Musikwerke, ca. 1900, National Museum, E 1980

Table polyphon with bells, Polyphon Musikwerke, early twentieth century,

National Museum, E 1977

Table symphonion, Symphonion Musikwerke, late nineteenth century, National Museum, E 694

Symphonion, Symphonion Musi kwerke, ca. 1900, National Technical Muse um, 16798

AUTOMATONS AND ANDROI DS

Monkey with a musical box mechanism, late eighteenth century, Museum of Decorative Arts

Singing bird, Karl Griesba um, ca. 1910, National Technical Museum, 26575

Flute player, Gustav Uhlig, ca. 1900, National Technical Museum, 35389

Banjo player, Gustav Vichy, late nineteenth century, National Museum , E 2110

REED AUTOMATOPHONES

Ariston, Paul Ehrlich, last quarter of the nineteenth century, National Museum, E 1965

Manopan, Euphonika Musikwerke, ca. 1900, National Museum, E 2000

Amorette with dancing figures, Euphonika Musikwerke, 1890, National Technical Museu m, 38305 Tanzbr, A. Zuleger, 1900-50, National Mus eum, E 1979

BARREL ORGANS

Pipe barrel organ from a shooting gallery, ca. 1900, National Technical Museum, 24185

Pipe barrel organ with a monkey band, ca. 1840, National Technical Museum, 31507

Savoyard, Polyphon Musikwerke, Leipzig, ca. 1900, National Technical Museum, 38306

Reed barrel organ, Karel Rube, 1948, National Technical Museum, 57930

Barrel organ, Josef Riemer, early twentieth century, North Bohemian Museum in Liberec, Ka 1560

Barrel organ, Vclav Hrube II, second half of the nineteenth century,


Barrel organ, Josef Kamenk, 1946, National Museum, E 1835

Barrel organ, Josef Kamenk, second quarter of the twentieth century,


PIANOLAS AND REPRODUCTION PIANO

Player piano, Baker. ca. 1920-40, National Museum, E 1560

Piano Player, Ludwig Hupfeld, nineteenth-twentieth centur y, National Museum, E 1565

Player piano, Popper, first third of the twentieth century, National Museum, E 2947

ORCHESTRIONS

Orchestrion, Edu ard Dienst & Co., 1900-10, National Museum, E 1981

Orchestrion, Jan tycha, second half of the nineteenth century, National Museum, E 2077

Orchestrion, Jan Vrba a spol., early twentieth century, National Museum, E 2346

T rumpet orchestrion, A. Wolf, first half of the nineteenth century, National Museum, E 2309

Fairground organ, Gebrder Bruder, second half of the nineteenth century,


Fairground organ, Fritz Wrede, early twentieth century, National Museum, E 2078

ELECTRONIC AUTOMATOPHONES

Modular synthesizer called slizvuk (Sounding Numbers), Radio and Television Research Institute,

1970s, National Museum, E 2793


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INSTaLLaTIONOf THE EXHIBITION


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PHOTOGraPHSaNd BIBLIOGraPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOWERS, Q. David. Encyclopedia of automatic musical instrumen ts. New York: Vestal press, 1972

BUCHNER, Alexander. esk automatofony. Praha: Nrodn muzeum, 1957

BUCHNER, Alexander. Hudebn automaty. Praha: SNKLHU, 1957

BUCHNER, Alexander; Rouill Philippe. Les instruments de musique mcanique. Paris: Grnd, 1992

HASPELS, J. J. L.ed. Royal music machines. Zutphen: Walburg press, c2006

HRABK, Zdenk; NOVKOV, Kateina; VOLN Ji. Automatofony: mechanick hudebn stroje

ve sbrkch Severoeskho muzea v Liberci. Liberec: Severoesk muzeum, c2007

KLIKA, Milo. Hodiny ze Schwarzwaldu. Praha, 2005

KONEN Hana; VOLN, Ji: Flainety a kolovrtky. Liberec: Severoesk muzeum, c2009

PHOTOGRAPHS (on the pages)

BALOG, Peter: 75, 153, 159, 160161

KENECK, Jan : 18, 19, 32, 44, 45, 46, 47, 4849, 50, 51, 5253, 54, 55, 60, 61, 62, 63,

64, 65, 82, 83, 108109, 110111, 140, 141, 144145

MUSEU M SPEELKLOK: 13, 14, 15, 1617, 37, 3839

MUSIL, Mar tin: 128129, 134135

SOUKOV, Tana: 151, 152

EVK, Pavel: 9, 142143

VETIKA, Ond ej: 2223, 26, 33, 4041, 5657, 66, 7071, 7879, 100101, 102103,

104105, 114, 117, 119, 124125, 132, 133, 136137


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colophoN

THE EXHIBITION WAS PART OF THE EXHIBITION PROJECT MONARCHY.

THE EXHIBITION WAS PREPARED BY

The National Museum Czech Museum of Music

COMMISSIONER OF THE EXHIBITION

Emanuele Gadaleta

AUTHORS

Peter Balog, Tana Soukov

CO-AUTHOR

Dagmar tefancov

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

ROBUST architects Ondej Busta, Robert Damec

GRAPHIC DESIGN

PURPURE Pavel evk

PRODUCTION

Martin Musil

VIDEORECORDINGS OF THE EXHIBITS

Tom Kratochvl

MARKETING

Elen astn, Lenka Matoukov

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Petra Belaov, Ondej Grym, Ivana Havlkov, Lenka Kobrov


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REALISATION

Karel Sthr

PRINT

System Car

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

David R. Beveridge

SHARING IN THE EXHIBITION

Conservatoire National des Arts et Mtiers

Divadeln oddlen Nrodnho muzea

Etnografick oddlen Nrodnho muzea

Knihovna Nrodnho muzea

Muse dArt et dHistoire Neuchtel

Museum Speelklok

Muzeum hlavnho msta Prahy

Nrodn knihovna esk republiky

Nrodn pamtnk Terezn

Nrodn technick muzeum

Scott Polar Research Institute

Severoesk muzeum v Liberci

Vlastivdn muzeum v Olomouci

idovsk muzeum v Praze

THE EXHIBITION TEAM THANKS FOR COLLABORATIONLisette Biere, Jan Bondra, Ji Bouda, Alexander Buchner , Martina echov,

Frdrique Desvergnes, Jana Dvokov, Britta Edelmann, Iva Gaudesov, Honza Hrdlika,

Frantiek Ibl, Hana Jakbkov, Hanu Jordan, Daniela Karasov, Michal Klacek, Ivan Kopeck,

Miroslav Kosun, Tom Kratochvl, Claude-Alain Knzi, Libor Lacina, Lucy Martin, Daniela Merav,

Petr Nekua, Matj Pospil, Phillipe Rouill, Mike Ruta, Pavel Scheufler, Michael Start,

Lenka aldov, Antonn vejda, Tim Trager, Marta Vaculnov, Bla Vanatov, Jirka Voln

Supported by

Partner of the National Museum

Media Partners of the National Museum

Partners of the Exhibition


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Documents

Magical Music Machines e Catalogue