A museum of expertise

Conserving, restoring and broadening knowledge
Acquisitions
Coordinating a national and international network
Preserving craft and know-how
Creating facsimiles of instruments

Heritage of sound

As the museum’s mission includes preserving the heritage of sound, allowing period instruments to be heard is a key component of its transmission policy. The musicological research conducted by the museum teams, in collaboration with other researchers and musicologists, musicians and luthiers, seeks to reveal sounds and techniques of the past. Instruments in playing condition may also feature in concerts, recordings and commissions from present-day artists.

Playing the collection
Record the collection collection
Encouraging artistic creation

Documenting the instruments

The role of the documentation department is to collect and organise information on the works in the Musée de la musique collections, and to provide broad access to this information. Since the museum opened its doors, it has made a priority of digitising its collections, playing a pioneering role in choosing a computerised management system covering not only the works themselves but also their associated documents.

 

Consulter les collections en ligne

8 541 museum works
21 164 photos
1 000 audio and video recordings

In the database

 

The Media Library at the Philharmonie de Paris provides the public with access to a body of specialised documentation unparalleled in France, on the history of musical instruments around the world and how they are manufactured and represented.

The following are available for consultation:

  • dossiers on works retracing the history of objects in the collection (instruments, paintings, sculptures, instrument-making tools, accessories); link
  • full-scale technical drawings of instruments at the Musée de la musique and major collections around the world (1 237 drawings); link
  • an extensive collection of international books and journals on instrument-making, organology, musical iconography and music acoustics; link
  • recordings on period instruments from the Musée de la musique collections (CDs, documentaries, concerts). link

Referencing of scientific publications by the Musée de la musique.

Access to museum works

Partenariats

Depuis 2013, intégrée à l’Unité de Service et de Recherche « Centre de recherche et de conservation » (USR 3224) du CNRS, partenaire du labex PATRIMA, l’Équipe de Conservation et de Recherche (ECR) du Musée de la musique prend part à des appels à projet nationaux (PNRC – Projets nationaux de recherche initiés par la DrestANR) et européens (COST) qui l’aident à financer des recherches spécifiques, à participer activement à la diffusion de ses travaux et à accueillir des chercheurs extérieurs.

Le laboratoire dispose d’appareils de caractérisation physico-chimiques et acoustiques, tels qu’une micro-fluorescence à rayon X, un microscope à réflexion, un vidéo-endoscope, une salle semi-anéchoique, un système de radiographie, des matériels d’analyses vibratoires.

 

PARTENARIATS EN FRANCE

 

PARTENARIATS À L’ÉTRANGER