Music Collection

Expert
Kristýna Přibylová
Curator of Music Collections

pribylova.komgm.cz

The music collection of the Regional Museum in Most includes musical instruments, a sheet music archive, and also a modest range of music media.

The musical instruments date roughly from the second half of the 17th century to the 1930s. Among the relatively wide range of more common musical instruments, such as violins, our collection also includes relatively rare pieces preserved in almost intact condition - clarinet (1675), trombone (circa 1700), and oboe (1st half of the 18th century). Among our musical instruments, we also find, among others, a mandolin, zither, lute, clavichord, and several timpani.

However, a significant part of the music collection consists of sheet music, which currently includes several hundred identified, standalone units. The dominant repertoire here is of a sacred nature, originating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, whose origins will primarily need to be sought in the environment of the city churches of Most, as well as in now non-existent locations in the adjacent region. Uniquely in this regard, the musical legacy of the Most Minorites manifests itself, which includes a significant part of the original convent collection from the 18th century, in which we find copies of works by well-known Czech composers, as well as compositions by local authors. Among the well-known composers whose works we have preserved copies of in the museum are Jan František Novák, Antonín Laube, and especially František Xaver Brixi, the most significant Czech composer active in our country in the 18th century. Besides the predominant compositions intended for liturgical purposes, it is also necessary to point out the preserved fragment of private music from the Levetzow family, originating from the legacy of Třebívlice Castle.