Background The museum and library's holdings and predecessors date back to the 1700s from the collections of Padre Martini (see below) and the holdings of the music school (founded as the Liceo Musicale in 1804 renamed as the Regio Conservatorio in 1942). The collections were reorganized as the Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale in 1959, founded to hold the city's collection of musical objects. It was renamed Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica in 2004 when the museum's current site, the Palazzo Sanguinetti, opened to the public. The palace contains
frescoes which were first completed between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and provide one of the finest examples of
Neoclassical decoration. The museum exhibits highlight the rich musical heritage of Bologna. The museum is unusual among music museums in not being exclusively (or nearly exclusively) focused on music instruments, but also including other objects relating to music such as the paintings of musicians and collections of their manuscripts and prints. Until recently, much of this collection was warehoused. The palace provides an environment for display and conservation of these items. The institute is divided between two sites. An ample selection of volumes, paintings, and musical instruments are displayed in the museum halls in Strada Maggiore 34 (Palazzo Sanguinetti), while the
bibliographic material is accessible in Piazza Rossini 2 (the ex-Convent of San Giacomo) in rooms attached to the G.B. Martini Conservatory of Music.
The Palazzo Sanguinetti In the early 16th century, the original core of this building belonged to the Loiani family. In 1569, the property was sold to the brothers, Ercole and Giulio Riario, originally from Savona, but who were related to the della Roveres. Having acquired neighboring land and buildings, Senator Ercole Riario had the home reconstructed and enlarged. The individual homes were united into one structure, and construction on the impressive staircase, which still characterizes the building today, was likely begun. The second major reconstruction was commissioned by Count Antonio Aldini, to whom the Marquis Raffaello Riario Sforza had granted a long-term lease in 1796. Count Aldini tasked the architect
Giovanni Battista Martinetti (1774–1830) with modernizing the building. A neighboring house was attached to the tower belonging to the Oseletti family, and the huge 16th-century hall was divide into two rooms, which correspond to the modern museum's two most spacious rooms—the vestibule, or the Room of Virtues, and the Ballroom. Following the fall of
Napoleon and the economic ruin of Aldini, the palace was sold to the
Cuban nobleman don Diego Pegnalverd, a former member of the Napoleonic government. Upon his death in 1832, the palazzo passed to the famous
tenor,
Domenico Donzelli. It is noted that
Gioachino Rossini stayed there while his own nearby home was under reconstruction. In 1870 the Sanguinetti family purchased the building. They were responsible for the most recent decorations in the intended library and the "Egyptian Room". During recent renovations of the palazzo, marvelous frescoes were discovered in these areas. In 1986, the last heiress, Eleonora Sanguinetti, donated the larger part of the building to the Comune di Bologna in memory–as she wrote in her will—of "my unforgettable father, Dr. Guido Sanguinetti. I ... donate the building in Strada Maggiore 34 in his name and memory, and for the love that he always had for his city and his home, so that it could become a music museum and library".
Frescoes and decorations The Palazzo Sanguinetti was decorated by major 18th- and 19th-century
Neoclassical painters, such as
Pelagio Palagi (1777–1860),
Serafino Barozzi (1735–1810), and
Antonio Basoli (1774–1848), under the direction of
Vincenzo Martinelli (1737–1807). On the ground floor, the
landscape fresco (with
trompe-l'oeil perspective) is attributed to
Luigi Busatti, while the
quadratura is the work of
Francesco Santini (1763–1840). Santini, with the probable collaboration of
Barozzi, also decorated the walls of the grand staircase. On the first floor, the Woodland Room (Room 1), previously used and called the Banquet Room, was decorated by Martinelli: he illustrates landscapes rich with greenery and
classical architecture in the distance. These classical elements surround the onlooker in the illusion of a step that supports
hermes and statues of
Bacchus and
Ceres, works by a young Palagi. The Aeneas Room (Room 2), also by Palagi, depicts stories of the
Aeneid on a black,
Etruscan background. The Zodiac and Aurora Room (Room 3) depicts the Zodiac signs by (1774–1814) and a figure of Aurora, attributed to Palagi. The last small room of the east wing (Room 4) is decorated by artists from the Barozzi workshop. They are also credited with the two rooms (Rooms 6 and 7) that conclude the west wing, which are decorated in
oriental style with curtains and pavilions, exotic plants, and feminine figures with small umbrellas. Room 5 is the Ballroom. At the end of the museum tour are two salons in the apartment designed by Aldini; they were the first two rooms to be decorated. The original room (Room 8), is decorated by
Antonio Basoli in a
neo-gothic style, with figures, statues, and bass reliefs by
Pietro Fancelli (1764–1850).
Father Giovanni Battista Martini The original core of the museum's musical collections is credited to the Conventual
Franciscan friar,
Giovanni Battista Martini (Bologna, April 24, 1706—August 3, 1784), an 18th-century music scholar and collector, a theorist and composer, and a teacher of
counterpoint.
Johann Christian Bach and
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart were among his students. At only 19 years old, Martini was appointed
chapel-master of the Church of
San Francesco in Bologna. His fame as an excellent teacher and connoisseur of music began to grow when he "won" a dispute with the scholar, Redi, regarding the interpretation of a mysterious ''canone dell'Animuccia'' that existed in the choir gallery of the
Santa Casa di Loreto, where Redi himself was
chapel-master. After this triumph, not content with being only a scholar, he continued his music studies and was an admired composer of
sonatas for the
harpsichord,
canons, and about 500 unpublished
musical pieces. The numerous letters conserved in the library (around 80 volumes with more than 6,500 letters), document the broad network of musicians, aristocrats, singers, and
cardinals who had contacts with Martini. Even the
Emperor of Austria visited Padre Martini while in Bologna. Martini collected not only manuscripts and musical works of various kinds, but also portraits of musicians displayed on the walls of his library in the
Monastery of San Francesco.
Exhibition path The museum path opens among the lush decorations of
the Boschereccia Room with some symbolic works which serve as an introduction to the museum and prepare the visitor for their trip through the musical universe.
Rooms 2 and 3 are dedicated to the spiritual father of the new museum, pictured in an oval by Angelo Crescimbeni:
Giambattista Martini, whose priceless moral heritage, both intellectual and material, is celebrated here and made known to the greater public.In
Room 3, the relationships between
Padre Martini and the stand-out personalities of the music world of the time, such as the young
Mozart or
Johann Christian Bach, who is represented in the famous portrait by
Gainsborough, are displayed. In the same room, one can also admire the famous Sportelli di libreria musicale by
Giuseppe Maria Crespi.
Room 4 ("The Idea of Music") follows, which is dedicated to the musical scholars from the 15th century to the 17th century, with important examples of musical treatises, and portraits of their respective authors. This room also contains some musical instruments of great importance, like the unique
omnitonum harpsichord by
Vito Trasuntino (
Venice 1606). Some of the more relevant pieces are on display in the following
Room 5 (Arts Room), which is dedicated to the "Books for music and instruments of the 16th and 17th centuries". In this room, rare texts from ranging the 15th century to the famous
Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A, the first printed musical book by
Ottaviano Petrucci, can be admired. They are kept inside very modern, circular cases in the center of the room, which match the rich decoration of the floors. Then there are the instruments:
lutes; the harmony of
flutes by
Manfredo Settala of 1650, which represents a real unicum; the pochette, various little
violins used as instruments by dance instructors, the
ghironde, the serpentoni, the extraordinary series of
horns and
cornets from the 16th and 17th centuries, and finally, a unique performance instrument: the
tiorba, which is in the shape of a
khitára.
Italian opera is the focus of the following room. The 18th century are first in
Room 6, dedicated to the famous singer
Carlo Broschi, known as
Farinelli. His beautiful portrait, painted by
Corrado Giaquinto, dominates the room, together with the portraits of the
castrati from various periods and of composers from the time, such as
Antonio Vivaldi and
Domenico Cimarosa.
Room 7 places the visitor in the 19th century with
Gioachino Rossini, whose name is forever tied to
Bologna. Portraits, busts, and
libretti from the first recitals of
Isabella Colbran, a singer and Rossini's first wife, can be found here. Also of interest is the original score of
The Barber of Seville and some rather curious personal effects, like a dressing gown and a wig. Finally, one can behold Rossini's grand piano, which was constructed in 1844 by
Camille Pleyel. The path proceeds through the centuries, the musical uses, and styles in
Room 8, which is dedicated to "Books for music and instruments in the 18th and 19th centuries". There are
viole d'amore and flutes along with the original scores composed by
Torelli,
Vivaldi,
Bertoni, etc. There are also
clarinets and the beautiful Buccin, created in
Lyon by Jean Baptiste Tabard (1812–1845). Concluding the exhibit,
Room 9 pays a proper tribute to two important people in the Italian and Bolognese musical culture,
Giuseppe Martucci and
Ottorino Respighi. This room displays the composer's portraits, photographs, and a selection of works from the Respighi property, which were donated to the library in 1961 by his widow, Elsa, for the 25th anniversary of his death. In the same room lies the portrait of the musician Arrigo Serato, painted by the famous artist
Felice Casorati.
Collections The first floor of the Palazzo is home to the nine rooms of the exhibition, which illustrates about six centuries of the history of European music. There are over one hundred paintings of famous people from the music world, which are a part of the picture gallery started by Padre Giovanni Battista Martini, more than eighty antique musical instruments, and a large selection of valuable historical documents, such as
treatises, volumes,
opera libretti, letters, manuscripts, original musical scores, etc. ==Library==