Alte Musikinstrumente

A guide for collectors of old musical instruments will primarily have to focus on the history of the origin and naming of musical instruments, as well as the description of the main forms. I have found it particularly challenging to maintain the purely descriptive nature of the book for some instruments, where the many connections to art and cultural history offered rewarding tasks and tempted a more extensive treatment of the vast material. Through comprehensive literature references and some detailed presentations in the appendix, even non-collectors will gain insight into the incredibly diverse field of instrumentology, and only musicians will find the occasionally touched-upon controversies regarding tuning, range, sound character, etc., not addressed in this book.

The Publishing House of Sciences publishes historical literature by both well-known and lesser-known scientific authors. This makes works that have long been out of print accessible again to interested readers. This book on old musical instruments serves as both a guide for collectors and an interesting work for lovers of old musical instruments, and it is an unaltered reprint of the original edition from 1916. Illustrated with over 125 historical images.