Musik um 1600

The Kunstkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum holds five automata (four table automata and one art cabinet) with inbuilt organ works: the trumpeter Automaton (1582), the imperial ship (1585), the Bacchus carriage (ca 1602/06), the Walbaum cabinet (ca 1620/25) and the Minerva carriage (ca 1625/30). These objects have to be rated as one of the earliest musical automata and sounding sources existing. In the course of recent restoration works it was possible to recreate their musical output. Due to conservational reasons the music of the trumpeter automaton, the imperial ship and the Bacchus carriage had to be reconstructed. The realization took advantage of partly well-preserved musical information on the automata’s program carriers (discs and wheels) and of the still functioning pipes and drums of the automata. Thus the reconstructions give the true and authentic sound of the historical performance. The status of the organ works of the Walbaum cabinet and the Minerva carriage allowed repair of their mechanics and playback of their music. Every automaton presents its scenery together with an appropriate music. Within this interaction of the arts the surprisingly complex music plays an important and central role. The sound recordings are accompanied by transcriptions of all musical pieces.