Public transport: Trams No 12, 15, 20, 22, 23 – stop Hellichova Underground Line A – station Malostranska
Hours of operation: WED-MON: 10 AM-6 PM TUE: CLOSED
Soon after the establishment of the National Museum in 1818 the first materials relating to music started appearing in the collections – music scores, musical instruments, and others. Nowadays the Czech Museum of Music keeps around 700,000 items relating to the history of music as well as one of the largest and most valuable musical collections. The score archive is the major part of the museum – it includes compositions from the 16th century to this day, as well as a sound recordings library. The book library is also large, containing original programmes, posters, paintings and photographs. Aside from the legacies of Bedrich Smetana and Antonin
Dvorak, the leading personalities of Czech music of the late 19th century, the museum takes care also of the inheritance of other significant Czech composers and performers. The permanent exhibition entitled MAN
– INSTRUMENT – MUSIC presents almost 400 musical instruments from the 16th to the 20th century by famous instrument-makers from the Czech lands and Europe. Visitors can admire the beauty of the instruments as well as their authentic sound on unique recordings, and learn how they were used at the time of their making.