Musica Aeterna Est

The musical collection is exhibited in two exhibition rooms. In the first room we become acquainted with the musical life in the present-day coastal towns of Slovenia from the Middle Ages to the end of the 20th century. Until the 19th century, music was mostly confined to churches and the salons of aristocratic and wealthier bourgeois families. It was predominantly tied to religious ceremonies, holidays and important events. In the 19th century, music began to conquer squares and streets with musical groups, and halls and theatres with choirs, orchestras and mandolin groups. It became a common social phenomenon and encompassed all the social classes, which was also enabled by music education that was being introduced into schools.

The second room shows us the musical life in the 19th and 20th centuries in the countryside of northern Istria and Čičarija on the one hand and of Brkini and Ilirska Bistrica on the other. The differences in the historical development of these regions are namely noticeable in the musical tradition, too. A characteristic of the musical life in the countryside is the folk musical tradition, which is connected to folk music, folk musical instruments and folk musicians. Folk music was passed down from generation to generation and was performed by musicians by ear, without reading music. The musical instruments from which they produced sound were very diverse.