The Museum of Forgotten Music

In 2002, my wife gave me a book with illustrations by Vasily Bychkov called “Musical Instruments”. Having nothing to do with music, I decided that I could make a bagpipe according to the drawings. Quite expectedly, nothing came out of this venture. Fortunately for me, the professional musician, Konstantin Kharitonov, turned out to be nearby and he became interested in my idea and fully supported it. Within six months, stubborn attempts to create a bagpipe were combined with a music education program and ended in our success. A harp, a gusli, and a lira tedesca were made after the bagpipe. At a bard festival, my small composition always gathered a large number of interested people, which led to my wife’s key phrase: “Sergey, people are hungry for knowledge. We need to create a museum.” So unexpectedly the Museum of Forgotten Music appeared in 2008 in Voronezh.

The exhibition consists of percussion, wind, and string musical instruments, made by me according to archaeological and ethnographic samples or donated to the museum by the inhabitants of Voronezh. All instruments are working and are played during lecture concerts.