European Union Project: 2004-2005

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European Union Project: 2005-2007
ORPHEON FOUNDATION
The Vázquez Collection of Historical Musical Instruments
of the 16th to the 18th Centuries
- IN THE SERVICE OF A LIVING TRADITION -

-Exhibition of the Orpheon Collection
Series of Concerts of Renaissance, Baroque and Classical Music
Series of Lectures, Workshops and Symposia
A Sound Statement

The collection now contains over 100 instruments (violas da gamba, violas d'amore, violins, violas, violoncellos, violones, baryton) dating from 1580 to 1780, all restored to their original playing conditions, which since 1982 have been placed at the disposal of members of the Orpheon Orchestra, Orpheon Consort, students of the University for Music and the Performing Arts Vienna and professional musicians all over Europe for concerts, recordings and study purposes.

According to the directors and curators of the most prominent international museums of musical instruments (Metropolitan Museum in New York, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., The Shrine to Music South Dakota, The Russels Collection in Edinburgh , etc.) the Orpheon Foundation harbors a collection, which is unique in the world and truly represents a living cultural heritage.

The purpose of the project is to share this collection and its sonorous heritage with a wider public. It is this living acoustical heritage - the sounds that these instruments produce for those living today - that interests us, and not their mere decorative flair as objets trouvés from aristocratic residences from our distant past. We wish to hear what these instruments have to say and we - the musicians - wish to learn what they have to teach us, concerning historically informed performance practice.

Furthermore the collection of the Orpheon Foundation has been placed at the disposal of institutes of organological and acoustical research. Both the Institut für Wiener Klangstil at the University of Vienna and the Institut für Holzbiologie at the University of Hamburg have already had the opportunity to carry out extensive research on the instruments of the collecton. Violin makers and bow makers have had access to the collection to investigate, restore, measure and copy the instruments. The results of this research will be made available during the exhibitions of this project, both in the form of lectures by researchers of those institutions as well as in the presentation of the copies of the original instruments which have been produced today (makers from Austria, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy will present their creations).

The collection has undeniably an appeal which can be appreciated even by an uninitiated

public: the exhibitions of the past, which have brought the collection even as far as

Taiwan, have sufficiently demonstrated this. Performing on these instruments is a wonderful learning experience for the musician. Experiencing these instruments being played in

an appropriate atmosphere is an unforgettable experience for the listener. What is achieved is simply a marvelous interaction between the instrument, the performer and the listener. This is what this project will allow us to share with people all over Europe.

Very important: catalog, documentary film

A catalog of the collection will be produced: 250 pages, ca. 400 photographs of the instruments. This catalog will become a standard reference work for violin-makers, university libraries, conservatories and music schools for the coming generations. (Part of this extensive and very informative catalog can be currently seen on the web site: www.orpheon.org).

A full-length documentary film will be produced (60 Minutes) for airing during the exhibitions, both at the exhibition itself as well as on the local television networks. The first part of the pilot film can be seen in the attachment (video cd), the screenplay for the second half of the film can be found as an attachment to this petition. This film clearly demonstrates the significance that these instruments have for the practicing musician. In my estimation, watching this pilot-film constitutes an integral and very important part of this petition for a European grant, since the film accurately documents the work of the collection.

A DVD containing this film, the entire catalog and the translations in French, German and Spanish will accompany the catalog, but may also be made available separately.

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Orpheon Foundation</div</div<div align="center"<div a www.orpheon.org
Praterstrasse 13/1/3, A-1020 Vienna, Austria, Tel. / Fax : +43-1-21 430 21

The project consists of the following parts:
I. Exhibition of the collection of historical string instruments of the Orpheon Foundation

The attached document contains a detailed outline of the exhibition. It is a novel approach for presenting these instruments and their history. The instruments will be embedded in their proper ambiance and historical context: each hall recalls rooms from different places and periods. Some halls are even equipped with newly-designed interactive computer-video equipment (see attachment for details).

II. A series of concerts performed on these instruments

Orpheon Baroque Orchestra: works by Bach, Telemann, Corelli, Vivaldi, etc.
Orpheon Consort: Spanish Music of the 16th C., English Music of the Times of Shakespeare, Felix Austria: Music of the Habsburgs, Music in Versailles, etc.

III. A series of lectures, workshops, symposia or courses concerning instrument building, performance practice, organological research, etc.

Workshops

1. Working with the musicians of the local professional orchestras

A pilot program, carried out in February of 2003 has proven the efficacy of this approach. The musicians of an A-level professional orchestra in Germany (Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim) were outfitted with the historical string instruments of the Orpheon Foundation and worked for a period of two weeks with these instruments on Baroque and Classical repertory. It was an indispensable learning experience for the whole orchestra: it opened their eyes and ears to a totally different world of sound. It also totally transformed their interpretations.

2. Working with the students of the local conservatories and universities

Similar to the work at the Vienna University, the students are outfitted with the instruments of the collection and work on Renaissance, Baroque and Classical repertory under the direction of the members of the Orpheon Foundation. The goal is to prepare a historically informed performance of these works in public.

3. Lectures

This will feature lecturers like: Joseph Peknik (Metropolitan Museum in New York), Dr. Peter Klein and Dr. Micha Beuting (Institut für Holzbiologie of the University of Hamburg), Mag. Simone Zopf (Violinmaking School in Hallstatt and the Institut für Wiener Klangstil of the University of Vienna), Antonio Airenti (Bowmaker from Genova), many others.

It is considered essential to this project that the learning activities of the project - above all - are pursued in the ensuing years with our partners and with others, who may later join us. It is the avowed purpose of the Orpheon Foundation to stimulate interest in, investigation into and propagation of the aesthetic values inherent in the instruments of the collection and the cultural heritage they intrinsically embody. Thelong-term goal of this project is establishing a permanent home for the collection, together with an institute for performance practice and a workshop for historical restoration.

We mean to preserve a sonorous past for generations to come.

www.orpheon.org

</div</div<div align="center"<div align="center">www.orphe

IMPORTANT: All of the individual parts of this project have already been tried and tested in pilot projects over the past 10 years.

1. Exhibitions

The first exhibition was held in 1993 Palais Lobkowitz. The attached program of that event shows essentially the same idea: a combination of exhibition, concert series, series of lectures and workshops. The pilot project was well received by public and press alike.

In the ensuing years (1993-2000) exhibitions like this one were held in the following cities:

Vienna (Palais Lobkowitz, Schottenstift), Graz (Palais Eggenberg, A), Novara (I), Perugia (I), Trevi (I), Foligno(I), Sacile (I), Michaelstein (D), Thoiry (F),

Of singular importance: the exhibition in the National Museum in Taipei (Taiwan), with concerts in the National Concert Hall of that city.

Ample photographic documentation of these exhibitions may be seen on the following pages:
http://www.mdw.ac.at/I105/orpheon/Seiten/exhibition/exhibit.htm

2. Workshops, Seminars, Summer Academies

Since 1995, the Orpheon Foundation has held workshops and summer academies, with series of concerts in: La Spezia (I), Bolzano (I), Novara (I), Jindrichuv Hradez (CZ), Hvar (HR).

Information on the current and past workshops may be seen under:

http://www.mdw.ac.at/I105/orpheon/Seiten/Courses/JH2003-Kurs.htm

http://www.mdw.ac.at/I105/orpheon/Seiten/Courses/Hvar2003.htm

http://www.mdw.ac.at/I105/orpheon/Seiten/Courses/Degustation2003.htm

http://www.mdw.ac.at/I105/orpheon/Seiten/Courses/JH2001-Collage.htm

http://www.mdw.ac.at/I105/orpheon/Seiten/Courses/JH2002-Collage.htm

3. Workshop with modern orchestras using the instruments of the collection

The pilot project was conducted in February of 2003. The Kurpfälsisches Kammerorchestra Mannheim (Director: Florian Heyerick) was completely outfitted with instruments from the Orpheon Collection: from the violins to the double bass! The musicians worked with both Florian Heyerick and José Vázquez for a period of two weeks. A letter of Mr. Heyerick describing the importance of this learning experience is to be found in the accompanying documents.

4. Documentary Film (DVD)

In 2003 a pilot film was made by the French company, "C'est à voir". This company has been commissioned to do a full-length documntary (60 min.) about the Orpheon Foundation and its musical and didactical activities.

A copy of this pilot film has been submitted for your examination and is considered an integral and extremely important part of this application for the EU-grant.

5. Catalog of the collection with attached DVD/CD-ROM

A catalog was made for the first exhibition in 1993 (a copy has been submitted). The present web-site at www.orpheon.org represents what the new catalog will look like. Several experts have been entrusted with writing individual chapters for the catalog: Dr. Peter Klein (D) and Dr. Micha Beuting (D)from the Institute for Wood Biology of the University of Hamburg, Mag. Simone Zopf (A) from Institut für Wiener Klangstil of the University of Vienna and The School of Instrument Building in Hallstatt (A), Antonio Airenti (I), bowmaker and researcher in Genova, and others. To save costs the catalog will be published in English while the complete translations will be available on the accompanying CD-ROM/DVD.

6. Innovative Audio-Visual and Interactive Installations
Marius Schebela (A) worked on and designed some of the modern audio-visual and interactive installations of the "Haus der Musik - Museum" in Vienna. Based on his experience there, he is in the process of designing and assembling the innovative equipment and installations of our exhibition.