The music of our history, revisited in new exhibit

It’s hard to overstate the importance of music to the human experience. This is not a new phenomenon: in fact, it’s well-recorded throughout ancient civilizations to now. And now, the way that melodies have moved and motivated throughout history are on display in a new international CaixaFòrum exhibit.

Open until May 6, 2018, it’s called ‘The music of antiquity’ and it comprises 373 pieces, some that are being seen for the very first time due to their fragility. The display takes the visitor through three thousand years of musical history, with 278 items from the prestigious Louvre Museum.

Four great civilizations from collections around the world

Other objects have traveled from as far as the National Archeological Museum of Naples, the National Library of France, the Capitolini Museums, the National Roman Museum, the National Roman Art Museum of Mèrida, the Centrale Montemartini, the National Archeological Museum in Athens, and the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

From Mesopotamian seals to Roman Empire reliefs, from Ancient Egyptian papyrus to Ancient Greek pottery, the museum shows how music is a universal language that has crossed centuries, overcome conflicts and wars and connected cultures. It focuses on the richness of music in the four great civilizations: Egypt, the Ancient Far East, Greece and the Roman Empire.

But of course, no music exhibit is complete without audio. Throughout the display, museum-goers will be able to listen to reconstructions of how ancient instruments sounded, Sumerian and Greek origin myths for sounds and instruments, as well as the oldest known song in the world.