Cité de la musique

View of parts of the building of the Cité de la musique

The Cité de la musique (French “City of Music”) is an ensemble of institutions dedicated to music. It is part of the Parc de la Villette - located in the La Villette district in the 19th arrondissement of Paris . It was built by the architect Christian de Portzamparc and inaugurated in 1995 .

Building ensemble, institutions

The Cité de la Musique includes:

• an amphitheater
• a concert hall for 800 to 1,000 spectators
• a museum with instruments
• Exhibition spaces
• Space for studios
• Space for important documentation

The Cité de la musique also operates the traditional Salle Pleyel in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Musée de la musique (Museum of Music)

Clavichord , Lépante , (16th c.), Italy

The museum displays a collection of hundreds of musical instruments collected by the Conservatoire de Paris . Mainly instruments of classical and popular music from the 17th century to today are exhibited: lutes , violins from Italy ( Antonio Stradivari , Guarneri , Nicolò Amati ), French and Flemish harpsichords , pianos by the French piano makers Sébastien Érard and Ignaz Pleyel , saxophones by Adolphe Sax etc.

The instruments are exhibited by epoch and type. Visitors can listen to comments on the instruments and music played on them using headphones that are available at the entrance.

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  Harpsichord , 1677, Bologna, Italy

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  Guitars (17th century)

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  Oktobass , Vuillaume (19th century)

Paris Philharmonic

The Paris Philharmonic , a large symphony concert hall with 2400 seats, the construction of which has been delayed again and again, was opened on January 14, 2015. The architect is Jean Nouvel .

From 2015, the Rieger organ building company built a new organ for the large hall. The instrument was completed in 2016 and has 91 stops on four manual works and a pedal.

I Grand Orgue C – c 4 Montre 16 ′ Violon 16 ′ Montre 8th' Viole de Gambe 8th' Flûte harmonique 8th' Gemshorn 8th' Prestant 4 ′ Salicional 4 ′ Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Duplicate 2 ′ Grande Fourniture V-VI 2 ′ Cymbals IV-V 1' Cornet V 8th' Bombard 16 ′ Trumpets 8th' Clairon 4 ′

II Positif expressif C – c 4 Bourdon 16 ′ Principal 8th' Salicional 8th' Flûte harmonique 8th' Bourdon 8th' Unda maris 8th' Prestant 4 ′ Flute 4 ′ Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Duplicate 2 ′ Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Septième 1 1 ⁄ 7  ′ Piccolo 1' Plein Jeu IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Basson 16 ′ Trumpets 8th' Cromorne 8th' Tremblant

III Récit expressif C – c 4 Quintaton 16 ′ diapason 8th' Viole de Gambe 8th' Flûte harmonique 8th' Bourdon 8th' Voix céleste 8th' Eoline 8th' Viole 4 ′ Flûte octaviante 4 ′ Nazard harmonique 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Octavine 2 ′ Tierce harmonique 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Fittings V. 1' Bombard 16 ′ Trumpets 8th' Clairon 4 ′ Basson Hautbois 8th' Voix humaine 8th' Tremolo

IV Solo expressif C – c 4 Principal 8th' Flûte harmonique 8th' Viol 8th' Voix céleste 8th' Principal 4 ′ Flute 4 ′ Plein Jeu IV 2 ′ Cor anglais 8th' tuba 8th' Chamade 16 ′ Chamade 8th' Chamade 4 ′ Résonnance CC – c 4 Bourdon 16 ′ Flute 8th' Fifth 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Flûte ouverte 4 ′ Tierce 3 1 ⁄ 5  ′ Clarinet 8th' Trumpets 8th' Clairon 4 ′

Pedals C – g 1 Contrebasse 32 ′ Soubasse 32 ′ Contrebasse 16 ′ Violonbass 16 ′ Montre 16 ′ Violon 16 ′ Bourdon 16 ′ Fifth 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Principal 8th' Flute 8th' Bourdon 8th' Tierce 6 2 ⁄ 5  ′ Flute 4 ′ Contrebombarde 32 ′ Bombard 16 ′ Trombones 16 ′ Trumpets 8th' Clairon 4 ′ Clarinet 16 ′

• Couple
  • Normal coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, IV / I, IV / II, IV / III, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P
  • Résonnance coupling: to I, to IV, to P
  • Sub-octave coupling: I / I, II / I, II / II, III / I, III / II, III / III, IV / I, IV / II, IV / III, IV / IV
  • Super octave coupling: IV / IV, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P

Exhibitions

• 2007: Christian Marclay : Replay
• 2011: Lénine, Staline et la Musique (Lenin, Stalin and music), in the Museum des Cité. There was a French-language catalog.

Web links

Commons : Musée de la musique  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• official website Cité de la musique (French and English)
• www.culture.gouv.fr Communiqué du ministre de la Culture et de la communication sur le développement de la vie musicale symphonique à Paris

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information about the organ on the website of the organ builder
2. ↑ orf.at - The organ of the Paris Philharmonic . Article dated February 16, 2016, accessed February 16, 2016.
3. ↑ cite-musique.fr: Médiathèque: Christian Marclay: Replay (accessed on July 1, 2015)

Coordinates: 48 ° 53 ′ 23 "  N , 2 ° 23 ′ 38"  E