Hudební sbírka Ondřeje Horníka, 2. díl: Hudební nástroje (The Musical Collection of Ondřej Horník, Part II: Musical Instruments)

The second part of the publication Hudební sbírka Ondřeje Horníka (The Musical Collection of Ondřej Horník) discusses the organist, church music director, teacher, and composer Ondřej Horník (1864–1917), one of the most important Czech collectors of musical memorabilia around the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as a collector of musical instruments. His extensive collection of 139 preserved instruments is here for the first time evaluated professionally and presented in a detailed catalogue. The textual portion describes the origin of the collection and its further fates, from its transfer to the National Museum up to the present time.

The instruments are organized and classified in the publication according to the organological system of Sachs and Hornbostel. Each instrumental group is presented as a whole, but reference is also made to some important individual specimens within the groups. In addition, attention is given to makers and to centres of production of musical instruments. This unique collection documents Horník’s interest not only in standard instruments of European ‘art music’ but in instruments used in Czech folk music and music of the eastern and southeastern Slavs. For various reasons it was very difficult to determine the provenance of individual instruments in Horník’s collection, but for several items the authors were able to identify the location, the manner of acquisition, and the original owner. The book is intended to present a unique museum collection not only to researchers but also to visitors to the National Museum having an interest in items from Horník’s collection on display.