What if, behind this deletion, appeared the name of Chopin? In the laboratory of the Museum of Music in Paris, a word crossed out on one of the registers of the piano maker Pleyel is at the center of all attention. A chemist tracks down clues that could reveal the presence of the famous composer and his links with the French house, one of the main suppliers of pianos in the 19th century. But the case is not won, the “formula” to uncover the coveted trace still needs to be refined. “We are not very optimistic, but we are not going to give up on that,” assures Stéphane Vaiedelich, site manager.
In this humanities laboratory, engineering techniques and the so-called “hard” sciences (chemistry, physics, mechanics, etc.) come together to “to study, model, reproduce, repair, preserve a heritage collection”, exposes the researcher. With one feature: “that of bringing together both curators and scientists, different professions but which would not make sense to be separated in a heritage place”.
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The instrument, whether ancient or modern, European or from elsewhere, is certainly a fundamental element of musical activity, but not the only one. «To have music, four factors are necessary, emphasizes Stéphane Vaiedelich: the instrument, the musician, the place where he plays and the audience. Here we explore the instrument and the place. » And to take the example of the vihuela de mano, this ancestor of the guitar, of which one of the four remaining examples in the world is kept at the Museum of Music.
This treasure, which could not be played without damaging it, has been reconstructed in the form of a “facsimile” (1), “after analysis of the woods, the glues, the assembly of the various parts that compose it, all elements that we shared with the factor who developed his replica. It allows today, not to reveal the sound of a vihuela de mano in general, but of this vihuela in particular. »
Quasi-police investigations
Since 1997 and the founding of the Musée de la musique, his laboratory has produced some thirty facsimiles. Among them, that of an 1802 piano from the Érard house. When we know that the Parisian maker had provided an instrument to Haydn a year earlier and another to Beethoven in 1803, we can easily imagine the interest for musicians to place their fingers on such a keyboard. “On the other hand, its five pedals (instead of the three we know today, editor’s note) raise the question of their precise use…”, raises Stéphane Vaiedelich.
Sometimes, a bundle of archives and testimonies considerably help scientists in their approach to the physical and sonic reconstruction of instruments. «In the 18th century, Christophe Delusse produced oboes of which, once again, we have reconstructed a copycontinues the head of the laboratory. In addition, a “reasoned method for the oboe” by François-Joseph Garnier recommends these Delusse instruments, indicates precise fingerings and even explains how to make the reeds.! » The nasal timbre, far from the woody sweetness of our modern oboes, shows that taste has undoubtedly changed and that a Delusse would no longer be welcome in our opulent symphony orchestras.
“Sweat markers” on the neck of a guitar
The researcher constantly “navigates” between yesterday’s archives and contemporary techniques. Among them, the physico-chemical characterization tools, which make it possible to analyze the practices of manipulation of the instruments. This is how we can track the “perspiration markers” to compare the position of the hands of the guitarist Ida Presti and that of Django Reinhardt. Or how two virtuosos of the same instrument were at the source of radically different interpretations.
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The place where the musical instrument vibrates is also an essential parameter of its impact and influence. To convince us of this, the researcher takes an example as simple as it is convincing. There is no longer any question of an instrument but of a human voice, in this case that of a monk from the Cistercian abbey of Le Thoronet in the Var: “If he stands somewhere in the nave and begins to sing, you will hear polyphony while he is alone. It is the reverberations of the walls that produce this sound illusion. »
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Trained and informed from childhood, our ear learns to listen just as we learn to speak. So many different cultures, different music and so many different ways of listening. “Take a CM2 class in France: none of the children will be able to hear a quarter tone. Take the same schoolchildren in Lebanon, all will hear it”, illustrates Stéphane Vaiedelich.
I hear what I see
And the matter becomes even more complicated when we know the influence of the other senses on hearing, sight in particular. A significant experiment was carried out by the researcher, who exhibited side by side a violin with a beautiful red varnish (the color associated with the prestigious Italian craftsmanship in the 17th and 18th centuries, in Cremona in particular) and a violin with a yellow varnish . Without hearing the sound of these two instruments, all the visitors questioned concluded that the red violin had a more generous and warm timbre than its “rival”. “A bit like with chocolate, laughs Stéphane Vaiedelich. We will go more willingly to the one that shines than to the chocolate with a matte appearance.. »
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Object of art and use, the instrument therefore leaves many mysteries intact on the way in which the musician played it and the listener appreciated it. While browsing the magnificent collections of the Music Museum, the visitor contemplates as many works whose shapes, materials, colors, decorations… speak to him in silence and touch his imagination (2).
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Six centuries of musical life
The Music Museuminstalled in the Cité of the same name at Porte de Pantin (Paris), preserves 7,000 objects, 1,000 of which are on display.
These works testify of musical life since the XVe century, mainly from the West.
The mission of the museum laboratory is to enhance this collection from a scientific point of view, thanks to the collaboration of many disciplines: organology, musicology, art history, acoustics, physics, chemistry, mechanics, conservation sciences…
Clean. : philharmoniedeparis.fr/fr/musee-de-la-musique