Glinka Museum of Musical Culture

The Museum of Musical Culture boasts an impressively large and varied collection of musical instruments from all over the world and original scores, manuscripts and classical music memorabilia. The museum grew from a small number of rare musical instruments and original sheet music that were donated to the Moscow Conservatoire towards the end of the 19th century. The collection remained limited until the Soviet era when interest in the museum grew, and its collection, research and educational activities were developed.

In 1943 the Soviet government founded the State Central Museum of Musical Culture, based on the Conservatoire's collection, and in 1945, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Mikhail Glinka's birth, the museum was named after the great 19th century Russian composer.

Today the museum's collection numbers over 2,500 pieces and encompasses beautifully crafted instruments from all over Russia and the world in conveniently color-coded rooms. The green room features dragon-embossed Buriyat horns and Shamen's skin drums from Yakutia. Moldovian and beautifully inlaid Caucasian stringed instruments can be found in the yellow room and the blue hall takes the visitor further east with a fascinating collection or Oriental instruments, including Chinese drums and a horse-headed Korean morinkhuur. The museum also features a sound library, including recordings of some of the rarer instruments in the collection, and an extensive archive of sheet music, fine art and original scores autographed by some of Russia's greatest composers; Glinka, Tchiakovsky, Rakhmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.