On Wednesday, April 12, the big 50 years jubilee exhibition in the
National Museum "From Musical Clock to Streetorgan" in Utrecht,
Holland, was opened by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

The most beautiful musical clocks, automata and other interesting
instruments, which are related to royal families all over the world,
are together now for the first time.  Alongside Pierre Jaquet-Droz's
famous "Musician" from 1774 stands the equally famous "Joueuse de
Tympanon", which was made by Peter Kinzing en Roengen in 1784 for
queen Marie Antoinette of France.

A coach, which plays an organ during traveling, was made by Kutnetsov,
who built it for empress Catharina II from Russia in 1801 to buy his
freedom, if she would be happy with it.  Unfortunately he died a year
after being freed.  Also there is the largest of the musical Haydn
clocks, ordered by Count Esterhazy, which was programmed by Josef
Haydn.  A beautiful golden clock was a present from the city of Lyon to
Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806, one can see him being crowned every hour.

Altogether there are more then 50 instruments, from a gigantic organ
clock by Charles Clay, London, with music by Georg Friedrich Händel,
an English rhinoceros clock, which is now part of the collection of the
Palace Museum, Bejing, and comes back to Europe for the first time in
history, to the sad remains of a beautiful piece by Hans Schottheim
of Augsburg with music and automatons, which sadly was destroyed
during the Second World War.

A 290 page catalog in full colour is for sale, written by J.J. Haspels.
This can also be obtained in the English language.  A DVD in Dutch and
English, with all the instruments, can also be obtained.  Further
information at  http://www.museumspeelklok.nl/

Jan Kees de Ruijter

 [ At http://www.museumspeelklok.nl/speelklok/uk/ :
 [  Five centuries of royal entertainment
 [  The National Museum 'From Musical Clock to Street Organ' presents
 [  the exhibition 'Royal Music Machines' from 13 April to 30 July
 [  2006.  An exhibition that brings together, for the first time in
 [  history, the most famous musical automata of the past five hundred
 [  years worldwide.
 [ -- Robbie