Our Catalogue

This online catalogue encompasses a choice of semi-immobile keyboard instruments of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries from the collections of the Geelvinck Music Museums. This is a collaboration of Museum Geelvinck, Pianola Museum, Huis Midwoud and Harmonium Museum Nederland. The initial project to present our collections online has been realised with the financial support of the Mondriaan Fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the J.W. Strengers Frankfort Fonds and the Sayers Fonds.

As this catalogue is new to the public, improvements will be made over time. If while you are exploring the collection you come across any problems, please contact us so we can fix them to create the most seamless experience for you as possible. In addition, if you believe that you may have some information about any of our musical instruments please do not hesitate to get in contact.

This catalogue encompasses the stringed keyboard instrument collections of Museum Geelvinck, Pianola Museum, Huis Midwoud and the harmonium collection of the Harmonium Museum Nederland. It should be noted that the collection of Museum Geelvinck also includes the collection of the former Sweelinck Museum (today under the wings of Museum Geelvinck). It gives an overview of the development of the piano, the harmonium and its music since the second half of the 18th century until and including the player piano in the early part of the 20th century. Besides the piano, pianola and harmonium, also some other keyboard instruments are included in this overview.

Today, the piano is one of the most widespread instruments played on the globe. The piano and the harmonium, including its electronic offspring, are instrumental in nearly all contemporary music genres, as well as being the key instrument for classical music composition. To understand the musical development of the last two and a half centuries, which has lead to today’s music scene, it is essential to interpret its history, in which the technical development of the piano plays a pivotal role. In short, the period piano and the living technical and musical heritage connected to it are indispensable for interpreting classical music and, more generally, understanding current music.

With their collections, Museum Geelvinck, Pianola Museum, Huis Midwoud and Harmonium Museum Nederland each cover part of this history. Museum Geelvinck currently stewards a collection of over 350 stringed keyboard instruments and other related instruments. These instruments mostly date from the late 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries, with some earlier 18th century instruments and some later 19th and even 20th century instruments. Huis Midwoud’s collection covers the late 19th century, while the Pianola Museum’s collection mainly concerns the player piano: over 120 pianola’s, as well as a library with more than 30.000 pianola roles, one of the largest worldwide. The Harmonium Museum Nederland – after having moved out of their premises in Barger Compascuüm – still holds a collection of over 130 harmoniums. Both Museum Geelvinck and the Pianola Museum together keep the extensive library and archives of the European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA), next to their own libraries and archives. Together, well over 600 historic keyboard instruments, next to a major collection of pianola rolls and extensive libraries and documentation on the subject.

Collection in action

The keyboard instruments on this website are for most part in storage. However, some are on display, some are used for educational purposes, and a few are used for performances, both at the museum venues and in other historic locations. Note that a distinction is being made between museum collection and other instruments (e.g. for educational use). For more information visit the separate websites of Museum Geelvinck (Heerde & Amsterdam), Pianola Museum (Amsterdam) and Huis Midwoud (Midwoud, near Amsterdam).

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