The Second Season of the Aulos Concert Cycle

Throughout the entire year, an octet of wind instruments and the XL tuba quartet of the Zagreb Philharmonic will hold concerts at the Museum of Arts and Crafts. The proceeds from ticket sales will be used toward the restoration of old instruments from the museum’s collection.

On March 3rd, the second season of the Aulos concert cycle began at the Museum of Arts and Crafts, where concerts will be held once a month until the end of the year.

Once again, the performers of these concerts will be the wind instrument octet and the XL tuba quartet of the Zagreb Philharmonic. However, this year they will also be joined by an array of other artists. The cycle, named after an early cylindrically shaped wind instrument used in ancient Greece, was put into motion by the Zagreb Philharmonic and the Museum of Arts and Crafts in order to initiate the raising of funds for the restoration of old instruments from the museum’s collection. The Philharmonic was formed in the 1930s on the initiative of its director, Vladimir Tkalčić. At the same time, a collection at the Croatian Music Institute, predominantly consisting of wind instruments, was incorporated into it. Although it is not a large collection, it includes valuable instruments made by old masters, such as the table piano of the renowned Franz Cristoph brand, which was made in Vienna towards the end of the 18th century, as well as Master Joseph Silberbauer’s clavichord from 1787. The harps by Parisian master, Naderman, and Viennese builder, Franz Bruner, are also examples of instruments from this period. The collection also includes the forte-piano built around 1810 by Master Giuseppe Baraga of Rijeka (Fiume). There is also a small portable organ from the chapel of St. Margaret on Kapelšćak Hill in Međimurje. It was built in the 18th century and it is among the rare instruments of its kind that have been preserved in their original state. Apart from a mandola, a lute, a mandolin and a viola, the collection also boasts two guitars from the second half of the 19th century, made by Zagreb master, Franjo Fink, and Viennese builder, Johann Georg Schaufer. The collection also contains several violins and wind instruments that belonged to the Erdödy family of Jastrebarsko. The proceeds from ticket sales will be used towards the restoration of the instruments, which will, in turn, be used in future concerts. The first to undergo restoration will be the forte-piano by Giuseppe Baraga.