This is a re-publication of the summary of the article:
Mette Müller: ‘A Tarantella for Thorvaldsen’, in: Meddelelser fra Thorvaldsens Museum (Communications from the Thorvaldsens Museum) 1989, p. 153-159.
For a presentation of the article in its original appearance in Danish, please see this facsimile scan. For a presentation of this English summary in its original appearance, please see this facsimile scan.
In 1979, a small gold seal with built-in musical box, which had been the personal property of Bertel Thorvaldsen, was deposited by the Thorvaldsen Museum with the Musikhistorisk Museum (museum of the history of music) for long-term storage. The instrument is essentially in working order, but the comb with the sound-producing teeth and the cylinder bearing the musical code are not completely intact. The article focusses on these problems and suggests how the melody might be reconstructed. It is presumably an Italian tarantella og a Spanish sardana.
Last updated 23.05.2023