Hello, all.

I received these pleasant notes a few days ago and have Meredith's
permission to forward them to MMD.  -Pete Woodworth
....................................................................

Hello. You don't know me. I found your website while I was doing a
terminology check (I typed in mechanical musical instruments and you came
up number 1). You might be interested to know that there is a national
museum of mechanical musical instruments in Utrecht, The Netherlands. It's
a wonderful place, full of the most amazing old things. I've been there
several times, and there is always something new to see. If you would like
some more graphic material for your website (or just for yourself), I'm
sure the people at the museum would try their best to help you. A group of
foreign students in The Netherlands and I had a pleasant dinner with the
director a couple of years ago. You can contact the museum at the following
address:

Museum van Speelklok tot Pierement
Buurkerkhof 10
3511 KC Utrecht
The Netherlands

Phone (from the States): 011 (international access code) -31
(country code) - 30 (area code) - 231-2789 (subscriber
number)
Fax: 30 (area code) -232- 2285

I hope this information is useful. If you are ever in Holland, the museum
is definitely worth a visit.

Yours sincerely,
Meredith Naeff
................................................
Dear Pete,

Thanks for your kind reply. Yes, of course, you may forward my message to
the Mechanical Music Digest. Giving the national museum Van Speelklok Tot
Pierement ("From Music Box to Barrel Organ") some more publicity outside of
The Netherlands can only be a good thing.

The museum is housed in a medieval church (the "buurkerk") in the heart of
Utrecht. The new partitions and lighting fixtures were specially designed
to be removed in a twinkling should the diocese of Utrecht ever require the
church again for liturgical functions. The display area has been set up in
the side aisles of the church. The nave has not been adapted as an
exhibition space. Part of the museum's charm is that, after marvelling at
the mechanicial musical instruments, visitors can enter the nave through a
glass door and admire the beautiful gothic columns and vaulted ceiling.

The museum staff includes craftsmen who maintain the collection in perfect
working condition. Sometimes they spend months restoring a new acquisition
before it goes on display. The last time I visited the museum, I saw a
large (table-top size) eighteenth-century musical clock that had just been
completely refurbished.

I have had the pleasure of attending two dinner-tours at the museum. After
each course, the director demonstrated various musical pieces in the
collection. A favorite was an early nineteenth-century music box in the
shape of a cabbage. At the end of the melody, the leaves that form the lid
opened, and out popped a rabbit. In another room, we were allowed to turn
the wheel of a large street organ. Keeping the music playing at a steady
rhythm is more difficult than it looks! During the course of the evening, we
heard the tinkling of a tiny music box, the booming of a dance-hall organ,
and everything in between.

The director is charming and energetic. He pursues with enthusiasm the goal
of the museum: To preserve mechanical musical instruments for the enjoyment
of all. He has been a driving force in building the museum's collection
into one of the finest of its kind in Europe.

The museum gift shop sells recordings of barrel organ music, and it has a
limited selection of books on mechanical musical instruments.

I found two websites with information in English about the museum:

    http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/cimcim/id/idtnl.html
    http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~fops/ceb _mus.htm

I hope this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Meredith Naeff