Works of Art

New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art has placed online images of and information about fifty of the instruments that comprise its permanent collection, Works of Art: Musical Instruments. The collection boasts approximately 5,000 instruments dating from 300 B.C. to the present from six continents and the Pacific Islands. The instruments in the online presentation have been classified according to how they produce sound: "...aerophones (which generate sound through the vibration of air), chordophones (through the vibration of strings), membranophones (through the vibration of a stretched membrane), and idiophones (which are made of naturally sonorous materials that require no additional tension to produce sound). A fifth type—electrophones, which generate sound electronically or through amplified means—is represented among the highlights by a single guitar." (Met web page). That guitar, built by Bruce BecVar circa 1974 (photo), features ornate inlay and wood carving. The two other guitar representatives are 17th and 20th century acoustics.