Polski
The climatic walls of the castle, which once belonged to the powerful Szydłowiecki and Radziwiłł families, today host an extraordinary exhibition full of memory about old masters and the instruments and sounds they created.
The museum shows how important role folk instruments played in the Polish musical tradition. It is here that you will see their largest collection in Poland. The instruments, however, are shown here in a much broader context - as objects that, through their appearance and the sound coming from them, tell a story about old life, tradition and art.
The exhibition “Castle in Szydłowiec. Around the Patronage of Former Owners” can be found in the oldest part of the building. The interiors are decorated with original early Renaissance beam and coffer ceilings. Among the unique works of art, there are sculptures funded by the Szydłowiecki family and a baptismal font moved here from the church of St. st. Zygmunt. Moody music will help you feel the spirit of the era, as well as multimedia presenting the history of the castle and its founders.
Thanks to the next exhibition, you will not only see, but also hear the tradition. Here you will find the answer to the questions whether bagpipes are the same as bagpipes and what a picked violin is. Here you will see an impressive collection of folk instruments - some beautiful, others made with touching clumsiness. All of them were created from the needs and creativity of folk artists. You will also learn what role instruments played in culture, everyday life and rituals.
The last permanent exhibition is the newest part of the museum. Beautiful interiors decorated with Renaissance paintings hosted museum offices and studios for many years. Today, these have been moved to a new building, and the old interiors host an exhibition created from the exhibits so far stored in the museum's warehouses.
And so, in the Staropolska Chamber, you will see the oldest exhibits of the museum, and at the same time instruments typical of the court from the splendor of the Szydłowiec castle - kettledrums, bagpipes and trumpets.
The Intermezzo Chamber is a kind of sound experimentarium with extremely ingenious zithers and music boxes from the 20th century. And thanks to special simulators, you will try to extract the sound from Podhale bagpipes or lute guitar.
And finally, the Violin Making Room, where you will see that the beauty of the instrument lies not only in its sound, but also in its intricate workmanship. You will see intricate Portuguese violins, lute guitars and Neapolitan mandolins. For a moment, you will also turn into a conductor and use a virtual baton to wake up the instruments sleeping in the display cases.
