This exhibition, by and large, was really pretty impressive. It covers a vast span of time - from tribal and natural drumming up to the most radical electronic experiments, along, essentially, the classical tradition but with due acknowledgement to the vitally important Hungarian folk tradition. However it did strike me that as the eras went on, the speed, and depth, with which they were covered, got faster and somewhat thinner - in the early stages the development of plainchant from its earliest forms was done in some detail but once we had left the classical period, the pace really picked up - and there were some noticeable omissions - notably Liszt - unless the reference to him was so brief that I missed it.
One of the most admirable features of the whole exhibition was the remarkable variety of ways in which this epic story was conveyed - the displays at times had an inter-active element and care was taken, particularly in the earliest stages, to provide appropriate visual and aural environments with which to explore the story - the plainchant settings were particularly successful in this way I thought. And towards the end the sections that dealt with electronic and other related musical approaches were particularly imaginatively curated - as was the section on film music, to which I must return. But one of the most revelatory was a diagram which showed the influences and travel movements of the main Classical-era composers (and a few Hungarian) between the musical centres of Europe; Mozart was by far the most widely-travelled - and the classical era and these centres was introduced by readings from Charles Burney’s Musical Tours of Europe.
The quality of the English signage throughout was exemplary and idiomatic and the sound quality at all times was first-rate.