Orbite musicali is not a mere soundscape for the exhibition rooms, but rather the creation and addition of an original musical content to the collections of the Museo Galileo.
Music has always been an integral part of the history of the Museo Galileo: it is largely present both in the work of Galileo himself – and more particularly in the musical and scientific production of his father Vincenzo – and in the Museum’s collections, in the form of references to the concept of harmony and research devoted to the science of sound. The collaboration with the Cherubini Conservatory, already realized in various initiatives, offers young musicians the opportunity to perform surrounded by the precious scientific collections of the Medici and Lorraine dynasties. At the same time, it allows visitors to enjoy a visit in which the material history of the Museum is narrated through music.
The compositions indeed draw inspiration from the scientific instruments displayed in the Museum, from the life and works of Galileo, as well as from the research carried out over many years at the Museo Galileo on these topics. They thus represent historical and scientific content reinterpreted and conveyed through music. All the compositions, presented as world premieres, are performed in two different modes: traditional concerts in the Museum’s conference hall, and site-specific performances within the exhibition spaces, where the dialogue unfolds between musical and scientific instruments.
Another distinctive element is the educational dimension: the project involves students both as composers and as performers, offering them a rare and valuable opportunity for artistic growth and exchange within a cultural context of the highest level.
Although the project places contemporary music at its core, references to Baroque and Renaissance music – contemporary to the Museum’s collections – are a constant presence. There is, indeed, a deliberate reference to Vincenzo Galilei’s Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna, published in 1581.