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"Així sona Menorca" (Fotografia: S. Guasteví)
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A Psaltery “on holiday” in Menorca!

From March 9th of this year until February 2026, you can visit the temporary exhibition Així sona Menorca (This is how Menorca sounds) at the Museum of Menorca. Curated by musicologist Laura Triay, the exhibition features, among many other instruments such as flabiols, a bassoon, a harp, a square piano, and guitarrons, a psaltery on loan from the Museu de la Música de Barcelona.

As stated on the museum’s website: "the exhibition is divided into five thematic areas. First, the public space of “The Square,” which is closely tied to traditional and popular music and patron saint festivals. “The Chapel,” with a section devoted to religious music. A room dedicated to the theatre and the musical genres performed there, with a significant presence of opera. And “The Theatre,” a space where music takes centre stage and where genres such as opera, zarzuela, and comédie comique coexist. Finally, “Home” (Ca nostra), the most intimate domestic space, where we play, sing, and listen to music. A special mention should be made here of the relationship between a psaltery, the portrait of Àngela Poly (a work by Pasqual Calbó), and a recently discovered psaltery score located in the Historical Archive of Ciutadella—all of which can be viewed in this same space. Additionally, visitors can enjoy a more sensory experience in the museum’s cloister, transformed for the occasion into a “Walk of Emotions” linked to various Menorcan songs. This section of the exhibition aims to offer new insights, reinterpretations, and reflections on music, identity, appropriation, and the Menorcan social context in which this music was created."

Regarding the psaltery, registered under number MDMB 71, it is a Spanish instrument dating from the 18th century, with nineteen quintuple and eleven sextuple string courses. Its soundboard, trapezoidal and symmetrical, is decorated with painted vegetal motifs. The entire perimeter is adorned with polychrome vegetal garlands, and in the centre is a vase of flowers flanked by garlands that curve around two circular sound holes. These are decorated with concentric marquetry rings and covered with pierced parchment rosettes. The case is made of wood, with a flat back parallel to the soundboard. Both the strings and the tuning pins are made of metal. The tuning is notated, and the instrument features two divided bridges (one split into four parts, the other into two) and one free bridge; all seven are numbered on the underside.

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If you have the chance to visit, you’ll find an excellent selection of musical instruments, historical scores, audio and video recordings, and musical iconography.