Four Austrian universities, two foreign university institutes, a young team of musicians and musicologists, multimedia artists, sound engineers, architects, and students were involved in the development of the interactive sound museum on 53,820 ft2 (5000 m2). And the result is just as varied as the noise qualities surrounding us every day. Starting with the background noise that a baby hears in the womb, to the music of the future, the adventurous visitor takes home a wealth of impressions from the Haus der Musik.
In 2020, the museum's focus is two-fold: it celebrates the 250th birthday of Beethoven who worked extensively in Vienna, and a brand-new interactive exhibition floor welcomes visitors for the first time.
Many factors played into the formation of Vienna as the world’s capital of classical music. At the forefront are the great masters who lived and composed in this beautiful city. Back in the days when Vienna was the capital of a great Empire, the Habsburg were great patrons of the arts and attracted many musicians to the city, offering an excellent environment for creative talent. Beethoven, who celebrates his 250th birthday this year, came all the way from Germany to learn from Joseph Haydn and to develop his own musical style. Nowadays he is considered part of the “First Viennese School” or “Wiener Klassik.” Extensive programming, including concerts, original scores, and personal artefacts dominate the space to commemorate his legacy!
The Haus der Musik also features a whole floor of artefacts and stories surrounding Austria's great composers. "The Great Composers" focuses on the lives of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss, Gustav Mahler, the Second Viennese School of Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern.
Another must-see this year is the brand-new SONOTOPIA interactive experience. The second floor of Haus der Musik is dedicated to discovering and experiencing sound phenomena of all kinds! Explore how sound is produced, what sounds are made of, and how they turn into music. Discover answers to these questions through sound experiments and installations that challenge your perception of the auditory world around us! Both physics geeks and music lovers should pay a visit to SONOTOPIA at Haus der Musik.
On the museum's first floor, an entire exhibit is dedicated to one of the city's great cultural treasures: the Vienna Philharmonic. The space where historic scores and conductors' batons are on show today used to be the apartment of Philharmonic founder Otto Nicolai. Stepping into the place where he laid the groundwork for one of the world's most famous orchestras is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Buy a combination ticket for the Haus der Musik and the Mozarthaus Vienna! The same ticket gets you into both institutions for a reduced price.
