J N Hummel Museum, Bratislava

Founded in 1937 in a small Renaissance-style garden house in a courtyard behind DIVYD - Glass Gallery and Hummel Music Shop where he was born, the J N Hummel Museum documents the life and work of piano virtuoso, composer and teacher Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), who was born in Pressburg (present-day Bratislava).

J N Hummel was born in Pressburg (Bratislava) in 1778. He received his earliest musical training from his father, and later studied under Mozart and the foremost Viennese musicians of the time. As a child he made a grand concert tour of Europe which lasted for almost five years. After completing his studies he became a member of the musical establishment of Prince Esterházy, first in Elsenstadt, then in Stuttgart, and finally at the Prince’s court in Weimar, where he was appointed maestro di capella in 1819. He was to remain at the court until his death in 1837.

In connection with the museum, a documentation centre has been founded and a collection of printed editions of Hummel’s works is gradually being built up. Several of the artist’s autographs, including his School for Pianoforte, the libretto of his opera Mathilde von Guise, his correspondence and other items, are deposited in the Archives of the Capital of the Slovak Republic Bratislava. Through an appeal broadcast by Slovak Radio, it has been possible to acquire for the museum 11 recordings of works by Hummel, which visitors to the museum can ask to have played. Foreign recordings of his works are also being purchased to supplement the collection.