Museum of Musical Culture

(full name, M. I. Glinka Central Museum of Musical Culture), the largest museum of music in the USSR.

The Museum of Musical Culture was established in Moscow in 1943 on the basis of the N. G. Rubinstein Memorial Museum, which had been founded in 1912 at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1954 it was named in honor of M. I. Glinka. The personal archives of musicians, original scores, memoirs, letters, and illustrative materials (set and costume sketches by well-known artists for theatrical productions) are collected, preserved, and studied at the museum. Also collected are the personal effects of musicians. Most of these exhibits contain very rare materials.

The museum has a reference library, containing books, published scores, journals, theater posters, and theater programs. Research in the library has resulted in the publication of previously unpublished works by Russian, Soviet, and foreign composers. Collected articles, memoirs, catalogs, and reference works have also been published. The Museum of Musical Culture takes part in international exhibitions and helps organize museums of music in the USSR and abroad. As of 1973, the museum’s holdings numbered more than 500,000.