Museu da Música Mecânica: musical clocks and mechanical music in Pinhal Novo

Music can be mechanical, as we well know every time we hear a table clock or a longcase clock play its familiar melodies. It is easy to tell mechanical music from digital music: mechanical music is, above all, warmer. Spurred on by these thoughts, we went to discover the Museu da Música Mecânica, which is next to Pinhal Novo.

We all know the pleasures and the difficulties of collecting, and we also know that they are just as real in the world of watches and clocks as in any other. For that reason, it is worth visiting the Museu da Música Mecânica at Rua dos Alegrias, Quinta do Rei - Arraiados, 1955-281 Pinhal Novo, or taking a virtual tour on the website https://museudamusicamecanica.com .

MUSICAL CLOCKS

Every mechanical music box contains toothed wheels and other parts that we also find in mechanical watches and clocks. At the MMM we found every kind of mechanical device capable of producing music, but above all musical clocks. Here is a gallery with some of our favourites.

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The following information can be found on the museum's website:

LUÍS CANGUEIRO - THE COLLECTOR

Luís Cangueiro was born in Prado Gatão, in the municipality of Miranda do Douro. He completed his secondary education in Bragança and in 1962 entered the Faculty of Arts of the University of Coimbra, where he graduated in Classical Philology. He was one of the founders of the Photography Section of the Associação Académica, chaired the Faculty of Arts choir and sat on the Queima das Fitas committee. He did his military service in Mafra, Santarém and Mozambique, where he was posted in 1969 as a cavalry second lieutenant. He began his professional life in 1971 as a teacher at the Liceu Nacional de Bragança, a post he combined with that of director of the Calouste Gulbenkian student residence. In 1977 he was appointed to a permanent teaching post at the Escola Emídio Navarro in Almada. From 1988 onwards he turned to business. In the house where he was born there was an “Ariston”, and the memories of that music box perhaps prompted him to buy the first piece of the collection in 1986. His lifelong connection with music, his collector's spirit and his interest in antiques, together with a great enthusiasm for the sound and the mechanical system of these instruments, encouraged him to assemble this collection, which is made up of the most diverse types of mechanical music.

THE COLLECTION

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The museum's collection consists of more than 600 pieces driven by exclusively mechanical systems, dating from the late 18th century to the first half of the 20th century, all in working order. It is a private collection, assembled over a lifetime by the collector Luis Cangueiro, and it is representative of mechanical music as a whole. The various types are spread across the most varied instruments, from the oldest music boxes with wooden or metal cylinders to the more recent and popular wind-up gramophones. It is a privilege to be able to see, hear and feel pieces that are a century old and that we may interpret as a sign of human life through the ages, the expression of its culture, the free manifestation of its creative power.

THE PROJECT

The museum, with an area of 1,020 m2, is a completely closed box, intended to establish a certain parallel with a music box. The main façade has a concavity that recalls the horns of phonographs and gramophones and marks the entrance to the building. The visitor then has the opportunity to step inside this great “music box”, travel through time, and explore and listen with great curiosity to hundreds of mechanical instruments, spread over five exhibition galleries arranged around a central courtyard. A staircase and the lift lead to the documentation room, the 70-seat auditorium or the multi-purpose room. The architect Miguel Marcelino designed the project. The Museum was inaugurated on 4 October 2016 in the municipality of Palmela and is a private museum.

HOW TO GET THERE

Via the 25 de Abril Bridge > leave at the Palmela toll plaza towards Pinhal Novo. After 1,500 m take the direction of Venda do Alcaide and follow the signs to the museum. Palmela toll plaza – Museum: 7 minutes.

Via the Vasco da Gama Bridge > leave at Pinhal Novo; in the town centre take the direction of Lagoa da Palha and follow the signs to the Museum. Pinhal Novo – Museum: 5 minutes.

Opening Hours and Visits

OPENING HOURS Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 3 pm to 6 pm, with a musical guided tour at 3.30 pm. *Please note that we are also available to receive groups at other times by prior appointment.

GUIDED TOURS WITH THE INSTRUMENTS PLAYED LIVE Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays at 3.30 pm. No advance booking is needed to join the guided tour.

VISITS FOR ORGANISED GROUPS* - Schools, senior citizens, etc. Preferably Tuesday to Friday, from 10 am to 6 pm.

*Advance booking is compulsory for organised groups (minimum of 15 participants or the minimum charge for the guided tour).