The greatness of art is most clearly revealed in music.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Еhe International Music Day, a worldwide celebration of the art of music itself, as well as a celebration for all musicians, musicologists, concert hall staff and teachers is marked in the very beginning of October. Although music has accompanied people's lives for centuries, the holiday in its honour has been established recently – in 1973 at the 15^th General Assembly in Lausanne on the initiative of the International Music Council under UNESCO. However, it was not until two years later that the world celebrated Music Day for the first time – shortly after the Council President Yehudi Menuhin and his deputy, Boris Jarustovskij, presented concrete proposals to the Assembly on November 30, 1974 for activities to commemorate the holiday and formulated its main objectives.

Here are some of them:
– dissemination of music art to all sectors of society;
– implementation of UNESCO's ideals of peace and friendship among peoples, development of cultures, exchange of experience and mutual respect for each other's aesthetic values.

Another initiator of the emergence of the Day of Music was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who in 1973, addressed a letter to the United Nations with a proposal to establish the holiday. Shostakovich believed that music would help different peoples find mutual understanding and unite them, which is in line with the ideas of Menuhin and Jarustovskij.

Since 1975, International Music Day has become official, and over time it has developed its own traditions. Thus, in the beginning of October, concerts, festivals, creative events, exhibitions and meetings with people directly related to the holiday – composers, singers and musicians, are held all over the world. The festive events feature works that have become the heritage of world music culture. Numerous competitions for young performers and composers are dedicated to Music Day.
In Russia, the holiday was first celebrated in 1975.

The museum comprehensive collection of mechanical musical instruments and objects, including organs and barrel organs, harmoniums and roller organs, amusing automata and player pianos, recording and playback devices, musical boxes and musical houseware offers you immersion in the world of music and rare sound. The museum website features virtually every type of music records. Among them are paper music rolls and folded cardboard book-music, pinned wooden barrels and pinned metal cylinders, cardboard discs, the early 20^th century shellac gramophone records and vinyl records. All the diversity of the musical palette can be found in the museum Sound Library.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we seldom think about common things. The International Music Day is a wonderful occasion to make a holiday and immerse in the wonderful world of music – beautiful, deep and exciting!

On the cover: Reproducing grand piano “Steinway Welte-Mignon”. Steinway & Sons, M. Welte & Söhne G.m.b.H. Germany, Freiburg. 1922