The Maison du luthier / Museum tells the story of the luthiers of Jenzat, makers of hurdy-gurdies and bagpipes, repairers of accordions, saxophones, flutes, drums, merchants of clarinets, violins and mandolins in the Sioule valley, in the heart of Bourbonnais. The museum presents and preserves the instrumental heritage of traditional French music. It occupies the former house of Jacques Antoine Pajot (1845-1920), located in the quarter of the hurdy-gurdy makers in Jenzat: the world capital of the hurdy-gurdy. Collection of hurdy-gurdies, bagpipes and other instruments; collection of tools used by luthiers; hurdy-gurdy workshop; brass workshop. Study room ; documentary terminals; auditorium with films on the bill and the game of the hurdy-gurdy. Hurdy-gurdies have been made in Jenzat since 1795.
PROGRAMMING 2023
Saturday May 13 // European Night of Museums
“Discovery in preview of the new exhibition: The Odyssey of the wheel-bow”
Guided tour departure at 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
July-August // TradiTuesdays // 5 p.m.
Two or three musicians in rehearsal around the traditional music used.
- Tuesday July 4: Béchonnet bagpipe duo (former tuning fork), Bourbonnais repertoire by P. Chambriard and J.-Fr. hunt
- Tuesday July 11: Jean-Luc Rongère (guitar) and Pascal Chambriard
- Tuesday July 18: Directories of bourrées sung with Eric Desgrugilliers (voice) and Eric Cousteix (violin) and J.-Fr. Hunting (accordion)
- Tuesday July 25: Céline Rosnet (accordion) and Fabrice Giori (bagpipes)
- Tuesday August 1: Directory of the Mountains of Auvergne with Eric Cousteix on the violin and J.-Fr. Hunting (accordion)
- Tuesday August 8: “Val de Sioule” repertoire with Jean-Pierre Gournillat at the hurdy-gurdy and J.-Fr. Hunting (accordion)
- Tuesday August 29: Accordion and bagpipes with Pascal Chambriard and Jean-François Chassaing
July-August // Conferences // 5 p.m.
- Sunday July 9 // Conference by J.F “Maxou” Heintzen – Chanter le crime, in Bourbonnais & surroundings…
The speaker presents his latest work: “Singing the Crime, Bloody Ducks & Tragic Complaints, 19th – 20th Century”, a strange documentary collection questioned by the historian.
“The criminal complaint is shocking: can we sing about the crimes? Before Internet and television, let’s go back to the loose leaf on a drama illustrated with an engraved wood and a complaint. This bloody, peddled, badly printed duck, his complaint to the tune of, remained popular until the last war. The radio substitute. Not completely: we sing Marie Besnard in 1952.
Our object is not the story of the crimes, but their sung media coverage. These are cultural history (the popular edition), musicology (the complaint), art history (the popular impression) and the media”. - Sunday August 6 // Conference by Pascal Chambriard – The directories of traditional dances published in Auvergne in the 19th century
Regional identities are also through music. The feeling of a disappearing culture, a response to tourist expectations or the aestheticization of popular music contributed to the flourishing of collections of bourrées and montagnardes in the second half of the 19th century, building a “sound” image of a musical Auvergne. picturesque… where the piano remains king. - Sunday August 20 // Conference by Philippe Marmy – Songs and singers in Thiernois country
The repertoire sung in the Thiers area is unique. Songs related to cutlery, drinking songs, compositions by local singers on presidential holidays, the arrival of electricity, or the 1884 exhibition.
An eclectic repertoire, largely developed by a dozen well-known songs which, between 1850 and 1950, took advantage of every opportunity to show the shortcomings of their congeners and settle their differences by singing!
Songs, almost exclusively in Occitan from Auvergne, widely distributed thanks to Alexandre Bigay who published between 1926 and 1932 three collections of songs and monologues. - Sunday September 10 // Conference by Eric Cousteix – The violinists of Artense and their repertoires
Eric Cousteix presents the fiddler and the fiddlers met between 1982 and 2015 on the Artense plateau in Auvergne. For each one he restores some biographical elements, the inventory of the recorded repertoire, with if possible the origin of the tunes played and some elements on the way of playing the violin. The speaker offers a return of his collections using sound clips, photographs and videos.
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September // European Heritage Days
Guided tour of the temporary exhibition (departure at 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. – half-price entry) and visit of the permanent violin making and collections exhibition.
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 November // Trees and Roses Season
Exceptional opening.
Visit of the temporary exhibition L’Odyssée de la roue-bow and visit of the permanent exhibition violin making and collections.
Half-price entry on presentation of the fair ticket.
The Odyssey of the Wheel-Bow
The exhibition offers you a journey of twists and turns driven by the wheel of the hurdy-gurdy. A long epic begun in the Middle Ages, continued by the blind and beggars, extended to the court of Louis XV, continued in the cabarets in the 19th century, relaunched by European Folk Song and sublimated today with avant-garde oldies.
Interactive visit. Movies in the auditorium.
- In June and September only on weekends from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- In July and August, Monday to Wednesday + weekends from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- Visits by appointment for groups from May to October.
8 rue des luthiers
03800 JENZAT
longitude : 3.19557