About the exhibition
In 2026, we will be presenting Bavarian music beyond the usual clichés: from traditional folk music to world-class orchestras, from festivals to pop and rock bands to lively amateur music. In the TonYversum in the center of Freyung, which has been renovated and partially rebuilt in keeping with its listed status, you can immerse yourself in interactive audio worlds and experience a regional exhibition for the eyes and ears.
Spectacle
After a specially filmed introductory emotional movie in the surround sound cinema, you will cross a sound bridge to the great Bavarian spectacle, a multimedia stage show. Music in Bavaria becomes a spectacle. Here you can immerse yourself in the musical "flow", the connection with like-minded people. Live music is emotion, great musical events can shape the lives of generations.
Musical journey through time
The subsequent musical journey through time shows the development of music in Bavaria over the centuries since the Middle Ages. Accompanied by many listening stations and ambient sounds, you will discover the individual voices that make up the polyphonic score of Bavarian music history. Whether music was written 500 or 5 years ago, it is part of the sound of the present.
Sound spaces: music in monasteries, at courts, in the city and in the countryside. It resounded to the glory of God, was intended to underpin princely claims to power, ordered the course of the year and everyday life or served as a warning and signal. Secularization meant a deep break in the musical landscape of Bavaria, and the musical voids were filled by the growing voices of the bourgeoisie.
World War II and revolution changed society and thus also music in Bavaria. During the Nazi era, musical life was brought into line and persecuted musicians lost their jobs, had to fall silent, emigrate or became victims of National Socialist tyranny. The post-war upswing then triggered new developments: American GIs brought modern jazz, and soon also rock and pop, to Bavaria, and folk music and Schlager experienced a heyday. Jukeboxes, radio and television changed the way music was consumed. Over the decades, Bavaria's musical spectrum became ever broader, more polyphonic and more colorful. A score that is almost impossible to survey in its diversity!
Make music
We then get to making music and answer the questions: How does music work? What does it consist of? You are invited to join in and become active. The world-famous instrument-making traditions in the territory of today's Free State of Bavaria show how diverse music can be produced. The favourable location on central transport routes, access to important raw materials and the economic and political environment favoured the development of highly specialized workshops.
Bavaria also played a pioneering role in the field of music notation, i.e. the written recording of music. Already in the Middle Ages, important monastic centers shaped musical notation. Music printing developed in the imperial cities. There are also some quite astonishing ways of putting music down in writing.
From city festivals to village discos, jazz clubs to brass band rehearsals: music plays everywhere, driven by commitment, passion and often also voluntary work. Music is alive - powerful, unifying and creative. Wouldn't you like to get involved and make music yourself?
Sounds of Bavaria
If you listen, you will hear more - about the everyday life of past and present generations, about beliefs and customs, about nature and change. The "Sounds of Bavaria" section invites you to take a look at Bavaria's cultural heritage from an unusual, acoustic perspective. Some tones, sounds and noises of the past may never be heard again, and yet they are part of our collective memory: bells once characterized the rhythm of life, signals and melodies of the post horn sounded embedded in hoofbeats and the clatter of carriages across the streets, shepherds' calls and the sound of herds determined the sounds in the countryside. But not all sounds have disappeared. Many continue to resound, and some louder than ever.
Music and me
Music accompanies us throughout our lives - from our first experience with sound, rhythm and melody to our last farewell. It shapes our personality, creates identity and community, comforts, inspires and connects. In the "Music and me" section, the focus is on the individual: the person with their very personal relationship to music - in all its facets and meanings.