16 striking musical sculptures that adorn the world’s streets and parks

22 June 2021, 16:59

Wander through the world’s sweetest-sounding streets with our gallery of musical sculptures – from the beautiful to the bizarre.

From Beethoven’s stern, sandy visage at the East Neuk Festival, to an abstract cluster of organ pipes embodying the spirit of Sibelius’s music, we’ve found some of the world’s most weird and wonderful musical sculptures.

1. Beethoven’s frown in sand

   A sand sculpture at 2016’s East Neuk Festival in Fife brings Beethoven’s imposing countenance to life.

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2. Sibelius Monument in Sibelius Park

   Artist Sheldon Marshall is the brains behind this intricate sculpture of the beloved Finnish composer in his country’s capital, Helsinki.

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3. Sibelius Monument in Sibelius Park

   And next to Sibelius’s steely visage, sits a gigantic abstract monument based on a sound wave made from clusters of over 600 organ pipes. The highest pipe reaches over 27 feet in the air.

   

4. Fiddler from the Ground

   This mind-bending sculpture emerges from the foyer of the Stopera concert hall, on the edge of Amsterdam’s Waterlooplein.

   

5. Gigantic virtuoso cellist

   On the outskirts of the Theater District in downtown Houston, US, sits a giant cello and a musician who is invisible except for his head and hands. Virtuoso was commissioned as an artwork that “paid homage to music, dance and performing arts”.

   

6. French horn sand sculpture

   To celebrate John Luther Adams’ specially commissioned work for 32 French horn players at the East Neuk Festival, artists Jamie and Claire carved a magnificent version of the instrument in sand. With all its complex tubes, bells and keys, the sculpture ended up weighing 20 tonnes.

   

7. The Singing Ringing Tree

   This eerie aeolian harp sculpture, designed by Anna Liu and Mike Tonkin, sits atop a hill overlooking the English town of Burnley in Lancashire.

   

8. The invisible violinist

   This mysterious, treble-some figure stalks the corner of the Marnixstraat and Bloemgracht in Amsterdam.

   

9. Frog trio

   A trio of bronze and copper frogs brings beautiful music to a park and garden, courtesy of artist Beau Smith.

   

10. The musical ‘Phoenix’

    Belgian sculptor Louis Halleux aptly named this wonderful musical sculpture – which sits outside the Musical Instrument Museum in Arizona’s capital city – ‘Phoenix’.

    

11. Mozart in sand

    At the 2013 International Sand Sculpture Festival in the Algarve, the creative minds behind ProSandArt used their tools to sculpt famous musicians and composers from different eras – from Mozart, to Bono and Lady Gaga.

    

12. J.S. Bach at St Thomas Church, Leipzig

    Johann Sebastian Bach is immortalised by sculptor Carl Seffner outside St Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany, where the great Baroque composer was choir director from 1723 until his death in 1750.

    

13. Glenn Gould statue

    Here’s piano legend Glenn Gould, looking extremely dapper in his permanent home in Toronto, Canada.

    

14. Franz Liszt’s hand in Budapest

    Liszt’s sculpted hand, part of the Hungarian composer and pianist’s sculpture in Ferenc Square, gives a dual impression of power and dexterity.

    

15. Johann Strauss Memorial

    Edmund von Hellmer’s masterpiece depicts the great Johann Strauss in a glittering bronze statue, in Vienna.

    

16. Chopin sculpture

    On your next visit to Warsaw, look out for Wacław Szymanowski’s UNESCO-protected depiction of legendary Polish composer-pianist Frédéric Chopin, situated close to the Belvedere Palace.