Also known as ‘The Pipes of Pan’ and ‘Orpheus and his lute’, this panel is one of only two remaining sections of a decorative scheme commissioned by Siegfried Bing in 1895 for the exterior of his Galerie L’Art Nouveau, 22 rue de Provence, Paris. The complete scheme comprised a decorative frieze on the exterior of the building showing eastern potters at work and oriental figures talking and playing pipes. ‘Music’ and its companion piece ‘Dancing’ were displayed just inside the main entrance of the building. ‘Dancing’ shows two semi-nude figures in a landscape dancing to the music of panpipes being played by a boy.
Both panels were illustrated in J. S. Little’s article in The Studio (1897), from which it would appear that ‘Music’ was originally much larger and has been cut down on all sides. It is possible that this was done when the painting was in the collection of M. Agache, who acquired both ‘Music’ and ‘Dancing’ and the decorative frieze when these were removed from Bing’s gallery around 1905. It is more likely however that Brangywn himself cut the panel down when he later re-acquired it, at which time he also added his initials.
