BC exhibit offers a look at musical collection

In the 16th century, German theorist and conductor Sebastian Virdung wrote the earliest works dealing with musical instruments and theory. The Burns Library at Boston College looks at Virdung and the work he inspired in ''The Legacy of Sebastian Virdung: Rare Books and Music and Instruments From the Collection of Frederick R. Selch." The show features objects drawn from the private collection of Selch, a scholar, writer, and musician who died in 2002. The collection documents the history of Western music from the early 1500s. It includes 800 historic musical instruments, 6,000 books, a variety of ephemera, and 400 prints, drawings, and paintings of musical subjects. The exhibit is through Aug. 15 at 140 Commonwealth Ave., Newton. Admission is free. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 617-552-3282.

MILVA DiDOMIZIO