Music manuscripts
Overview manuscript collections
Schönborn-Wiesentheid collection
Oettingen-Wallerstein collection
Collection of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin
Manuscripts of the Biblioteka Jagiellońska (Olim Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin)
„Early Music from Low Countries Libraries“, „Keyboard Music The Hague et al.“ and „Special selected sets of musical scores on microfiche“ see at Printed music.
„Dance Collection Muziekbibliothek Haags Gemeentemuseum“ see at Dance.
See also under the topic "Lost and inaccessible sources".
Overview manuscript collections
You can download an overview of the collected manuscripts that are available on film at the DMgA here. It also lists all the filmed sources that are listed in the "Census-Catalogue".
Herdringen collection (Bibliotheca Fürstenbergiana)
The music collection of the Barons of Fürstenberg was established at Herdringen Castle in the 18th century and comprises music manuscripts and printed music from the 16th to 18th centuries. This collection, which is rather small in size, is now kept with the other archives of the House of Fürstenberg in the Herdringen central administration. Its origin is connected to the literary inclinations of Clemens Lothar, Imperial Baron of Fürstenberg (1725-1791), who founded a comprehensive library of various subject areas, the so-called. Bibliotheca Fürstenbergiana, which he founded and built up. As a handwritten catalogue begun in July 1752 shows, he was also interested in contemporary writings on music, particularly on music theory and music aesthetics. However, these books are not part of the Herdringer music collection today. Clemens Lothar's great interest in theoretical considerations on music was perhaps precisely the reason for enriching his library with music prints of sacred and secular provenance, some of which date back to the 16th century and still form a significant part of the Herdringer music collection today. The more important part in terms of music history, however, is a large number of manuscript scores with instrumental works, mainly from the first half of the 18th century.
The palace library also holds an old and valuable collection of 18th century music from the estate of Baron von Sonsfeld, which came to the House of Fürstenberg through inheritance. A handwritten catalogue of music with the note "Des Herren General Major Freÿ Herrn Von Sonsfeldt Musicalisches Cathallogium" has been preserved with these musical items. A facsimile is included in the DMgA catalogue of the collection (Jürgen Kindermann: Deutsches Musikgeschichtliches Archiv Kassel. Katalog der Filmsammlung. Die Musikalien der Biblioteca Fürstenbergiana zu Herdringen. Vol IV / No. 2–3. [= Booklet 20/21] Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel et al. 1987/88).
The holdings of the Bibliotheca Fürstenbergiana are also recorded in RISM-OPAC. They have been completely filmed and can only be viewed or ordered at the DMgA.
Schönborn-Wiesentheid collection
The sheet music holdings comprise 149 prints and 498 manuscripts, in particular chamber music and church music, especially from the 18th century.
Catalogue of the collection:
Fritz Zobeley: Die Musikalien der Grafen von Schönborn-Wiesentheid: thematisch-bibliographischer Katalog. T. 1: Das Repertoire des Grafen Rudolf Franz Erwein von Schönborn (1677 – 1754). Vol. 1: Drucke aus den Jahren 1676 bis 1738.
Tutzing (Hans Schneider) 1967.
Frohmut Dangel-Hofmann: Die Musikalien der Grafen von Schönborn-Wiesentheid: thematisch-bibliographischer Katalog. T. 1: Das Repertoire des Grafen Rudolf Franz Erwein von Schönborn (1677 – 1754). Vol.. 2, Handschriften.
Tutzing (Hans Schneider) 1982.
Frohmut Dangel-Hofmann: Die Musikalien der Grafen von Schönborn-Wiesentheid: thematisch-bibliographischer Katalog. T. 3: Der Notennachlaß der Grafen Hugo Damian Erwein (1738 - 1817) und Franz Erwein (1776 – 1840). Drucke und Handschriften aus den Jahren 1768 bis ca. 1825.
Tutzing (Hans Schneider) 1992.
Only the prints in the collection are recorded in RISM-OPAC.
Sources from the Schönborn-Wiesentheid Collection can only be studied in the DMgA, but not ordered.
For reproduction requests, please contact the Schönborn castle administration (info[at]schoenborn.de).
Oettingen-Wallerstein collection
Die Oettingen-Wallerstein'sche Musiksammlung.
Saur, München. 3.819 microfiches and 8 index microfiches.
The microfiche collection contains approx. 1,800 music manuscripts and approx. 570 printed scores, mainly from the second half of the 18th century, from the Princely Oettingen-Wallerstein Library at Harburg Castle (D-HR). The majority of the music originates from the Wallerstein residence, where it was mainly used for court music, but also in the parish church. A large part of the music goes back to the court chapel of Prince Kraft Ernst (reigned 1773-1802). A small part of the music collection comes from monasteries whose property was assigned to the House of Oettingen-Wallerstein during secularisation in 1803.
The collection was acquired by the Free State of Bavaria in 1980 and is now housed in the Augsburg University Library (D-Au).
Catalogue of the manuscripts in the collection:
Gertraut Haberkamp: Thematischer Katalog der Musikhandschriften der Fürstlich Oettingen-Wallerstein‘schen Bibliothek Schloß Harburg.
München (Henle) 1976 (= Kataloge bayerischer Musiksammlungen 3).
The holdings are also recorded in RISM-OPAC.
Telemann collection, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Musikhandschriften der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Teil 2: Die Georg-Philipp-Telemann-Sammlung.
Saur, München. 352 Microfiches in 3 deliveries.
The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin owns one of the largest collections of manuscripts on the works of Georg Philipp Telemann (the other is in the Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library, Frankfurt am Main). It comprises around 140 autographs and 360 copies, scores as well as sets of parts; in the latter case, in many cases, the original performance material from the composer's own practice.
Delivery 1:
It contains the almost complete collection of Telemann's extant music autographs (shelfmarks: Mus. ms. autogr. G.P. Telemann 1-136). The missing numbers 4 and 14-16 belong to manuscripts which are now kept in the Jagiellonian Library in Krakow (PL-Kj) as a result of their removal during the Second World War.
The consignment also contains copyist's copies reflecting Telemann's involvement in works for the Hamburg Opera and sets of parts for Telemann's works (shelfmarks: Mus. ms. 4074, 9050, 9052, 9057, 11481, 11498, 21695/10, 21695/15, 21695/20, 21695/30, 21695/35, 21695/110, 21695/115, 21698/15, 21700-21714, 21720, 21722-21725, 21728/1-3).
Delivery 2:
It contains the cantata copies Mus. ms. 21728/3 to 21743/30, mainly covering the period in Hamburg between 1723 and 1763, often with printed texts which were given to churchgoers at the time to help them better understand the music.
Delivery 3:
It contains the rest of the copies from the old holdings. From Mus. ms. 21783 is followed by a representative cross-section of Telemann's instrumental works. In the 30,000 signatures, works by Telemann in mostly contemporary composite manuscripts are mixed with compositions by other authors. Furthermore, manuscripts from the collections Amalien-Bibliothek (Am. B.), Bibliothek Pretlack (N. Mus. BP), Mus. ms. autogr. Keiser and the signature group N. Mus. ms. with new acquisitions on Telemann after 1945.
Catalogue of the collection:
Joachim Jaenecke: Georg Philipp Telemann. Autographe und Abschriften.
München (Henle) 1993 (= Kataloge der Musikabteilung / Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Reihe 1 Handschriften, Band 7).
The manuscripts are also recorded in RISM-OPAC.
Collection of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin
Musikhandschriften der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Part 6: Die Sammlung der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin.
Saur, München.
The music archive of the Sing-Akademie was moved to Lower Silesia in 1943 to save it from destruction during the war. It had been considered lost since 1945 and was rediscovered in Kiev in 1999, where it was kept in the Archive-Museum of Literature and Art of Ukraine. In 2001, the archive returned to Berlin; it is kept as a deposit in the Berlin State Library (D-B).
The collection comprises 5,150 sources, mainly manuscripts (autographs and copies) and around 800 music prints. This older part of the music archive, which was returned from Kiev (the more recent holdings remained in Berlin and are catalogued in D-B as the collection N.Mus. SA) can be traced back in particular to the collecting endeavours of Carl Friedrich Zelter, who directed the Sing-Akademie between 1800 and 1832.
Part 1: Oratorios, masses, cantatas and other sacred works.
861 microfiches.
Part 2: Operas.
664 microfiches.
Part 3: Symphonies, concertos and overtures.
333 microfiches.
Part 4: Chamber music and piano music.
271 microfiches.
Catalogue of the collection:
Axel Fischer und Matthias Kornemann (eds.): The Archive of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. Catalogue / Das Archiv der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. Katalog.
Berlin und New York (De Gruyter) 2010.
The holdings D-Bsa (as a deposit in D-B) are also recorded in RISM-OPAC.
Manuscripts of the Biblioteka Jagiellońska (olim Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin)
In order to prevent the loss of its holdings in the event of the library being destroyed during the war, the former Prussian State Library began to move them from Berlin to several locations in what was then the German Reich that seemed safe from bombing raids in 1941. After the Second World War, several parts of the removed collections never returned to their original location. Some of them are considered lost, while others are now kept in the Biblioteka Jagiellońska in Krakow. Sources that belonged together in terms of content were often torn apart as a result. The Krakow holdings indicate their provenance from the former Prussian State Library and have retained the old shelfmarks.
The DMgA owns films of the following music manuscripts:
Berol. Mus. ms. 40013
Collection of German sacred songs; choir book (1st half of the 16th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40016
Rosthius, Nicolaus: Die Trostreiche Historia von der fröhlichen Aufferstehung unsers Lieben Herrn und Heilandes Jhesu Christi, wie solche beschrieben wirdt von den vier Evangelisten Anno (1593)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40027
Motets by Animuccia, Benedetto Bagni, Arch. Borsari and others (1624)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40030
Choral book by Christophle Guillaume Hoeckner; German organ tablature (1720)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40031
Collection of motets; choir book (16th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40032
Lute book in ital. Tablature with 341 works by Orlando di Lasso, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Alessandro Striggio and others (late 16th century / early 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40033
Praetorius, Johannes: Missa super Vide Domine afflictionem nostram 5 voc; choir book (1567).
Berol. Mus. ms. 40035
Organ tablature by Johann Valentin Eckold with canzonas, capricci, chorale arrangements by Froberger, Krieger, Pachelbel and others (Wernigerode 1692).
Berol. Mus. ms. 40038
Tablature and hymn book (Zwickau 1679–1704)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40040
131 motets and masses by Ahle, Beyer, Creilius and others; 9 partbooks (1678-1685)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40042
Collection of motets by Hartmann, Vincentus, G. Gabrieli and others (1st quarter 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40043
Psalms, motets and German hymns by Clemens non Papa, Manchicourt, Pierre, Walther and others; 4 partbooks (16th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40044
Collection of masses and motets for 5-12 voices by Borsaro, Botticher, Capilupi and others; 8 partbooks (early 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40056
Organ tablature by Caspar Plotz with chorale melodies, masses, Magnificat and canons by Calvisius, Bodenschatz, Utendal and others (Brieg early 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40060
Collection of motets by Walliser, Weissensee, Vincentus and others; 8 partbooks (1st half of 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40063
Latin church chants by Italian composers; basso continuo only (17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40065
Choral oder Kirchen Gesenge [sic] vnd Geistliche Lieder D. Martini Luthers … mit 4 stimmen … In die Tabulatur transponirt von Johannes Vockerodt (1649)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40067
Organ tablature (Zwickau early 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40076
Organ tablature with suites: Allemande, Courante, Ballet, Gavotte, Sarabande and others (1683)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40089
Noermiger, August: Tabulaturbuch auff dem Instrumente, in welchem erstlichen D. Martini Lutheri deutzsche Geistliche Lieder … (Dresden 1598; Noermiger was court organist there)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40092
Collection of German songs for 4-6 voices by Eckel, Isaac, Senfl and others; discantus only (1st half of the 16th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40098
"Glogauer Liederbuch", collection of sacred music (end of 15th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40110
Cantionale II von Caspar Peltsch mit Motetten, Hymnen und Chorälen für 1–8 Stimmen von Bessler, Borsaro, Christenius u. a. (um 1640)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40111
Cantionale III by Caspar Peltsch with choral and figural church music by Beckius, Demantius, Dressler and others (1648)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40112
Cantionale I by Caspar Peltsch with chorales and motets for 3-6 voices by Demantius, Dillinger, Dressler and others (1636-1639)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40115
Organ book with chorales, introds, songs by Eremita, Gallus and Loss, among others; German organ tablature (1593-1597)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40129
German organ tablatures by Capricornus, Schmetzner, Wecker and others (2nd half of the 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40142
French guitar tablature by „DE Döremberg“ (1652)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40143
Dance songs in Italian keyboard or organ tablature and in French lute tablature (1594-1604)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40144
Ungar, Johann Christian: Tabulatura seu potius partitura; chorale book in German organ tablature (1689)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40147
Suites, dances and songs by Besardus, Groberger, Kindermann and others; German organ tablature (17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40150
Lute tablature with nine Protestant hymns and a theme with variations (late 18th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40151
Sciurus, L. M.: Canzoni divoti tradotti nell'Liuto da me; Protestant chorales in French lute tablature (1740–1742)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40152
Lute tablature fragment (gavotte and minuet) by Count Christian Franz von Wolckenstein and Rodenegg (2nd half of the 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40153
Lute book by Stanislaus Casimir Rudomina Dusiacki with Italian and Polish dances and instrumental movements (1620/21)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40154
German lute tablature with German and French songs, Latin motets and German dances (mid-16th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40159
Lute book with dances, secular and sacred songs; French tablature (1st half of the 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40161
German lute tablature; fragment (around 1580)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40167
Dance suite in German organ tablature; fragment (1683)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40168
Choral cantata Nun lob mein Seel; German organ tablature (late 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40169
Hymn Jesu decus angelicus; German organ tablature (late 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40173
Protestant sacred songbook (Bernstadt 1662-1666)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40175
Aliquot Missae selectissimae 1550. 4 works by Issac, Ott and Rhaw pre-bound; only discantus, altus, bassus (1550)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40185
136 secular and sacred songs; altus only (mid-16th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40192
Collection of masses, hymns etc.; altus only (c. 1581)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40236
Chorales and sacred songs; altus, tenor and bassus only (c. 1697)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40262
Organ tablature with works by Zachow, Bertali, Heinlein and others (18th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40267
Tablature book for "Hamburger Cithrinchen" with chorales, secular songs, dances and marches (around 1700)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40272
Latin motets and German songs by Lasso, Clemens non Papa, Isaac and others; altus, bassus, vagans only (1563)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40293
Dances; only cantus II and bassus (2nd half of 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40301
Quehl, Hieronymus Florentinus: 205 fugues for the organ in German tablature (1st half of 18th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40316
Organ book with sacred and secular works by Bodenstein, Brown, Bull and others; Italian organ and piano tablature (1624/25)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40317
Ripelles, Chrisostomo: Libro di Musica … with villancicos, motets and masses by Argany, Ambieta, Barter and others (Tarragona 1704)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40318
German organ tablature; fragment (Dannenberg c. 1600)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40333
German organ tablature (1600-1601)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40340
Tesnovius, Nicolaus: Psalmodia contines Cantica sacra ... in usum Ecclesiarum Pomeranicarum … (1592)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40345
Collection of motets with works by Altenburg, Biereigen, Briegel and others; 8 partbooks (1643)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40350
Dances; 5 partbooks (1st half of 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40361
German organ tablature; fragment (12-part movement without text) (17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40583
German lute tablature with German and Italian songs, Latin motets and dances by Lasso, Merland, Regnart and others (c. 1600)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40591
Lute book by Stefano Pignatelli; Italian tablature (early 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40593
Lute tablature (around 1700)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40598
Lute tablature with interspersed German and Latin poems and sayings (c. 1572)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40620
Suites and suite movements; French lute tablature (1701)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40622
French tablature for "Hamburger Cithrinchen" (1664-1680)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40623
German organ tablature (1678)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40624
German organ tablature (1715)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40625
Suites and suite movements; French lute tablature (around 1700)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40626
French tablature for lute and guitar (1658)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40633
French lute tablature (1753)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40634
Masses; only altus and incomplete bassus (16th century) Southern Germany (Augsburg?) c. 1520
Berol. Mus. ms. 40637
Suite movements by Gumprecht and Mercure; French tablature for two lutes (2nd half of 17th cent.)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40638
Eijn lydt von dem heyligen Benno Bischoff zu Meyssen „Benno du vil heyliger mann“ (1524)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40639
Ein Lied bey dem Begrebnuss D. Lutheri „Nun last uns den Leyb begraben“ (1546)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40641
French lute tablature (c. 1610–1620)
Berol. Mus. ms. 40643
22 chorales and 5 unspecified pieces; German organ tablature (17th cent.)