Medieval Music Manuscripts in the OeNB

The sources of early music history in Austria have until now not yet been sufficiently investigated. Despite meritorious case studies we are still lacking a systematic survey of the musical tradition in Austrian libraries from the 9th to the early 16th centuries. In this respect, the desiderata concerning the largest collection of our country, the Austrian National Library (OeNB), are especially obvious. Therefore, the prior scientific task consists in the compilation and interpretation of all sources with musical notation which are stored in the Department of Manuscripts and partly, in the Department of Music of the OeNB. This clearly defined criterium (existence of written musical signs) seems much more convenient than a narrow approach regarding particular repertoires, genres or periods, and on behalf of its easy perceptibility it offers the most chances of a collaboration with other disciplines. For historic reasons the collection is extremely inhomogeneous. As a matter of fact, Latin codices prevail, but German and Czech texts are considered as well. An actual list of the relevant sources (partly known from library catalogues or other secondary literature, partly unknown) contains 413 shelf-marks. At present, the inventory provides more than 60 descriptions of complete manuscripts and represents the basis for a monographic catalogue focussing on music history: the information on external data shall be complemented by aspects of the research history and a musicological commentary which places the respective sources in their historic contexts. Beside the codicological indications and the presentation of the contents (in the case of liturgical manuscripts referring to standard texts), we shall particularly take into account the description of musical notations. In cooperation with the OeNB, these are supported by digitised images (mostly several photos for each manuscript) that are made available on the World Wide Web. Special databases contain query options for contents, dating, localisation and notations. The second area concerns the numerous fragments of the OeNB: currently, 581 music fragments could be identified, with their assembling in groups being visualised by the means of digitisation.

Until a few years ago, the sources of medieval music in Vienna were still largely unknown. In the literature (from music-historical overviews to special studies) the same sources are cited again and again, mostly without undertaking new research on the entire transmission. In the course of this project a long-awaited catalogue of the manuscripts in the Austrian National Library has been compiled, which incorporates the sources with musical notation up to the early 16th century. In choosing the largest library of Austria we were guided by the assumption that many treasures could still be detected there which was confirmed by some samples taken at the beginning of our research. The sources contain numerous liturgical books which offer nearly all variants of Gregorian chant (chronologically and regionally). Medieval polyphony is represented by several examples, too, from simple monastic two-part pieces to the artistic contrapuntal masses of the most renowned masters of the Renaissance. Apart from information about the liturgical organisation (mass and office) and indications on the art decoration (book painting), the diverse types and forms of notation are described for each source. The conclusion attempts to put each manuscript in its historical context, thus explaining the veneration of individual saints or connections between places, dioceses and parishes out of their respective times.The most important discovery are remnants of a choirbook dating from c. 1400 and originating from Venice. The fragments transmit works of the well-known composer Guillaume Du Fay, among others. The compositions of these magnificent parchment folios were published as a colour fac-simile and presented to the public via CD recordings. Significant for Austria as a realm of monasteries is a comprehensive amount of sources from Mondsee abbey (near Salzburg), by which we can imagine the status of musical life in this centre. We fully re-evaluated music manuscripts from late-medieval Bohemia, large-sized and richly illuminated chant books provided with characteristic Bohemian notation. As testimonia of the great past of the Habsburgian rulers, the splendid music manuscripts produced in the Alamire workshop (after 1500) have been described and partly re-examined, as far as the Vienna copies are concerned.