Paper and Copyists in Viennese Opera Scores, 1760–70

Hundreds of works by Haydn, Gluck, and other Viennese composers are known solely from contemporary copies. These sources written by professional copyists normally remained undated; determining the chronological position of the works and the value of the source is difficult. As professional copyists changed papers relatively often, a survey of datable paper allows dating manuscripts written likewise by Viennese copyists. Facing this challenge, the present project explores almost one hundred datable opera scores from the Habsburg collections, identifying the professional copyists (by handwriting and, if possible, by name) as well as the paper they used. Rather than the single elements, the combination of elements is the most valuable clue to dating. The project will exhibit various types of combinations: those of copyists working together; of paper types used simultaneously; and copyists using specific types of paper. Three main innovative aspects stick out: accuracy, accessibility, and completeness. (1) Digital photographs of watermarks and the features of copyists promise a greater precision of reproduction than can be achieved with traditional drawings by hand. For the first time in musicology this project uses transmitted light photographs and image subtraction on a grand scalean accurate, simple and inexpensive method of recording watermarks. (2) Digital processing allows a systematic search for watermarks/paper, for manuscripts and their structure, and for copyist hands. On its website the project makes the data available to a broad number of scholars in the fields of musicology and paper studies and connects it to the well-known databases of RISM and The Memory of Paper (Bernstein Project). An online Copyist Identifier will be developed (as a part of the database) that allows locating a copyist by choosing from a set of musical signs (like keys, note-heads, rests, time signatures, etc.). (3) Due to the close temporal sequence of the sources the catalogs of paper and musical handwriting presumably cover large parts of all Viennese music manuscripts written in a decade of rich manuscript production, allowing hundreds of Viennese music sources to be identified as such and dated. This is the only way to see how long a certain type of paper was used and how long a copyist was working in the market. Results from a previous project, concerning data from 1771 to 1774, will be integrated into the database. The period from 1760 to 1774 is characterized by multiple performances mostly of Italian opera in Vienna and by the fact that the Viennese court collected scores of these works. Therefore, this period is a perfect field for such an examination.

Dating musical manuscripts from the 1760s and 1770s has long posed challenges due to missing dates and inconsistent documentation. The research project addressed this issue by examining over 100 opera scores, primarily from Habsburg collections. The team focused on identifying the Viennese copyists behind these manuscripts and analyzing the types of paper they used-particularly through the study of watermarks-to establish reliable timelines. The project introduced three major innovations. First, it pioneered the large-scale use of transmitted light photography and digital image subtraction in musicological research. This allowed for precise, efficient documentation of watermarks-faint designs embedded in the paper during production. The resulting paper profiles are publicly available on the project's website and include detailed information on paper origin, date of use in the opera scores, and paper ruling types. Most of the paper was produced in the Salo region of northern Italy by papermaking families such as Calcinardi, Fondrieschi, Zuanelli, Fossati, and Seguito, transported to Venice, and then brought into the Habsburg Empire via Trieste. Second, the use of digital tools further enabled the systematic classification of the codicological structure of the manuscripts and copyist handwriting. The resulting data has been made available to scholars through an open-access website, connected to major international databases like RISM and The Memory of Paper. Score profiles provide general information about the works, the date of performances in Vienna, and a suggested date of manuscript creation. Copyist profiles compile details regarding the characteristics of scribes, their period of activity, and collaborations with other copyists. The most prominent among them was Therese Ziss who operated a copyist workshop for over a decade. A specially developed Copyist Identifier tool allows researchers to match unknown hands to known scribes based on handwriting features. Third, by focusing on a narrow window of only a decade, the project offers a comprehensive snapshot of manuscript production practices in Vienna during the period from 1760 to 1770. Data from earlier research on the 1770s has been integrated, making the project one of the most detailed resources of its kind. In total, the database documents 78 types of paper and 95 identified copyists found in 168 opera manuscripts, now held in libraries across Europe, including Vienna, Paris, Naples, Budapest, Dresden, and Leipzig. Between 1760 and 1775, opera scores made for the Viennese court were frequently bound in luxurious brocade papers. The manuscripts themselves were of exceptional quality-carefully written on high-grade music paper from Venice. The fine brocade covers, also documented in the database, sourced from renowned paper makers in Augsburg, added to their prestige. Today, these manuscripts stand as enduring examples of eighteenth-century artistic and craft excellence, both inside and out.