The Robin and Music

The fall bird migration is just about over here in Germany and many species have found their way to their winter quarters. But the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) stays with us throughout the year and continues to show up at backyard feeders even as the days grow colder and darker....

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Of Misspelt and Corrected Title Pages

Imagine you are an engraver and have spent hours if not days bent over the plate of a title page that you were asked to make by a music publisher – and then you notice an error. What now? Start over? Leave the error? Or is there some way of...

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Frescobaldi Thematic Catalogue Online: New Edition

We have received the following from Alexander Silbiger (Professor Emeritus, Department of Music, Duke University): Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) was the first major composer in the history of Western music to concentrate on instrumental music. In quantity, his surviving keyboard works far surpass those of any predecessor or contemporary; he was...

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Carillon Concert at Stift Heiligenkreuz for the 300th Birthday of Matthias Vanden Gheyn

We have received the following from Pater Roman Nägele (Curator of the Art Collection, Director of the Manuscript Collection, Leader of the Music Archive, Stift Heiligenkreuz, Austria): The carillon of Heiligenkreuz Abbey, a Cistercian monastery in the Vienna Woods, is housed in a Baroque bell tower. Abbot Franz Gaumannmüller commissioned...

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Caspar Neumann. Souls and Funds. The Book of Births and Funerals for the City of Wrocław

We have received the following from Grzegorz Joachimiak (RISM Poland, Wrocław): Caspar Neumann (1648-1715) is a unique figure in the history of Wrocław in the context of science and art, especially concerning demographic statistics and the fascination with death. Throughout history the idea of vanitas has most often increased its...

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