Poland's Bibliotheca Rudolphina

Thursday, December 10, 2015

The Silesian duke Georg Rudolf von Liegnitz (1595-1653) of the Piast dynasty had a remarkable library. Polish music librarians and musicologists are currently cataloging parts of its music collection. As a result of World War II, the music collection was divided and distributed among four Polish libraries: the University Library at the Catholic University of Lublin (PL-Lk), Biblioteka Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk (Friends of Learning Society Library) in Legnica (PL-LEtpn), the National Library in Warsaw (PL-Wn), and the Wrocław University Library (PL-WRu). The following RISM contributors are cataloging the collection: Jolanta Byczkowska-Sztaba, Sonia Wronkowska and Michał Wysocki from Warsaw; and Izabela Baron, Grzegorz Joachimiak, Aniela Kolbuszewska and Miroslav Osowski from Wrocław. The Bibliotheca Rudolphina held 265 volumes of music, comprising 25 manuscripts and 240 items of early printed music. More than 50 of these volumes are in the RISM online catalog so far and are marked “Bibliotheca Rudolphina” in a provenance note. They contain vocal music of the Renaissance, masses, and dances.

In addition to cataloging the musical sources for RISM, the Bibliotheca Rudolphina project includes initiatives to digitize materials, make them available in modern performing editions, and offer them in concerts. The concerts are with the assistance of the ensemble Cantores Minores Wratislavienses under the direction of Piotr Karpeta. The fourth concert in the Rudolphina series will take place beginning this weekend at the following locations:

• December 12, 2015 in Wrocław (Ratusz, Sala Wielka)

• December 13, 2015 in Legnica (Aula I, Liceum Ogólnokształcącego)

• December 19, 2015 in Warsaw (Kościół Ewangelicko-Augsburski Świętej Trójcy)

Each concert begins at 6:00 PM.

Image: George Rudolf of Liegnitz (1595-1653), funerary medal from 1653, by Matejpavel1, via Wikimedia Commons

Category: Library collections