News archive
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....
29 November 2021 – In the news
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...
25 November 2021 – New at RISM
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...
22 November 2021 – Electronic resources
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...
18 November 2021 – Events
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...
15 November 2021 – Library collections
Matteo Capranica: A Composer from Rieti
Angelo Fusacchia has devoted a long time to researching musicians who were from or active in the Italian province of Rieti. He has cataloged the Archivio musicale del Duomo di Rieti (I-RId) for RISM. Matteo Capranica is an almost completely unknown composer today. He must have been somewhat famous at...
11 November 2021 – Library collections
A newly discovered recorder sonata attributed to Vivaldi
We have received the following from Inês d’Avena and Claudio Ribeiro: During an artistic residency in Venice in October 2018, we discovered a handful of eighteenth-century anonymous manuscript sonatas for recorder and basso continuo at the library of the Conservatorio “Benedetto Marcello”. In the Fondo Correr, Esposti e provenienze diverse...
8 November 2021 – Rediscovered
IAML Online Meeting: Swedish musical life during the last four hundred years
The following is by Pia Shekhter (President, International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres) and was originally published on the IAML website. It is published here with kind permission. On behalf of the Swedish IAML Branch it is a pleasure for me to invite you all to: Swedish...
4 November 2021 – Events
Michael Altenburg in 1621
No fewer than three printed editions containing works solely by Michael Altenburg (1584-1640) were published in 1621. Tragically, this year was also a dramatic turning point in his life. But first things first. As the son of a village blacksmith, Altenburg first studied theology starting in 1598 in Erfurt. After...
1 November 2021 – Musical anniversaries
Three Venetian Manuscripts: Originals or Forgeries?
The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice (I-Vnm) preserves three beautifully designed manuscripts containing solo songs and arias: Cod. It. IV, 740 (=10313) (RISM ID no. 850699985), Cod. It. IV, 742 (=10318) (RISM ID no. 850701873), and Cod. It. IV, 743 (=10317) (RISM ID no. 850702408). The works are by 17th-century...
28 October 2021 – Library collections
