Swiss composers of the 19th century in the music library of Einsiedeln monastery

The project on Swiss composers of the 19th century in the music library of Einsiedeln monastery originated subsequent to the inventory project Repertory of Swiss composers of the 19th century carried out by the RISM Switzerland in the music library of Einsiedeln monastery. The project was started on 1st July 2000 and ended in Spring 2007. 6,472 sources were recorded: 1,688 music manuscripts and 4,784 printed music editions.

Many sources of the composers selected for the Repertory of Swiss composers of the 19th century are preserved in the music library of Einsiedeln monastery. The director of the music library of Einsiedeln monastery, Father Lukas Helg, expressed his desire to conduct a full documentation of the Swiss composers of the 19th century in the music library of the monastery and to carry out the cataloguing in partnership with the RISM Switzerland. The fact that the Einsiedeln library, in addition to those sources already documented in the Repertory of Swiss composers of the 19th century, still contains about 3,000 further music manuscripts or printed music editions by Swiss composers of the 19th century, illustrates the significance of the music library of Einsiedeln monastery for Swiss music history of the 19th century and legitimates the strong wish for a complete catalogue and documentation.

In order to realize this ambitious project, Father Lukas Helg agreed to gather the data by means of the RISM software PIKaDo; thanks to this generous concession the RISM Switzerland was permitted to establish a "branch" in the music library of the monastery in Einsiedeln. The costs for this project were fully borne by the monastery in Einsiedeln; for the project the monastery itself was financially supported by a substantial contribution coming from the UBS Culture Foundation.

Contact

P. Lukas Helg OSB
Kloster
CH-8840 Einsiedeln
Tel: +41(0) 55 418 65 49
Fax: +41(0) 55 418 61 12
e-mail: lukas.helg@bluewin.ch