Ferdinand Fürchtegott Huber collection

The collection of the St. Gallen composer Ferdinand Fürchtegott Huber (1791-1863) is held at the Cantonal Library Viadana of St. Gallen. Huber, born in 1791, was the son of the vicar and school rector. He left St. Gallen very early on for Stuttgart, where he was for some time trumpet player at the Opera orchestra. On his return to Switzerland in 1816, he worked as a music teacher and organist in Bern and St. Gallen. It was during this period, in Hofwil bei Bern, that he met Gottlieb Jakob Kuhn, author of many folk poems, to whose texts he composed many songs. He constantly collected and studied Swiss folk music, and was engaged in the revival of the alpenhorn. His most famous Lied is "Lueget vo Berg und Tal". Huber also composed instrumental music, including 12 horn trios.

The Ferdinand Fürchtegott Huber collection is a very important set of sources for Swiss music tradition. The St. Gallen musician is also included in the composers chosen for the project Repertory of Swiss composers of the 19th century. Although a handful of prints and a few handwritten copies of works by the composer can be found in other Swiss libraries, in particular at the music library of Einsiedeln monastery, the collection comprises almost the complete work of Huber, mostly in autograph manuscripts. The Swiss RISM has been mandated by the Canton Library of St. Gallen to catalogue the collection and make it available to the public.

Contact

Wolfgang Göldi
Kantonsbibliothek St. Gallen
Notkerstrasse 22
CH-9000 St. Gallen
Tel: +41 (0) 58 229 23 40
e-mail: kb.rara@sg.ch

Press article

« Du kannst nicht Kaufmann oder Schneider und Musiker werden ...»
Schweizer Musikzeitung, Nr. 6, Juni 2011, S. 53