Swiss RISM branch: Music archives of the cathedral in St. Gallen

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Music archives of the cathedral in St. Gallen

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The musical archives of the cathedral of St. Gallen comprise an extensive collection of musical manuscripts and prints of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The designations of origin such as "Stiftskirche" (37 mentions), "Katholisches Institut" (29 mentions) and "Domchor" (15 mentions) indicate that the archives of the cathedral of St. Gallen have collections of music at their disposition which illustrates the extensive care of music practiced in the cathedral, at the former Catholic college (founded in 1808) and later in the choir of the cathedral (founded in 1874) during the period of 1730 - 1950; furthermore the archives have a collection of sources from the former monastery principality of St. Gallen (secularized in 1805).
Sacred vocal music (masses and other pieces for liturgical use) form the main genre of the collection. Amongst the pieces coming from the "Katholischen Institut" are stage music and instrumental music (orchestral pieces, pieces for solo instruments). The music in the section of sacred music bears names of "well-known composers" such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (as copies from the 18th and 19th centuries) as well as not so prominent composers, whose vocal works were yet very popular in the 19th century, such as Johann Kaspar Aiblinger (1779-1863), Karl Ludwig Drobisch (1803-1854), Karl Kempter (1819-1871) and Donat Müller (1806-1879). The works of the directors of the cathedral choir, from whom many autographs are preserved, bears a special importance in this part of the colletion; such directors were Franz Joseph Greith (1798-1869; director between 1833-1860), Karl Greith (1828-1887; director between 1861-1877), Theodor Gaugler (1840-1892; director between 1870-1874), Johann Gustav Eduard Stehle (1839-1915; director between 1874-1912) and Joseph Gallus Scheel (1879-1946; director between 1913-1946).
The collection of the archives of the cathedral of St. Gallen was catalogued during the period of June 2003 - July 2004 by Swiss RISM Office. The inventory consists of 1'328 titles - 381 manuscripts and 947 prints. During the process of the inventorisation the entire collection was rearranged, shelf-marked and repacked in acid-free materials for conservation.

Contacts
The collection may be visited and used only after previous inquiry. For inquiries please contact:

Mr. Hans Eberhard
Leiter der Diözesanen Kirchenmusikschule
Klosterhof 6b
CH-9000 St. Gallen
Tel.: +41(0)71 227 33 38
e-mail: eberhard.hans@bluewin.ch

Documentation
- List of musical documents
- Composers and statistics

Database
www.rism-database.ch