MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER
NOMINATION FORM
Austria – Brahms-Collection of the Archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in
Wien
PART A – ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1
SUMMARY
Brahms – Collection of the Archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien:
The estate of Johannes Brahms, one of the great composers of the 19th century, enlarged in
more than hundred years by collecting additional estates from the Brahms Circle and buying
other materials from or relating to Brahms.
Like Bach and Beethoven before him, Johannes Brahms ranks among the most famous
composers in the history of music. All over the world he is recognised unreservedly as an
outstanding composer of music's Romantic period.
Important for cultural history in general and music history in special.
2
DETAILS OF THE NOMINATOR
2.1
Name (person or organisation)
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
Bösendorferstraße 12
1010 Wien
General Secretary: Dr. Thomas Angyan
2.2
Relationship to the documentary heritage nominated
Owner
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
Bösendorferstraße 12
1010 Wien
2.3
Contact person (s)
Prof. Dr. Otto Biba, Director of the Archives
2.4
Contact details (include address, phone, fax, email)
Bösendorferstraße 12
A-1010 Wien
Tel. +43 1 505 86 81 44
Fax +43 1 505 86 81 66
I.Fuchs@musikverein.at
3
IDENTITY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE
3.1
Name and identification details of the items being nominated
Brahms-Collection of the Archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
3.2
Description
The archive, library and collections of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, founded
in 1812, form part of one of the five largest and most important music libraries in the world.
However, this is not merely a music library in the narrower sense of the word, but an allembracing music collection covering the following collectors' items: signed examples of
music and letters, manuscripts, first and early editions of music, musical literature, portraits
and pictures relating to music (oil paintings, watercolours, drawings, lithographs,
photographs), busts and sculptures, musical instruments, musical memorabilia and records.
In this connection the importance of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) for musical history and
present-day musical life does not need to be explained.
Brahms left his estate to the archive, library and collections of the Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde in Vienna, where he himself attended to the collection items in the study room
over a period of 30 years. Brahms was the first composer in musical history to ensure that his
estate remained accessible to the public by being housed in an archive.
His estate includes:
His own signed examples of music, manuscript copies of all works which appeared in print,
galley proofs of his works appearing in print, signed examples of the music of other
composers collected by Brahms (e.g. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann,
Richard Wagner), prints and manuscripts of works of other composers, correspondence
addressed to Brahms, music books, the literary library of Brahms, guidebooks and other
literature relating to everyday necessities, pictures and a musical instrument.
For a hundred years it has been a self-evident obligation for the Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde in Vienna to supplement this estate of Johannes Brahms with additional items
of his estate, gifts and purchases. Thus a comprehensive Brahms collection came into being,
which in terms of scale and diversity is incomparable. In particular, the estate was
supplemented with Brahms's letters, items of the estates of his circle of acquaintances (Ignaz
Brüll, Robert Fuchs, the Fellinger family), photographs and other visual material as well as
letters originating from his circle of acquaintances, printed and handwritten documents of
various kinds. Today any complementary material intended for the Brahms Collection is
subject to stringent criteria. Only those objects can now be included in the Collection as new
acquisitions which have been authenticated as having once been owned or used by Johannes
Brahms but were not included in his estate, for whatever reasons: they may have been
discarded or become separated from Brahms's belongings during his lifetime. So any items
added to the Brahms Collection must be in keeping with the spirit of completing an entity
which shaped the environment in which Brahms lived and worked, or complement existing
items. It goes without saying that any such items can only be added to the Brahms Collection
after meticulous verification, and accordingly are relatively rare.
This Brahms collection is therefore not only indispensable to everyone studying Brahms, but
it also contains important study material on the following subjects: the musical history of the
19th century, younger composers supported by Brahms, the history of interpretation and
performance practice, the history of concerts, J.S.Bach, C.Ph.E.Bach, the Viennese Classical
period, Schubert, Schumann and Wagner.
The collection also reflects Brahms's wide interest in the history of art and music, literature
and the political history of his time. From his estate it is clear that he never felt that his
personality was specifically only German or Austrian; this estate also reflects his interest in
the artistic and other phenomena of the following countries: Russia, Rumania, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain. From all these
countries, as well as the USA, there is also evidence of the contemporary reception of his
creative work.
In a nutshell the scope of the collection can be summarised and identified through the
following published catalogues:
Brahms's music autographs (84 signatures, in part covering several works, viz. Margit L.
McCorkle: Johannes Brahms. Thematisch-bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis, Munich 1984,
and the relevant addenda in the Brahms Collection of the Archives of the Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde in Wien)
Correspondence addressed to Brahms (127 signatures, mostly covering several to numerous
items of correspondence)
Correspondence sent by Brahms (445 items)
Music autographs of other composers from Brahms's collection (itemised in Alfred Orel:
Johannes Brahms’ Musikbibliothek, in: Simrock Yearbook III/1930-1934, pages 126-135)
Books and written and printed music from Brahms's collection (precisely itemised in Kurt
Hofmann: Die Bibliothek von Johannes Brahms, Hamburg 1974)
Also various pictorial documents and personal utensils and keepsakes (inventory in the
Brahms Collection in the Archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien)
Bequests of the friends of Brahms Ignaz Brüll, Robert Fuchs, Johann Peter Gotthard, the
Fellinger family (inventories in the Brahms Collection in the Archives of the Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde in Wien)
4
JUSTIFICATION FOR INCLUSION/ ASSESSMENT AGAINST CRITERIA
4.1
Is authenticity established? (see 4.2.3)
Authenticity is ensured by the fact that this is essentially an estate which has been
supplemented by other estates. The strictest criteria of authenticity have always been applied
to additional, supplementary purchases.
4.2
Is world significance, uniqueness and irreplaceability established? (see 4.2.4)
The Brahms Collection and the estate on which it is based are unique irreplaceable, for a
number of reasons:
4.2.a
Our knowledge of the life and creative output of Johannes Brahms is based largely on the
material contained in the Collection; indeed, The Collection is crucial to our full
understanding of Brahms’s life and work.
4.2.b
The complete edition of Brahms’s works is currently in hand, and the Collection plays a
crucial part in its compilation and publication.
4.2.c
For musicians the Collection provides valuable material to help understand the correct
interpretation of Brahms’s works.
4.2.d
The estate tells us not only about the artistic aspects of Brahms’s life but also about his
interests in literature and philosophy, his social commitment, his circle of friends, his social
life, and his leisure activities. Aside from the figure of Brahms himself, a large part of the
estate is also important for our understanding of the way of life in Brahms’s day.
4.2.e
The estate of Johannes Brahms also features a great deal of invaluable material – notably
original manuscripts by composers he was friendly with (Robert Schumann) or composers he
admired (Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz
Schubert), as well as material on composers he disapproved of, such as Richard Wagner and
Anton Bruckner – as he himself was an ardent collector of manuscripts and other
documentation material. The estate, therefore, is also consulted by researchers interested in
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert or Schumann as it contains significant and sources on
these composers.
4.2.f
Various other libraries also have signatures by and pictorial or other material on Johannes
Brahms. Such inventories, most of them relatively small by comparison, came about as the
result of chance opportunities to acquire individual items of a specific significance. Given
that the broader picture can never be sketched out through such chance encounters and that
unity and consistency in terms of subject matter cannot be achieved, such items are certainly
always rarities but never represent a unique collection.
4.2.g
By virtue of its history and its objectives the Brahms Collection of the Archives of the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien is a unique collection and documentation source.
Each item in the collection has an intrinsic value and significance yet remains part of the
universal character of the Brahms Collection as a whole, which owes its uniqueness to two
main factors:
 All the aspects of the life and work of Brahms are equally represented and documented
here through documents of the highest quality.
 Documents which may not be unique in and of themselves because they were produced in
several or even many copies are certainly unique in the content of the Collection
inasmuch as they were used by Brahms himself, as they bear his entries and signs that he
used them, and overall represent the artistic and intellectual world that provided Brahms
with his inspiration.
Brahms Collection in the archive of Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna is irreplaceable.
Were it ever to be lost, many recurring questions regarding Johannes Brahms and the musical
culture, literature, philosophy and way of life of his days could never be answered; the same
holds true for such major composers as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann.
4.2.h
The Brahms Collection is one part of the Archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in
Wien. It is explicitly this part only, and not the entire holdings of the Archive, which is being
nominated for the Memory of the World Registry.
4.3
Is one or more of the criteria of (a) time (b) place (c) people (d) subject and theme (e)
form and style satisfied? (see 4.2.5)
4.3.a, time:
Brahms is a central personality of his era: musical Romanticism. He was amongst the
favourite composers of the emancipated middle-classes in the second half of the 19th century –
an important sociological phenomenon in European history; through his works and his role as
conductor and pianist he was instrumental in shaping the development of modern concert life.
To this day he has remained the most performed composer in international concert life,
virtually on a par with Mozart and Beethoven.
4.3.b, place:
Brahms spent most of his life in Vienna and created many of his major works there. At that
time Vienna was considered the musical capital of Europe. Everything composed, performed
and organized there was of major influence in the world of music. In the Brahms Collection
there are many documents and proofs for such influences and contacts going out from Vienna.
Brahms himself worked artistically at the place where his estate and the collection based on it
is now kept. The Brahms Collection of the Archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in
Wien is housed in the so called “Musikvereinsgebäude” in Vienna, where Brahms himself
was performing as conductor and pianist and where many of his works had their first
performance.The famous concert hall of the Musikvereinsgebäude, called the Golden Hall, is
still in use and well known over the world due to the Ney Years Concert of the Vienna
Philharmonic.
4.3.c, people:
Amongst the Brahms Collection there are important materials of other artists representing the
European cultural and social history significating the time of the emancipating middle classes
(see 4.3.a and 4.3.b). For instance: Ignaz Brüll, Antonin Dvorak, Carl Goldmark, Edward
Grieg, Clara Schumann, Richard Wagner (composers), Arnold Böcklin, Anselm Feuerbach,
Max Klinger, Adolf Menzel (pictorial arts), Gottfried Keller, Paul Heyse (literature). All these
materials are accessible to the public in the study room of the archive, library and collections
of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. Parts of it are regularly shown in exhibitions
in Europe, the USA and Japan. This also applies to anyone interested in the aforementioned
composers, i.e. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann.
4.3.d, subject and theme:
Brahms is a key figure of the Romantic period in music and today highly estimated all over
the world. As a collector he was also interested in earlier periods (see 4.2.e). His personal
contact with important and world famous composer and musician colleagues – foremost
among them Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Richard Wagner – also affords these
composers pride of place in the Brahms Collection.
4.3.e, form and style:
No composer of the Classical or Romantic period has dedicated his estate totally to an
archive, whereby the estate has then been able to be constantly supplemented for the purpose
of a special collection. Nor are there any comparable examples after Brahms: Whenever the
estates of other composers have been handed down en masse (Schoenberg, Webern, Berg,
Stravinsky), this has been on the basis of other preconditions and in a different scenario; they
have never again been able to be expanded into such a special collection and also become
important for other composers on such a scale and for a whole epoch. Not even in the field of
literature is there such a comparable example. What makes this Collection so unique and so
special is that firstly it focuses on a leading personality and, secondly, because of its diversity
and richness and also the personality’s key role and many interests and contacts, it is capable
of covering almost a century of European history of music culture, literature and social life.
4.4
Are there issues of rarity, integrity, threat and management that relate to this
nomination? (see 4.2.6)
The importance of this collection in terms of its uniqueness, comprehensive orientation as
well as the great sense of responsibility of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna for its
preservation and supplementation are recognised worldwide and are beyond question. There
are serious conservational problems in the preservation of parts it, because Brahms almost
without exception used very poor - and therefore poorly conservable - paper; at great expense,
measures for conservation and restoration are being implemented by the owner, a private
company, with the help of sponsors.
5
LEGAL INFORMATION
5.1.
Owner of the documentary heritage (name and contact details)
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
see 2.1. and 2.4. above
5.2
Custodian of the documentary heritage (name and contact details, if different to
owner)
Prof. Dr.Otto Biba
5.3
Legal status:
(a) Category of ownership
private
(b) Accessibility
Open to the public in the Reading Room. Possibility to loan objects for exhibitions in
museums all over the world (special security rules apply)
(c) Copyright status
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
(d) Responsible administration
The Director of the Archives
See 2.3. and 2.4. above
(e) Other factors
6
MANAGEMENT PLAN
6.1
Is there a management plan in existence for this documentary heritage? YES
The Brahms collection is located in secured and air-conditioned rooms, for the most part in
strong rooms, and partly on steel shelves. Back-up copies of the most important parts of the
collection are available in-house or externally.
In order to guarantee even greater security for the items of the estate, beneath the basements
of the building a concrete bunker is currently being built in which the most important parts of
the collection are to be kept. It will be completed in winter 2003/2004.
There are plans for an even better utilisation of the collection with EDP resources, although
these plans cannot be financed until after the completion of the abovementioned construction
work.
Publications from and concerning the collection are constantly being suggested and
sponsored.
7
CONSULTATION
7.1
Provide details of consultation about this nomination with (a) the owner of the heritage
(b) the custodian (c) your national or regional Memory of the World committee
(a)
This nomination has been prepared by Prof. Dr. Otto Biba, custodian of the archive,
in consultation with the owner (Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, represented by its
Secretary General Dr. Thomas Angyan) and the Austrian National Committe for the
Memory of the World Programme.
See above 2.3. and 2.4.
PART B – SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
8
ASSESSMENT OF RISK
8.1
Detail the nature and scope of threats to this documentary heritage (see 5.5)
See in particular 6.1. The increasing air pollution leads to chemical reactions in the poor,
grainy paper which Brahms used. For this reason, ten years ago in addition to the airconditioning system an air-purifying unit was also installed in the strong rooms of the Brahms
collection. For the time being, original manuscripts can only be examined in the form of
microfilm copies in order to prevent damage through frequent use.
9
ASSESSMENT OF PRESERVATION
9.1
Detail the preservation context of the documentary heritage (see 3.3)
See also 6.1 and 8.1. Items from the collection are constantly undergoing restoration.
Amongst the most spectacular manuscript restorations in recent times are the restorations of
the original manuscripts of Mozart's Symphony in G minor, KV 550 (from Brahms's estate)
and Brahms's "German Requiem", which were seriously at risk. The restoration of two oil
paintings of Johannes Brahms by Marie Fellinger is currently being prepared; as frequently
occurred at this time, this artist also primed the canvas too thinly, so that the oil colours are
gradually starting to become detached from the undercoat.
PART C - LODGEMENT
This nomination is lodged by:
Prof. Dr. Otto Biba, Custodian and Director of the Archive
.……………………………….................... December 27, 2002