Research Locations in Vienna

Today was my first full day in Vienna and with my research starting tomorrow I took a trek to the three sites where I will be working with manuscripts of Missa gratiarum in C and other masses of Antonio Caldara (1671 – 1736).  Antonio Caldara was the Vice-Kapellmeister to Emperor Charles VI from 1716 until his death in 1736.

The first stop was the Archive of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.  While this is one of the world’s finest concert halls and home to the Vienna Philharmonic it is also one of the most important music archives in the world.  The archive contains the autograph score of Missa gratiarum, a manuscript brought into the collection in 1834 with the donation of the music library of Archduke Rudolf, a student of Beethoven.  You can read more about the Archive here.

The second stop on my journey across Vienna was to the Austrian National Library.

The library is part of the Hofburg Palace which was the residence of many Holy Roman Emperors and rulers of Austria until 1918.  Charles VI (1685 – 1740), the royal patron of Antonio Caldara, built the imperial library.  The Prunksaal (State Hall) is still part of the Austrian National Library.  Of course a statue of Charles VI is featured prominently in this fantastic example of Baroque architecture.

The Austrian National Library houses thousands of music manuscripts.  One of these manuscripts is a score of Missa gratiarum copied and bound for the royal library of Charles VI who himself was a composer.  Caldara was the favorite composer of Charles and the masses such as Missa gratiarum where composed for the services of the Hofkapelle, the Emperor’s Royal Chapel.

The third stop was to the Schottenstift (Scottish Abbey).

The archive of this former Benedictine Monastery houses a set of performing parts for Missa gratiarum which were copied in 1737 for use in the chapel of the abbey.  The mass was performed regularly at the Schottenstift until 1751.