The Schotten Archive

Today I finished my work with the performance parts of Missa gratiarum which are in the Schotten Archive.

I am convinced now that the performance parts where copied at the Schotten from the autograph.  While I have already written a little about this assumption, today I compared the script on the cover to script with in the parts.  They are a match so it is safe to say the same scribe that created the parts also created the covers.  I had originally thought that these parts might be the original performing parts since the original Hofkapelle parts are missing from the Hofkapelle archive in the National Library.  I was thinking that maybe these were the original parts brought to the Schottenstift and given a new Schotten folder, but after comparing the script on the cover with the script in the parts I do not think this is the case.  The parts also seem to follow a Schotten performance practice of a slightly smaller instrumental ensemble.  A missa solenne of Caldara often has additional parts which double the voices, a sign of the opulence of the Chapel Imperial.  These additional parts include cornetto, viole, and tiorba.  While these parts are optional they do show up in the Hofkapelle parts of other masses in this style and the use of viole is indicated in the autograph score.  Using my comparison of Missa gratiarum with other Caldara missa solenne, my edition will attempt to reconstruct the original performing forces for the Hofkapelle performance of Missa gratiarum.