bavarikon4UMusical Treasures of the Münchner Stadtbibliothek – Musikbibliothek
The collection of over 5,000 musical manuscripts is unusual for a public musical library and contains autographs by such important composers as Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), Richard Strauss (1864–1949), Max Reger (1873–1916) and Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949). It is the result of intensive acquisitions as well as of generous donations and bequests.
The founder of the Musikalische Volksbibliothek (Musical People's Library), Paul Marsop (1856–1925), as music critic and writer kept excellent relations with important personalities of Munich's musical life. In the following years, good contacts to the music scene ensured that composers, musicians, patrons and authors appreciated (and still appreciate) the library as a reliable safeguard for their musical estates.
The collection focuses on composers from Munich and Bavaria. Of particular note is the Reger Collection of 30 autographs. Six musical manuscripts offered by Max Reger's widow Elsa for sale to the city of Munich in 1938 formed its basis. In 1986, a collection of 400 sources by Hans Pfitzner was purchased which contained letters, but also printed sheet music and Pfitzner's autographs. Richard Strauss, the most famous composer among the sons of the city of Munich, is represented in the collection with 19 autographs of musical manuscripts. The sheet music and the condensed score of the opera Feuersnot is a gift from Richard Strauss himself. In 1924, he even dedicated the condensed score to "The Municipal Library of my dear home town of Munich". The showpiece of the collection is the score of Johannes Brahms's clarinet trio op. 114, acquired in 1942 by the singer and composer Adolf Wallnöfer (1854–1946).
>> This collection is part of the inventory of the Münchner Stadtbibliothek – Musikbibliothek (Municipal Library – Music Library).