Immediately after the foundation of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde efforts were initiated to assemble a music collection. Consequently, various areas of specialisation emerged. In this context the term “archive”.
The form and appearance of the scores are varied: the imperial court chapel uses handwritten parts. There are magnificent scores dedicated to a nobleman. There are rare prints from the 16th or 17th century; there are also proofs with entries by the composers or rare first editions. The most valuable are probably the more than 5,000 autographs, which allow conclusions to be drawn about the composition process. These include manuscripts by many great composers, such as Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mahler, Mozart, Schubert, Schönberg, Schumann, Strauss and Strauß, Zemlinsky and many others. However, Prokofiev and Verdi are also represented.
Not all music autographs today are by highly famous masters; composers from the supposedly second tier are also represented, are being eagerly researched and are awaiting to be discovered in the concert hall.
The collection focuses on the Empire and the monarchy from around 1750 onwards. However, it also includes pieces one would not expect to find here, such as a score of the opera Castor et Pollux by the French composer and music theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) with entries by the composer.
