Conference
„Collecting – Performing – Exploring. Dresden’s Eighteenth Century Court Music“
January 21 to 23, 2016
International Conference of the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB)
In the context of the DFG-funded project “The Music of the Dresden Court Church and the Royal Private Music Collection at the Time of the Saxon-Polish Union. Cataloging – Digitization – Presentation”, SLUB Dresden will host the international conference „Collecting – Performing – Exploring. Dresden’s Eighteenth Century Court Music”, scheduled from January 21 to 23, 2016.
Whereas the preceding Project „Cabinet II“ – named for the previous location of the manuscripts in question – dealt with the instrumental music of the Saxon-Polish era, the present project is dedicated to the music of the Catholic Court Church and the private music treasures of various members of the ruling Wettin family, a stock mainly characterized by its secular vocal works.
Upon completion of the project in the summer of 2016, one of the worldwide most important collections of its age in terms of quality and scope will not only have been expertly cataloged but also be entirely available for research and practice in digital format.
The concomitant conference will shed light onto issues of collection history, take a closer look at eminent collectors at the Dresden court, discuss aspects of geographic source dissemination and also contribute to repertoire research. It will finally highlight the project’s methodical approaches to the cataloging and presentation of the music.
Initiated by papers on the interdependence of collection history and professional music history and on the historic transition of court collections to modern research libraries, the symposium will also contribute to the bicentennial of SLUB Dresden’s Music Department.
In order to bring the project music to life, a choice selection of works from the Court Church and the Royal Private Music Collection will be performed in a complementary concert on historic instruments by students of the University of Music and Theatre »Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy« in Leipzig. The musical production and overall direction will be in the hands of the noted Italian conductor and Vivaldi-expert Federico Maria Sardelli.
We thank the German Research Foundation (DFG) for its support.
