Twelve centuries of music in Zurich

Twelve centuries of music in Zurich

Why was Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor first printed in Zurich? What music did Zurich publishers print in the 18th century? How did the Allgemeine Musik-Gesellschaft Zürich come to hold the autograph manuscript of Johannes Brahms’s 4th Symphony? These are just some of the questions that the exhibition in the Treasury of the Zentralbibliothek in the Predigerchor sets out to answer. Important music manuscripts and printed music as well as archive materials from the rich music holdings of the Zentralbibliothek are presented in their historical context. Significant events and typical phenomena of the city’s musical life are condensed into a kaleidoscopic tour of Zurich’s music history.

On view are well-known exhibits from the holdings of the Zentralbibliothek such as the autograph Mozart manuscript written in Zurich and the fair copy of the libretto to “Siegfrieds Tod” penned by Richard Wagner. Foundation documents and sheet music pay tribute to the old Zurich Collegia musica, which dominated the city’s musical life from the 17th century onwards. Various exhibits also illustrate Zurich’s growing public interest in music in the 19th century.

Not only did the Reformation virtually kill off Zurich’s public musical life, it also led to the destruction and disposal of valuable medieval music manuscripts. Nevertheless, the pre-Reformation period is represented by some outstanding items in the exhibition. Liturgical music manuscripts from the 8th to the 16th centuries from the library of the Benedictine monastery of Rheinau give an impression of musical practices in Zurich’s churches. The Liber Ordinarius of Konrad von Mure – full of references to music, albeit with no actual scores – is a script for the liturgy in the Grossmünster during the 13th century and a unique record for the city of Zurich.

Exhibition concept: Urs Fischer, Angelika Salge