The Music Collection of the Olomouc Archbishopric

The Kroměříž music collection includes music collected gradually between the 17th and 19th centuries in the chateau and the churches of Kroměříž (St. Maurice, Virgin Mary, Piarist College and the church of St. John Baptist). The oldest part of the collection was created via the artistic support and sponsorship of Bishop Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn for the needs of the court orchestra and for sacred purposes of the church of St. Maurice. Pavel Josef Vejvanovský, the court composer and trumpeter, copied the compositions of his contemporaries in the Vienna-Salzburg circle and also composed a great deal of his own music. Most of the music from the episcopate of Archbishop Colloredo has been preserved; symphonies, chamber music, as well as pieces for harpsichord, string and wind instruments. A remarkable part of the chateau collection is a fragment of the music collection of Archduke Rudolf Jan who studied composition and piano with Ludwig van Beethoven. In the 1930s, the chateau collection was extended by the inclusion of music from the churches of Kroměříž; the whole music collection was first catalogued by the chateau archivist Antonín Breitenbacher. The collection was professionally processed, primarily by musicologist Jiří Sehnal.

Jitka Kocůrková – Kateřina Smékalová

Contact:
Mgr. et Mgr. Kateřina Fajtlová
kurátorka a správce hudební sbírky
fajtlova(a)olmuart.cz
tel.: 573 332 037