Harnoncourt's Archive
Until now, listeners, enthusiasts, musicians and musicologists have only been able to recognise Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s musical intentions in the snapshot of a concert and on the basis of recordings or to delve deeper into his world of ideas with the help of his books. However, his ability to present music is expressed even more clearly in his written notes and annotations in the scores and performance materials, which provide special insights into his artistic creative drive as well as comprehensive background information.
The Harnoncourt family has left Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s artistic legacy to the province of Upper Austria for digitisation – with the aim of securing it, making it accessible worldwide and processing it scientifically. The Nikipedia database fulfils this requirement and is constantly being expanded to include further works and content. So it’s always worth taking a look. Discover the universe of Nikolaus Harnoncourt!
Nikolaus and Alice Harnoncourt have systematically built up an archive on wooden bookshelves since the beginning of their work in 1949, which has steadily grown to around 120 meters of shelving.
In the beginning, the scores had to be copied by hand from manuscripts or microfilms in libraries and archives and orchestral parts had to be made just to be able to play them through at all and assess whether they would be included in the concert programme.
In Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s series of annotated scores, the focus is on works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Bruckner and Johann Strauss, but also Jacques Offenbach, Giuseppe Verdi, Antonin Dvorak, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Béla Bartók and, of course, most of the Baroque composers, some of whom he has rescued from oblivion, such as Ignaz Biber, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer and Georg Muffat.
However, music and literature also emerge directly from his estate. Numerous pieces of music of various genres, which he was never to perform, as well as manuscripts and notes of his music-literary work and teaching are included.
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The archive has grown into an extensive collection that documents the entire creative body of work:
- Sheet music (scores, orchestral material, copies of manuscripts and other primary sources);
- (annotated) books from the musical reference library;
- secondary literature (programmes, reviews, sketches, correspondence, repertoire lists, performance lists, conducting notes, concepts, thoughts, teaching material, rehearsal plans, lectures, interviews, photos, indexes, etc.).
- Audio-visual material (all commercial recordings in all formats, radio and TV programmes, interviews, lectures, unpublished concert and rehearsal recordings)
Through this digital archive, if one opens a score of a work arranged by Harnoncourt in order to be able to read and understand his thoughts and focal points, the work is supplemented with a variety of material: sketches, scoring ideas, concepts, secondary literature on the work or its composer, manuscripts, letters, primary sources, all of which contributed to Harnoncourt’s engagement with the work. There is also material relating to the performance of the work and its reception: press interviews, media announcements, current reporting, tour schedules, programmes, performance notes, rehearsal schedules, correspondence, photos, reviews and often recordings of a performance for radio, TV, DVD or CD.
In this way, most of the works listed in the archive are documented and traceable quite completely, from the interpretative approach to the recording.
The large number of recordings, programmes, reviews, awards and prizes not only testifies to the high esteem in which the artist was held – and which he had to earn over decades – but also provides a vivid picture of the radical renewal of early music interpretation in the second half of the 20th century.
His Working Method
Nikolaus Harnoncourt approached the preparation of his performances with extraordinary dedication and care. This process began at least 2-3 years, often even longer, before the audience got to hear the results. Here is an insight into his working methods:
Deciding whether a work was worth performing
Nikolaus Harnoncourt only selected masterpieces and decided based on intensive research and a deep understanding of the composition.
Preparation
He studied all the literature on the composer and the work. He researched historical sources, using the autograph, manuscript or facsimile of the composition as a trustworthy source. He took into account influences on the composer such as poetry, literature, contemporary conventions, but also other composers. He also consulted contemporary witness reports, political and historical context as well as première dates and conditions. This research work involved a lot of travelling. No distance was too far for him.
Comparison and selection
He consulted experts and researchers, compared all available editions and sources, favoured older editions that came close to the original text, and made coloured entries in the score to mark structure, analysis, source references and other details. In the case of foreign-language works, he compared all available translations.
Coordination with the organiser
Together with the organiser, Harnoncourt set rehearsal and performance dates and discussed the size of the orchestra, choir and soloists. In the case of music theatre performances, the director also became part of these precise preparations.
Realisation and rehearsals
Alice transferred Nikolaus’ entries in the score into piano scores, choral scores and orchestral parts. The materials were distributed to the participants, with specific instructions for individuals. He organised the rehearsals with lively motivation through imagery and expected the unconditional commitment of all participants.
Performance
Harnoncourt regarded each performance as a kind of “world premiere” that emerged from the moment. As a rule, they were recorded, whether as radio or TV recordings or CD recordings.
Archiving
The sheet music and all performance-related documents were added to his personal archive after the performance. Many pieces were played several times, some only once.
Reference library
Here you will find a list of the items in Harnoncourt’s music library. The items marked with an L-signature have been annotated by him and can be found in the Nikipedia database.
Inventory list
Here you will find an overview of the current state of the artistic archive as a pdf. We will be busy cataloging and scanning the objects for some time to come. The reference library is listed separately.
Sheet music p.1-297
Texts p. 298-307
Print media p. 308-354
Teaching materials p. 355-359
Register pp. 360-361
Correspondence pp. 362-373
Audiovisual commercial media pp. 374-416
Audiovisual media radio/TV pp. 417-446
Audiovisual recordings of rehearsals pp. 447-448