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| Düben Collection | |
|---|---|
| Name | Düben Collection |
| Caption | Manuscript folio from the Düben Collection |
| Country | Sweden |
| Established | 17th century |
| Location | Uppsala University Library |
| Items | manuscripts and prints |
Düben Collection The Düben Collection is a major archive of 17th- and 18th-century music manuscripts and prints assembled in Sweden during the reigns of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Queen Christina of Sweden, and Charles XI of Sweden, now held at Uppsala University Library. It preserves liturgical motets, secular songs, instrumental music, and court repertory associated with the Royal Swedish Court Chapel, the Stockholm Cathedral, and international networks reaching Venice, Leipzig, and London. The collection is indispensable to scholars of Baroque music and performers reconstructing repertories connected to composers active in Germany, Italy, France, and the British Isles.
The core of the archive was compiled by members of the Düben family, notably Gustaf Düben, Anders Düben the Younger, and Emerentia Düben, who served as Kapellmeisters and court musicians at the Royal Swedish Court Chapel and at Stockholm Palace. The archive reflects diplomatic and cultural ties between Sweden and continental courts such as Venice under the influence of agents like Antonio Brunelli and travelers associated with the Swedish Empire. Manuscripts were acquired through copying by court copyists, purchases from Leipzig book merchants, and gifts from visiting composers like Giovanni Andrea Bontempi and Claudio Monteverdi-era intermediaries. Interruptions from conflicts such as the Thirty Years' War and political shifts under Charles X Gustav and Charles XI of Sweden affected the chapel’s staffing and repertory, yet the family maintained continuity through successive reigns and ecclesiastical patrons like Archbishop Johannes Canuti Lenaeus.
Holdings include sacred vocal works, secular vocal music, instrumental sonatas, sinfonias, and continuo realizations spanning polyphonic motets to early opera excerpts. The manuscripts contain works by prominent composers such as Heinrich Schütz, Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Johann Sebastian Bach’s contemporaries, alongside rarities by local Swedish composers linked to Uppsala Cathedral and the Stockholm Court Chapel. The cache comprises choirbooks, partbooks, autograph scores, and later prints from presses in Leipzig, Venice, Amsterdam, and Paris, as well as scribal copies reflecting performance practice connected to figures like Michael Praetorius and instrumentalists from Hamburg and Danzig.
The archive preserves multiple items attributed to Heinrich Schütz, including sacred concertos and motets illustrative of the Venetian polychoral influence mediated by Schütz’s studies with Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice. It contains pieces by Giovanni Gabrieli, early examples of instrumental canzonas and sonatas, and vocal works associated with Claudio Monteverdi’s circle, reflecting exchange with Italian opera developments. Scandinavian and German names appear alongside manuscripts by Dieterich Buxtehude, Matthias Weckmann, Samuel Scheidt, and lesser-known composers connected to the Swedish court such as Johann Heinrich Schmelzer-adjacent repertory and anonymous motets tied to Uppsala liturgy.
The archive is critical for reconstructing repertories and performance practices of the early Baroque period; scholars use it to re-evaluate transmission routes between Italy, Germany, France, and the Nordic countries. It provides primary source evidence for stylistic influences from Venice to Leipzig and allows comparison with printed sources by publishers such as Christoph Wechel and Estienne Roger. Musicologists studying Heinrich Schütz and the continental reception of Monteverdi draw on its holdings, while historians of institutions like the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and Uppsala University examine the collection for insights into court patronage and liturgical practice.
After accumulation by the Düben family, the archive was transferred to Uppsala University Library where conservators have stabilized manuscripts, performed parchment and paper studies, and implemented digital imaging projects in collaboration with institutions like the Swedish National Heritage Board and international partners in Germany and Italy. Scholars such as Anders Öhrvall and librarians at Uppsala have produced inventories and catalogues, situating provenance data within networks involving Leipzig book trade records and court payment ledgers from the 17th century.
Research on the archive has generated critical editions, dissertations, and modern performing editions published by houses in Leiden, Kassel, and Stockholm; editors working on materials include specialists in Baroque performance practice and early music editors who collaborate with ensembles such as Concerto Copenhagen, The English Concert, and Hespèrion XXI. Numerous recordings draw on the collection’s repertory, informing historically informed performances featured on labels linked to projects about Heinrich Schütz and Venetian baroque repertoires, and ongoing scholarly editions continue to reveal unrecorded motets and instrumental pieces important to reconstructing 17th-century European musical exchange.
Category:Music archives Category:Baroque music