Testamente und Nachlassverzeichnisse als wertvolle Belege für Erforschung der städtischen Musikkultur in der frühen Neuzeit (an Beispielen von Brünn, Znaim und Olmütz)
Testaments and Inventories of Estates as an Important Document for the Study of Urban Musical Culture in the Early Modern Period (with the Examples of Brno, Znojmo and Olomouc)

Summary/Abstract: Research into the urban musical culture of Early Modern cities is impossible due to the frequent absence of primary musical monuments without a systematic study of non-musical sources. These are sources that are linked to the functioning of specific urban institutions, such as the town office or the parish. In addition to account books, council books, books of town correspondence, or the rather varied record material, probate books and inventories of estates also contain partial information on music. The sources have often survived continuously since the Middle Ages and their contents have not yet been properly evaluated. From a musical point of view, these sources mainly provide information on individual musicians and their estates, on specific music books or musical instruments in their possession, as well as partial reports on the bequests of music-loving burgesses. The study points out the importance of studying these sources, with specific examples from three Moravian royal cities. More than a dozen wills or inventories of the estates of organists, organ builders, cantors and town trumpeters have been preserved in Brno, Znojmo and Olomouc, which contain information essential for understanding the musical culture in these cities in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

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