Special Collections Finding Aids

Kuhlau Collection - Librettos

Accession: SC1998.26

Location: M2A 5,3-6,1

Size: 11.75 feet

Biography: Daniel Friedrich Rudolph Kuhlau (1786-1832) was born in the small town of Uelzen, near Hanover. When he was 7 years old, his family moved to L?neburg. His father, grandfather, and uncle were military oboists, and he received his early music instruction as a choirboy. He learned to play the piano at age 9, during an extended convalescence brought on by an injury in which he lost his right eye. In 1802 he went to Hamburg to study with Schwenke, and there published his first compositions. He traveled to Copenhagen in 1810, possibly due to difficult wartime conditions in Hamburg, and established himself as a pianist and composer, later to be appointed Court Chamber Musician. While Kuhlau is known outside of Denmark primarily for his flute music and easy piano pieces, his contribution to Danish opera, stage music, songs, particluarly the Romance, and chamber music is considerable.

Provenance: The Kuhlau Collection was purchased from the Danish agent, Dan Fog in 1972.

Scope and Content: The Collection contains over 800 items, mostly printed music (both single imprints and collections). There are many first and early editions, and a large number of Danish editions. There are over 30 monographs, journal articles, excerpts from 19th century biographical dictionaries, and books pertaining to Kuhlau, as well as a small number of manuscripts, and 5 librettos in contemporaneous editions. The entire range of Kuhlau's compositional output, from piano music, to flute music, to songs, operas, and incidental music for plays is represented, along with several arrangements of Kuhlau's music by minor composers. Some collections of flute music contain works by other composers such as Gabrielsky and Kummer.

Associations: A large portion of the Kuhlau materials originally acquired from Dan Fog were dispersed into the Sibley Library's Circulating and Rare Books collections. The Carl Nielsen Collection and the J.C. Gebauer collection, also acquired from Dan Fog, are additional resources for those doing research in Danish Music.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions on the use of these materials, except where the normal conventions of copyright law apply.

Series: 4

Series Name: Librettos

Series Description: Contemporaneous editions of librettos and texts for stage works, and a song text.. 5 items.