Newly discovered collection from Sennfeld (Franconia) to be cataloged

Gottfried Heinz-Kronberger

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Jörg Wöltche (Church Music Director, Deanery of Schweinfurt) has committed himself to cataloging for RISM a collection of handwritten music material dating between 1788 and 1812 that was discovered in 2018. The trove of 149 church cantatas and Lutheran masses for Protestant church services as well as 31 motets comprises ca. 8,500 handwritten pages. They were all composed by Johann Leonhardt Ludwig (1768-1812), who was from Gochsheim (Bavaria) and taught at a school in the neighboring village of Sennfeld. Though the existence of the music materials was known, the discovery of water damage is what instigated the recovery of the collection, after the decision was made to give the materials professional attention.

Part of this includes cataloging the content of the materials by RISM. This will take place in the course of 2022. Ultimately in 2023, a performance of one of the central works of the collection will take place, a cantata written for the Sennfeld Friedensfest (Peace Festival), which will mark the 375th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia. This cantata has already been transcribed into a modern edition by Jörg Wöltche.

See also: Sigismund von Dobschütz, “1000 Stunden sortiert und geprüft,” Saale-Zeitung, 22 February 2022.

Image 1: Cantata for the Friedensfest of 1795 by J. L. Ludwig

Image 2: Closing remarks about the Cantata for the Friedensfest of 1795 by J. L. Ludwig

Category: Rediscovered