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Faculty of Arts and HumanitiesInstitute of Musicology

The Max Bruch Archive

The Max Bruch Archive collects and preserves documents on the life and work of the composer Max Bruch (1838-1920) and makes them available to researchers.

 

The entire holdings of the Max Bruch Archive can be searched here.

Further information on the archive:

  • Founded in 1949 by Bruch's son Ewald, the collection was successively expanded into an extensive archive through acquisitions and donations. Since 1966, the Max Bruch Archive has belonged to the Institute of Musicology at the University of Cologne. Since then, the archive's holdings have been continually expanded, including several handwritten engraver's copies with autograph entries from the estate of the music publisher Fritz Simrock and the autograph score of the Double Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra (op. 88). Most recently, with the support of the Kunststiftung NRW and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the archive's collection of letters has been substantially expanded.
  • The letters from and to Max Bruch represent the largest collection of archival materials held in the Max Bruch Archive. There are around 5,000 letters documenting Bruch's correspondence with contemporary musicians, publishers, patrons and his family. In addition to the correspondence, the archive holds over 40 autograph scores, including the scores of the Second Violin Concerto (op. 44) and the Symphonies No. 2 (op. 36) and No. 3 (op. 51), music manuscripts and prints of Bruch's works, life documents, program booklets and newspaper reports, photographs, memorabilia and a collection of secondary literature and recordings.
  • The archive was comprehensively catalogued in the years 2012-2021. All documents in the archive, including printed music and literature, can currently be searched on the archive's catalog homepage. The archive materials are also indexed via the Kalliope union catalog. The music manuscripts are also recorded in the RISM online catalog and the archive's image materials can be found via RIdIM.

Please address inquiries about the archive to Frank Hentschel.