Guided tour of the new joint exhibition of the National Museum and the National Library of the Czech Republic entitled Great Books of Music, May 23, 2023, National Museum, Prague. The jointly implemented project will present the most beautiful and rare musical manuscripts of the pre-Belgrade literary fraternities from the collections of both institutions. The exhibition ends on July 2.
Prague – The National Museum and the National Library exhibit rare manuscripts that were used by singers to perform music in churches in the pre-White Mountain era. The exhibition consisting of two expositions in the Klementin and in the Historical Building of the National Museum is called Great Books of Music and shows large-scale works whose decoration often represents the pinnacle of period book painting. It will be available from Wednesday until July 2.
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In the National Library, visitors can see the manuscripts of pre-Belarus literary brotherhoods from the Prague congregations, in the National Museum the focus is on the codices of writers in Bohemia, with the exception of Prague. The manuscripts were used by an association of lay church singers. The exhibition presents the most beautiful and rare musical manuscripts of the brotherhoods from the collections of both institutions. Due to their value, they are exhibited only exceptionally and for a short time.
Literary brotherhoods arose in the Czech lands around the middle of the 15th century, and reached their greatest growth in the 15th and 16th centuries. Brotherhoods were male associations of church singers, burghers and craftsmen. It is estimated that there were about 100 brotherhoods in Bohemia and 55 in Moravia.
The exhibition presents a total of 16 manuscripts and manuscript fragments from the 15th to 17th centuries, which, according to the organizers, will impress you at first glance with both their size and decoration . At the same time, the books are an important testimony of the musical life of the literary choirs, especially in the Czech choirs.
On average, half a meter high and, in the case of using parchment, weighing over 20 kilograms, the manuscripts were used by confraternity singers to perform music in churches, and it was precisely for the purpose of group singing that they took on such dimensions. They gave their users and subscribers the opportunity not only to express their religious feelings, but also to present themselves. The financially and time-consuming scribal work, decoration and binding of the books was carried out by well-known workshops, financed directly by the brotherhoods, as well as by municipalities, guilds or specific donors.
Among the oldest exhibits at the exhibition is the monumental Pilsen Gradual by Martin Stupník , it is a book with a height of 68 centimeters and a weight of almost 32 kilograms, the work of the workshop of Valentin Noh from Jindřichov Hradec. Several manuscripts then document the work of Jan Táborský from Klokotská Hora, the owner of the most important 16th-century Prague scribe workshop, and illuminators working with him, such as Fabián Puléř, Matyáš Hutský from Křivoklát and Matouš Ornys from Lindperk. From their work, visitors will see the richly decorated Old Town, Křižovnický, Českobrodský and Lomnický graduaal.
