The music collection of Louis-Denis Seguin (1672-1736), president of the Cour des comptes in Paris was one of the richest of its time. Carefully organized and exhaustive in several area.; such as the opera repertoire and the airs serieux et a boire, it was bound in very expensive morocco leather bindings, which were sometimes reused. This contribution summarizes what is known about the life of the owner and how his collection was managed after his death; it also explains why it can be considered a collector's library as opposed to an amateur's library His catalogue has been transcribed and annotated, as have the eleven volumes that have been found in Paris and Toulouse libraries.
The biography of Claude Goudimel remains shrouded in many uncertainties. Although his presence in Metz between 1557 and 1567 was already known, it had hitherto escaped notice that he served there for nine years as master of the cathedral choirboys. A systematic examination of the chapter records preserved between 1553 and 1569 comprising more than a thousand folios held in the collection of capitular registers (series 2 G) at the Archives Departementales de la Moselle, makes it possible to reconstruct, at least in part, Goudimel's career at the cathedral of Metz, despite a significant gap in the documentation for the period from 1560 to August 1564. The exploitation of these previously unexplored sources reveals Goudimel in his capacity as a church musician, holder first of a half-canonry and later of a fill canonry, and sheds light on his relationship with the cathedral chapter. This discovery raises new questions concerning his reasons for settling in Metz and invites a reassessment of the balance between his activities as a Protestant composer and as a musician in the service of the Catholic Church.
"Retracing through sound the recent triumphs that are the pride of national glory" is the goal set by the German composer Daniel Steibelt in the preface to one of his many "musical battles" produced between 1793 and 1812. These works constituted a real testing ground for the renewal of piano writing that followed recent developments in pianoforte manufacturing. Avoiding the pitfall of purely imitative sequences, Steibelt sought a dramatic compromise within sonata form and the fantasy, genres in which he was proles. Although closely linked to major historical events, these pieces have remained little known. They are part of a vast repertoire of chamber music produced for commercial purposes and intended for amateurs. The battles are recreational pieces, as illustrated by the attempt to develop a participatory approach to writing, which allows a group of listeners to sing famous tunes during the performance of the piano part.
Rodolphe's Solfege (1784) has been largely forgotten by musicians and musicologists. The few studies on music education in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries focus mainly on Solfeges d'Italie (1772) and those of the Conservatoire (1799-1800). Yet, Rodolphe's Solfege was by far the most widely used music method in France throughout the nineteenth century, as evidenced by the numerous reprints, testimonies, and debates on music education. This solfege remained in use for a century, even as the world of music and, consequently, that of music education, underwent radical changes. The various uses of Rodolphe's Solfege at different periods thus reveal profound changes in the role of musical memory, the status of reading, the construction of a form of teaching compatible with new public institutions of music education, and the development of a graded and rational teaching system.
Edouard Ganche (1880-1945), an eminent expert on Chopin's oe uvre, was a collector and writer, the founder of the Societe Chopin in Paris and editor of the Oxford edition of the Complete Works of Chopin. During the interwar period, he amassed a valuable collection devoted to the Polish composer, containing manuscripts, printed publications, memorabilia, books, works of art and the Pleyel piano chosen by Chopin for his Scottish pupil Jane Stirling. Ganche aspired to establish a Chopin Museum in a European city. The outbreak of World War II brought these plans to naught, and Ganche's collection ended up in Krakhw, after having been purchased by Nazi officials on the orders of Hans Frank, the Governor-General of the occupied territories, in what was effectively a forced sale. The transfer of the collection to Krakow, then the capital of the General Government, was part of a propaganda campaign. Hans Frank sought to demonstrate to the world his commitment to the "protection" and "promotion" of Polish cultural assets. To mark the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the General Government, a Chopin exhibition was organised, featuring Ganche's collection. On 27 October 1943, the exhibition was inaugurated at the jagiellonian Library, which had been renamed Staatsbibliothek Krakau at the time. After the war, Ganche's collection remained in Krakow-memorabilia and works of art were placed in the Jagiellonian University Museum, while the books were housed in the jagiellonian Library.
