Princes and Patres, ...

Music in the Tyrol: an Outline of its History
from the Reign of Emperor Maximilian to the End of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Of Princes and Patres, Burghers and Peasants in the Tyrol
and Their Common Passion: Music

The land of the Tyrol is a fascinating territory that, despite its small size, has left lasting traces in universal musical history. All levels of society contributed their share.

Archeological finds of flutes from the Trentino and South Tyrol indicate that music was being made in the Tyrol as early as the sixth and third centuries before the Christian era. To this day, music in all its regional varieties and peculiarities plays a special role in the Tyrol. In the course of history, this province experienced several periods in which music reached enduring peaks of international dimensions. The songs by the ingenious Oswald von Wolkenstein (about 1375-1445) and the glorious “tremendous” Leonhard Lechner (about 1553-1606), who proudly indicated his origins with his cognomen “Athesinus” when he was working outside the Tyrol, the so-called Trent Codices that reflect the European musical repertoire of the 15th century in almost encyclopedic fashion, the violin maker Jakob Stainer (about 1617-1683) of Absam, his exquisite instruments in demand all over the world not only in our time, and the Tyrolean Nationalsänger, popular singers who made their homeland known and sought after globally in the 19th century through their performances at royal residences and markets – all of these represent some extraordinary facets of the musical history of a mountain territory commonly depicted as rough but in reality occasionally possessing great artistic sensibility.

The Habsburg royal household in Innsbruck was to a large extent the determining factor for the development of a representative kind of musical life in the Tyrol. Emperor Maximilian knew how to commit the most excellent artists of his day to his residence in Innsbruck, the seat of the Tyrolean sovereign. Under Archduke Ferdinand II and Archduke Ferdinand Karl in the 16th and 17th centuries, outstanding international musicians and composers also stayed in Innsbruck. It was from there that their influence spread, not least in generating new musical genres.

The following outline of the musical past of the Tyrol begins with one of the most important eras in the province’s history of music, the time of Emperor Maximilian (the ruler of the Tyrol from 1490 to 1519). It ends with a period in which destructive political events also caused drastic cultural caesuras.

The information provided here focuses primarily on historical facts with selected representative examples. The text can be read continuously as a survey or it can be used as a reference resource by being searched under the names of people, places and institutions or under subjects. If required, further references can be found in the notes. Readers may also listen to the music mentioned in the text by clicking the links to the recordings.

For in-depth study of the subject, see the relevant articles in the standard encyclopedias of music, such as Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (Kassel, etc. 1949-1986; second edition 1994-), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London and Washington 1980; second edition, London and New York 2001) and Dizionario Enciclopedico universale della musica e dei musicisti (Torino 1985-1988), and the references provided there.

A picture gallery illustrating this outline of music in the Tyrol will be available soon.

Translator’s note: Place names, e.g. Brixen, are in German because that is the language by which they were known in the historical period covered in this text, with the exception of commonly used English forms, e.g. Vienna, Trent. Names of instruments and customs are provided in German and translated wherever possible. Most quotations are translated; the original versions can be found in the original German version of this text. Titles of operas are given in the original under which they were performed at the time and in the place in question (usually in German). Titles of books and periodicals, names other than proper names, and words that are not in English are in italics.