Call Number: Birnbaum Collection Mus.54 

Attribution: Eduard Birnbaum  

Place: Königsberg 

Date: ca. 1888-1894 

Physical Description: Various manuscript material. See description below. 

Subject: Extramusical Material; Secular Music 

Description:  

German title from Birnbaum’s catalogue: “Material zur Geschichte des deutschen Synagogen-Liedes, geordnet nach Intervallen, Textanfängen und Componisten, 802 Nummern.” 

Mus. 54a and 54b are thematic catalog cards of German synagogal songs. They are arranged in folders according to the major (Dur, numbers 1-729) and minor (Moll, numbers 1-121) mode, and according to their first melodic interval, either upwards or downwards. These cards are part of Birnbaum’s “Zettel” index. Mus. 54c is an index of the same works, indexed by (a) composers, including their birth and death dates if known by Birnbaum, and when Birnbaum may have met them, and (b) classification according to major/minor mode and according to ascending/descending interval. Composers include known synagogal composers such as Lewandowski, Henle, and Sulzer, but also composers famous outside the realm of synagogue music such as Mozart, Handel, Beethoven, J. Offenbach, J.C. Bach, and C.P.E. Bach. Mus. 54d is an index of these same works based on their literary incipit.   

Date of item estimated through an examination of dates included/omitted in the manuscript. 

Manuscript Link:
https://huc.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1120688571