The Condition of the Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf’s Manuscripts in Poland – Reconnaissance

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739–1799) has been remembered in history of music in the 18th century as a significant contributor in developing singspiel (comic opera) genre and as a composer famous among double bass players because of two double bass concertos. But recent studies brought to the fore information about a variety of his instrumental music. Between the others, there are more than 120 symphonies. This paper is a report-attempt about present condition of extant Dittersdorf symphonies’ manuscripts, preserved in the contemporary Polish area. There are nine archives and libraries mentioned, where these manuscripts are stored. The richest collection of Dittersdorf’s symphonies is located in Pauline Monastery Archive in Jasna Gora in Częstochowa (PL-CZ), where seventeen manuscripts are stored. All of them preserved in good condition, arisen in last quarter of the 18th century. Other manuscripts we can find in: Archive of Polish Dominicans Province in Krakow (PL-Kd), Cistercian Abbey in Krakow-Mogiła (PL-MO), Benedictine Abbey in Krzeszow/Grussau (PL-KRZ), Library of Theological Faculty of Opole University (PL-OPsm), Archdiocesan Archive in Poznań (PL-Pa Muz MM), Diocesan Library in Sandomierz (PL-SA) and Special Collections Department of Wrocław University Library (PL-WRu). There is also a piece of information about the manuscript from Pilica (PL-PIk), presumably lost in recent time, which was one of very few examples Dittersdorf’s manuscripts written in the 19th century