Sacred Music in Napoleon-Era Collections at the Milan Conservatory Library

Abstract

As the Austrians were back in Milan (1814), an inventory was made of the Royal Palace music library. Its discovery has prompted research on the musical tastes and usages of Napoleon’s court during the Viceroyalty of Italy years. The inventory is structured in four parts: (1) Music being used in the Palatine Chapel; (2) Music performed in the Cathedral on Napoleon’s Coronation Day; (3) Music for the accademias; and (4) Prince Eugene of Beauharnais’ private collection. About two-thirds of the music for the Royal Chapel could be found in the Milan Conservatory Library and underwent a thorough study from both a library science and a musicology perspective. By noticing recurring musical forms and texts, the liturgical and musical usages of the Chapel could be reconstructed. During the mass liturgy, complex motets on Italian texts were performed. Also, the rite ended up with the singing of the governmental antiphon, “Domine, salvum fac Regem”. The former Jacobin revolution champion, now an emperor, ordered his subjects to ask the Lord to bless his absolute power.