12 - The Photogram Archive

Summary

It was Anthony van Hoboken who, at Schenker’s urging, in 1927 founded the “Archive for Photograms of Musical Master Manuscripts” (Archiv für Photogramme musikalischer Meisterhandschriften). The goal of the “Photogrammarchiv” or “Meisterarchiv,” as it was also called for short, was to capture photographically the autograph manuscripts of famous composers from Bach to Brahms, so that they could be made generally available for the purposes of study and preparing editions, without the originals themselves being susceptible to damage. In addition, in the event that the original was lost, at least its photographic reproduction would survive for posterity. The administration of the Archive required a Board of Trustees in which Schenker and the music historian Robert Haas sat under Hoboken’s chairmanship. Haas was also the head of the Music Collection of the National Library in Vienna, to which the Archive was attached.

While Schenker acted merely in an advisory capacity, Haas took over the main responsibility for the organizational work. To assist him in this task, Hoboken engaged the services of Julius Kromer, who was responsible for arranging the photograms, and for the bookkeeping and other paperwork. Hoboken himself restricted his involvement largely to providing financial backing, but did so from a position of leadership. He made important decisions and established priorities. In addition, he used his frequent trips abroad and his worldwide contacts to promote the interests of the Archive outside of Austria. Hoboken’s private librarian, Otto Erich Deutsch, played an important part also, giving the project his active support from the very beginning.

After the official inauguration of the Archive on October 21, 1927, Hoboken and the Board of Trustees sent out an Appeal (Aufruf), in three languages, in order to publicize their intentions.1 All official research libraries and archives, antiquarian dealers, and private owners of manuscripts were asked for their cooperation in making the manuscripts in their possession available for photographing. The Appeal was followed by several articles in various magazines, which called attention to the new institution.2 One of the high points of this publicity campaign was the broadcast over Vienna Public Radio (“Radio-Wien”) on February 4, 1928, of a twenty-minute lecture by Deutsch, about the goals and intentions of the Archive.