Lecture of the Valentin-Rathgeber-Society in Poland

The famous composer Valentin Rathgeber born in Oberelsbach on April 3, 1682, is hardly known in Poland so far. The Polish musicologist Marcin Konik of Kraków University found in monastic archives in Poland and Slovakia a lot of manuscripts with compositions of Rathgeber. He was surprised at the former importance of this composer hitherto unknown in his home country.  Literature on this composer is also sparse.  Only by searching the internet he could contact the Valentin-Rathgeber-Society in Oberelsbach. Due to his initiative, a  fruitful dialogue was established and  a lot of manuscripts could be identified with the historical prints.

While working together on Rathgeber,  the idea was born to hold a lecture on Rathgeber at the institute of musicology of Kraków University to present the latest findings and the state of research on Rathgeber to the Polish experts. For that reason  Dr. Erasmus Gaß and his brother Berthold went to Kraków - about 850 km away from Oberelsbach - to have an English lecture there on October 19, 2005 lasting about 1,5 hours. With a powerpoint presentation and many examples of music,  life and oeuvre of Rathgeber was perfectly displayed.  This lecture was  well-attended so that the room was nearly too small for the broad audience. The Gaß brethren also  brought heartiest greetings as well as gifts from District Administrator Thomas Habermann and Birgit Erb, Mayoress of Oberelsbach.  Especially in 2005 dedicated to the German-Polish friendship, this activity was a sign of cultural cooperation.

This journey was also important for current research. Rathgeber was lost during his journey in the years 1736-1738.  According to the sources, Rathgeber went from Hungary to the North so that a sojourn of Rathgeber in Slovakia or Poland could be possible though there is no evidence so far. In that respect, relationships to monasteries have been made (e.g. the Benedictine monastery of  Tyniec)  to search for  Rathgeber in the archives. Unfortunately, many  archival notes have been destroyed during the occupation of Poland by Austria, Russia and Prussia. However, the good contacts of the Valentin-Rathgeber-Society to Poland and the sensitization of musicological experts there could help to find a possible note on Rathgeber that would otherwise left  unnoticed. The research on Rathgeber is in Poland still in the beginning. But we can only hope that this cooperation will be fruitful in the near future.