D-DGla, KK II Nr. 3016 (Minutes of the Privy State Council, 1784)
Bonn and Münster, June to December 1784
Location: Duisburg, Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen (D-DGla), Abteilung Rheinland, Kurköln II Nr. 3016
During the reign of Elector Maximilian Franz, most petitions and decrees were decided upon in meetings of the so-called Geheime Staats-Conferenz. These bulky protocol books are seldom consulted by music historians, and were largely overlooked by Thayer for his Beethoven biography (and as a result they appear in no later scholarship that relies on him). Their value is especially critical when the corresponding petitions and decrees have not survived, as is very often the case with court musicians. In cases where they have survived, the records here can sometimes clarify points of chronology or details of the decision-making process. One important subtlety has to do with the chain of command. Most petitions were not handled by the elector directly, so when a first decision is marked "dependirt von höchster Gnad," which can be understood as "referred to the highest authority," it is a sign that the matter was considered unusually important.
The earliest entries for the year 1784 are in June, whereas the earliest petitions were heard on 1 July. While later protocols were bound cleanly into two hardback volumes, for this year they are split into three parts with a paper binding: Part I contains June 1784, Part II August until December, and Part III the month of July. Confusingly, the index at the end of Part II (from fol. 266) only refers to that part, whereas that for Part III (which is paginated separately) is found in KK II Nr. 5617. (Part I, which only contains discussions about the formation of the council, is not indexed.)
Here, the entries pertaining to court musicians are excerpted.
Transcription
[III, p. 83]
Bonn den 1. Julius 1784
gnädigster Befehl in betr. der beiden Wald-
hornisten Simrock und Bamberger.
— an die Hofkammer rescribiret
worden, — daß nebst ihrer Besoldung
z. 300.f. jedem [auch] 100.f. als eine
Zulage, auf die LandRendmeistereÿ à
1. Julÿ angewiesen wäre, und sie
deshalb das weitere zu verfügen hätte.
[III, p. 95]
Bonn den 6. Julius 1784
[...]
Joan Kücheler, um ihn in seinem Gehalte
zu bestätigen, auch seinem Sohn als
Fagottist, mit einem Gehalte in dienste
zu nehmen.
℞ cessat. weil deshalb schon
verordnet.
[III, p. 98]
[Bonn den 6. Julius 1784]
Wittib Polettnich um einiges Gnaden Gehalt. 466
℞ beruhet.
[II, fol. 182v]
Bonn den 16. 9ber 1784
[...]
1086 HofOrganist Neefe, bittet um
g[nädi]gsten Zusatz der verlohrnen 200.f.
und um neue Ansetzung beim Klavier
Accompagnement im künftigen HofKonzert.
[to left] dependirt von höchster
Gnad.
beruhet.
Translation
[III, p. 83]
Bonn, 1 July 1784
most gracious command regarding both
Waldhornists Simrock and Bamberger.
— has been referred to the Hofkammer
— that in addition to their salary
of 300 fl, each will receive 100 fl. as a
supplement, which will be charged to the
Landrentmeisterei beginning 1 July, and which
will henceforth be available to them.
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