D-DGla, KK II Nr. 3018 (Minutes of the Privy State Council, 1786)

Bonn and Münster, January to December 1786

Location: Duisburg, Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen (D-DGla), Abteilung Rheinland, Kurköln II Nr. 3018, I and II

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.

An index, organized roughly alphabetically by last names of petitioners, appears in the second volume from fol. 677r.

Here, the entries pertaining to court musicians are excerpted.

Transcription

[511v] Luchesi's Wife, 1 September

Translation

IN PROGRESS