The Lied in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Montt: a study in musical codicology

Abstract

At the end of 2022, a set of unclassified scores and documents belonging to the Colegio San Francisco Javier of Puerto Montt was transferred to the custody of the Music Archive of the University of Los Lagos. Among these materials, bundles containing instrumental Lieder, mostly of a military character and possibly brought or imported by German settlers during the nineteenth century, were found. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a study that involved the classification, description, and cataloguing of part of these documents, thereby contributing to the reconstruction of Puerto Montt’s musical heritage. To this end, a descriptive record was prepared in analogy with other methodologies, comprising the necessary items for a detailed and rigorous codicological and musicological study. This approach addresses not only the musical content, but also the physical material, as well as the history and circulation of the documents themselves. The results reveal works of similar musicological characteristics, suggesting a common origin and musical purpose, framed within the nineteenth-century German musical tradition.