Among the treasures of the Thomana collection are the original parts of J.S. Bach's Choralkantaten-Jahrgang (choral cantatas) from 1724/25. The collection has been on permanent loan from the St Thomas Choir to our library for several decades.
After Johann Sebastian Bach's death, his widow Anna Magdalena handed over – probably in return for the Gnadenhalbjahr (half-year of grace granted to her) – an extensive collection of performance material from Bach's most important cycle, the Choralkantaten-Jahrgang (year of choral cantatas) composed in Leipzig, to the St Thomas School, where the music continued to be used for performances, for studying the works and as master copy for copies after 1750. 44 original sets of parts of the cantatas are preserved. They were (mainly) produced in 1724/25 with Bach's participation and under the supervision of St Thomas's students; duplicates were added on the occasion of later re-performances – even during the time of the cantors J.G. Harrer and J.F. Doles.
The parts were kept by the St Thomas Choir for over two centuries and survived the Second World War undamaged thanks to their removal from storage. One year after its foundation (1950), the parts were given to the Bach Archive Leipzig on November 28, 1951 as a permanent loan.
The catalog Die Bach-Handschriften der Thomasschule Leipzig, edited by Werner Neumann and Christine Fröde (Beiträge zur Bachforschung 5, Leipzig 1986), provides more detailed information on the parts of the chorale cantatas.
The parts can also be viewed online at Bach digital, where you will find detailed descriptions of the manuscripts in addition to the digital copies.
In addition to the original sets of parts, the Bach Archive also holds music and music theory writings from the St Thomas School. In 1980, the loan was extended to include 62 outstanding individual items relating to the music of the St Thomas cantors from the 17th to 19th century. They include textbooks by Seth Calvisius, printed music by Johann Hermann Schein, Johann Rosenmüller and collected manuscripts from the 17th century.
The most recent addition to the collection was made in April 2019: around 700 manuscripts and prints dating back to the 15th century were added to the permanent loan collection. These include teaching materials, register and receipt books as well as manuscripts, first prints and historical performance materials from the choir library. The collection thus forms a unique treasure that not only documents the history of the St Thomas Choir, but also bears witness to the school, cultural and everyday history of the Thomana as a whole.
An overview of all the music in the collection can be found in the catalog Die ältere Notenbibliothek der Thomasschule zu Leipzig. Verzeichnis eines weitgehend verschollenen Bestandes, edited by Andreas Glöckner (Leipziger Beiträge zur Bach-Forschung 11, Hildesheim 2011).
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44 original sets of parts of the cantatas are preserved. They were (mainly) produced in 1724/25 with Bach's participation and under the supervision of St Thomas's students; duplicates were added on the occasion of later re-performances – even during the time of the cantors J.G. Harrer and J.F. Doles.