Over the past few years, one of Haydneum’s most important professional partners has been the National Széchényi Library (MNMKK). Since 2022, the two institutions have been collaborating on the digitization of the Esterházy collection, as well as numerous other Hungarian residential, urban, and church music libraries, making over 800 manuscript scores available online.

The newly published material features works by thirty-five composers, including Joseph Haydn and notable contemporaries such as Gregor Joseph Werner, Michael Haydn, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, and Franz Xaver Süssmayr. The collection’s uniqueness lies in the inclusion of contemporary copies of works by internationally renowned composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Domenico Scarlatti.

Haydneum staff members are responsible for cataloging, restoring, and photographing the materials, after which modern editions are produced for performance at Haydneum concerts and recordings. Tamás Mészáros, Head of the Collection Preservation Department at MNMKK OSZK, announced that these extraordinary documents are now accessible in high resolution on the Copia digital platform, serving not only musicological research but also education and public engagement. “When a public collection can connect to the performing arts in this way, it’s truly fantastic,” he said.

Although Dávid Rózsa, Director General of MNMKK OSZK, could not attend the event due to official commitments, he emphasized in his message that the Esterházy project is a model of partnership between public collections and performing arts institutions. As a result of this collaboration, previously unknown works have been brought to audiences—often for the first time in centuries. Haydneum proudly takes an active and initiating role in this exemplary project, which rightfully brings the values of Hungary’s musical past into the present.

COPIA DIGITIZED MANUSCRIPTS: WWW.COPIA.OSZK.HU