The OloSE Fonds contains 1,359 handwritten authored manuscripts, 409 anonymous manuscripts, 23 choir books and 468 printed items. The fonds is conserved in 172 archival boxes in the headquarters of the La Garrotxa County Archive (ACGAX). Within the collection of "authored manuscripts", 676 are by chapel masters and organists associated with the magisterium of Sant Esteve parish church in Olot: Josep Anglada, Honorat Alberich, Francesc Farró, Ignasi Parella (the author of an 1837 inventory of the music archive), Vicenç Alzina, Pere Guillamet, Josep Carcoler, Josep Saborit, Josep Castelló and Josep Regordosa. The core period when the Olot fonds was produced is what can be considered the Golden Age between the tenures of Carcoler and Anglada – with Regordosa, Saborit, Alzina and Alberich – and Castelló’s and Parella’s long tenures as organists. This rich period, spanning approximately from 1739 to 1850, clearly falls between the economic upsurge that the city of Olot experienced in the 18th century and the onset of the crisis, which despite the instability caused by war at the period, did not become acute until the 1930s with the deindustrialisation of its textile sector.

In terms of the circulation of musicians, the areas with the closest ties to Olot were Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripoll, Berga, Figueres, Torroella de Montgrí and the Igualada-Tàrrega-Balaguer corridor. The introduction of the repertoire from abroad totals 683 copies of authored works, 308 of which are from the cathedrals and church centres of Catalonia: 47 from the masters of the cathedral of Barcelona (J. Picanyol, F. Queralt, F. Mariner, C. Baguer, M. Ferrer, R. Vilanova); 27 from Santa Maria del Mar (P. A. Montlleó, F. Andreví, J. Bros, J. Cau, P. A. Compta, J. Fàbrega, J. Barba, R. Aleix); 14 from Santa Maria del Pi (J. Vila, P. J. Llonell, F. Sampere, D. Arquimbau, J. Quintana, J. Badia, J. Masvidal); 125 masters from the cathedral of Girona; and 44 from masters working in the church centres around the diocese. The fonds conserves 142 copies from the international repertoire: 92 works of Italian music, with stage music spanning the 18th and 19th centuries (G. Farinelli, N. Piccinni, P. A. Guglielmi, D. Cimarosa, A. Rosetti, A. Tozzi, V. Trento, G. Tritto, S. Palma, G. Paisiello, B. Galuppi, N. Jommelii and A. Tarchi), along with 21 works from France and 28 from Germany, including a copy of W. A. Mozart’s Requiem in a score-script format from the first quarter of the 19th century.¹

¹GREGORI I CIFRÉ, Josep Maria – MONELLS I LAQUÉ, Carme. Inventaris del fons musicals de Catalunya. Volum 6: Fons de l’església parroquial de Sant Esteve d’Olot i Fons Teodoro Echegoyen de l’Arxiu Comarcal de la Garrotxa. Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2012.

Fonds Factsheet

Acronym: OloSE

IFMuC Link: https://ifmuc.uab.cat/collection/OloSE?ln=en

Title: Fonds of Sant Esteve parish church in Olot

Archive and location:
Arxiu Comarcal de la Garrotxa (ACGAX)
Plaça del Puig del Roser, 1
17800 Olot

Contact:
Tel: 972 279 131
Email: acgarrotxa.cultura@gencat.cat

Date(s): 17th to 20th centuries

Extent and medium: 172 box files

Creators:
Chapel masters and organists from Sant Esteve in Olot

Download the complete fonds factsheet HERE

Present location of OloSE and OloTE fonds, at the ACGAX's storeroom