The music fonds of Santa Maria basilica in Igualada (SMI) is conserved in the County Archive of L’Anoia (ACAN) in 46 archival boxes which contain 984 compositions divided into four collections of musical repertoire: 632 “authored manuscripts”, 157 “anonymous manuscripts”, 7 “choir books” and 188 “printed items”. The “authored manuscripts” collection contains works by the tenured masters of the parish church between the first third of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. The repertoire by A. Oller, J. Pont and S. Puigsech offers a total of 427 works and accounts for more than two-thirds of all the records in the collection; the master from Cervera Joan Pont, who was working in Igualada between 1851 and 1885, particularly stands out; 345 of his works are conserved (203 whose authorship is confirmed and 142 of which are attributed to him).

The oldest repertoire in SMI is copies of works from the last third of the 18th century, whose provenance reveals that the repertoire from abroad reached Igualada. They are fragmentary manuscripts of the mass by Josep Fàbrega († 1791), a Sequence by Pere Antoni Montlleó (ca. 1720-1792) and two incomplete masses by Francesc Parella. The fonds reveals that the repertoire from the cathedrals in Catalonia reached Igualada as well, with works by Antoni Sala († 1794), Carles Baguer, Mateu Ferrer and Ramon Vilanova (cathedral of Barcelona), as well as by the masters of the cathedrals of Girona (Joan Carreras, Josep Pons), Lleida (Magí Germà, Aleix Mercè, Magí Pontí, Antoni Sala, Celestí Vila de Forns), Solsona (Josep Anglada), Tarragona (Ramon Bonet), Tortosa (Moreno), and Vic (Lluís Romeu). Worth noting is the presence of authors associated with the large basilicas of Barcelona (R. Aleix, F. Andreví, I. Ayné, J. Barba, C. Candi, J. Escalas, J. Fàbrega, P. J. Llonell, N. Manent, J. Martí, B. C. Puig, C. Martínez, M. Masramon, J. Masvidal, R. Molera, P. A. Montlleó, A. Passarell, J. Portas, C. and J. Ribera, P. Ronsó, J. Sabatés and A. Vaqué), as well as composers working in towns like Cervera, Vilafranca del Penedès, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Molins de Rei, Terrassa and Sabadell. The "printed music" collection compiles works from the Spanish, French, Italian and German ecclesiastic repertoire, with a prominent presence of Catalan authors from the late 19th century like J. Badia, F. Brunet, G. Casadevall, J. Cassadó, P. Gené, J. B. Guzmán, F. Pedrell, J. Quintana and J. Sorribes, among others. As was common at that time, this repertoire coexists with numerous examples of stage music (A. Adam, D. Auber, G. Donizetti, C. Gounod, W. A. Mozart, G. Verdi and F. David) and piano literature by French and German authors.¹

¹GREGORI I CIFRÉ, Josep Maria – ROMEU I SOLÀ, Anna. Inventaris dels fons musicals de Catalunya. Volum 9: Fons de la basílica de Santa Maria d’Igualada de l’Arxiu Comarcal de l’Anoia. Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2016.

Fonds Factsheet

Acronym: SMI

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

Title: Fonds of Santa Maria basilica in Igualada

Archive and location:
Arxiu Comarcal de l’Anoia (ACAN)
Plaça del Rei, 15
08700 Igualada

Contact:
Marta Vives i Sabaté, ACAN Director
Maria Luz Cristóbal, Archiving Technician
Tel: 938 044 456
Email: acanoia.caultura@gencat.net

Date(s): 16th to 20th centuries

Extent and medium: 46 box files, 7 choral books (2 of them ar kept at the Museu de la Pell d’Igualada)

Creators:
Chapel masters and organists of Santa Maria in Igualada

Download the complete fonds factsheet HERE

The SMI Fonds at the old ACAN's storeroom