The TerC fonds is the documentary testimony of the ecclesiastic repertoire used to celebrate the offices and devotional practices of the former basilica between the late 18th century and the first half of the 20th century. The fonds is conserved inside the cathedral-basilica in a small room located next to the organ loft, which used to be the classroom where the children’s choir rehearsed and the music chapel. Housed in 44 archival boxes, TerC encompasses a total of 963 works, 672 of which belong to the “authored manuscripts” collection, 291 to the “anonymous manuscripts” collection, 16 to “choir books” and 9 to “printed items”. The repertoire of “authored manuscripts” is represented by 231 composers, the majority of them chapel masters and organists from the basilica of Terrassa between the late 18th and mid-20th centuries, including Pau Marsal, Josep Puig, Bartomeu Blanch, Josep Agulló, Marc Biosca, Isidre Mogas and Domènec Pié. Along with these authors, TerC contains copies of the ecclesiastic repertoire of Francesc Andreví, Carles Baguer, Mateu Ferrer, Joaquim Cassadó, Bonaventura Frigola, Josep Montserrat, Felip Olivelles, Joan Pont, Magí Pontí, Bernat Calbó Puig, Francesc Queralt and Josep Rosés, among others; music for keyboard by Mateu Ferrer, Josep Montserrat and Magí Pontí; and the compositional repertoire of masters associated with the Boys’ Choir of Montserrat, including Maur Ametller, Adolf Ballester, Benet Brell, Narcís Casanoves, Ramir Escofet, Joan Baptista Guzmán, Rafael Palau and Josep Vinyals. It also conserves works by the female composers Carme Karr, Dolors Nonó and Maria Dolors de Vedruna.

The repertoire of the fonds includes the prominent presence of ecclesiastic music and, to a lesser extent, instrumental repertoire for orchestra, chamber music for voice and piano (with numerous reductions of operas from the mid-19th century Italian repertoire), music for piano and organ repertoire (sonatas, themes and variations and verses for liturgical services). The cataloguing process got underway in 1986 upon the request of Joan Casals, organist at the basilica, and it went through several periods between 1999-2003 (with the collaboration of Dr Jordi Rifé and Sandra Coronel) and 2004-2006, when the definitive cataloguing and organisation was established. The printed edition of its catalogue was issued in April 2007¹

¹GREGORI I CIFRÉ, Josep Maria. Inventaris dels fons musicals de Catalunya. Volum 1: Fons de la catedral-basílica del Sant Esperit de Terrassa. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació, 2007.- Arxius i documents. Eines de recerca, núm. 2.

Fonds Factsheet

Acronym: TerC

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

Title: Fonds of Sant Esperit Cathedral–Basilica in Terrassa

Archive and location:
Arxiu de la Catedral–Basílica del Sant Esperit de Terrassa
The fonds is preserved inside of the cahtedral-basilica, in a small room located besides the organ's platform. This was the room where the Schola Cantorum and the old Music Chapel used to rehearse.

Plaça Vella
08221 Terrassa

Contact:
Tel: 937 830 466

Date(s): 12th to 20th centuries

Extent and medium: 44 box files i 16 choral books

Creators:
Chapel masters and organists from Sant Esperit in Terrassa

Download the complete fonds factsheet HERE

TerC fonds during its cataloguing process