The regulation of the liturgy

ONE of the longest serving members of the Habsburg Hofkapelle was not a composer, singer or instrumentalist, but someone who had started as a functionary, copying and distributing the performing parts for the musicians, the Dispensatore delli Concerti, and who over half a century became the central authority on the organisation and presentation of sacred music at court: Kilian Reinhardt (1653/4–1729). He joined the Kapelle of Leopold I in the year of the Turkish siege, 1683, quickly making the transition from willing novice to efficient organizer. As several petitions from the late 1690s indicate, he felt that he was overworked and did not always have the respect of the performing musicians, accusing them of uncivil and coarse behaviour. His proposed solution reveals something about court hierarchy and prejudices; Reinhardt felt that if he were given the title of ‘Musician’ (‘Musicus’) that would elicit respect. This was granted as well as the enhanced title of Maestro di Concerti. By the 1720s Reinhardt's accumulated experience and detailed knowledge of the workings of the musical court, particularly in the complex area of liturgical music, was unrivalled, even by its Kapellmeister Johann Joseph Fux. As part of a review of the membership of the musical court instituted by Karl in 1726 Reinhardt seems to have been required to document this knowledge. The result was a handwritten volume of over 200 pages that indicates to the last detail the role of liturgical music at the court: Rubriche Generali Per le Funzioni Ecclesiastiche Musicali di tutto l'Anno (General Regulations on the Role of Ecclesiastical Music during the Entire Year). Written in Italian, the language that guaranteed maximum distribution amongst musicians and administrators, the volume has a lengthy dedication that indicates, alongside the tortuous supplicatory formalities, its authority: