Jarmil Burghauser’s Estate as an Important Source of Knowledge of His Life and Work
| Pages | 157–200 |
|---|---|
| DOI | 10.37520/muscz.2025.006 |
| Keywords | musicology, music history, Jarmil Burghauser, heritage, Czechoslovakia, Bohemia, Czech Museum of Music – Antonín Dvořák Museum – Prague, Antonín Dvořák Society |
| Citation | HALLOVÁ, Markéta. Jarmil Burghauser’s Estate as an Important Source of Knowledge of His Life and Work. Musicalia. Journal of the Czech Museum of Music / Časopis Českého muzea hudby . Prague: National Museum, 2025, 17(1-2), 157–200. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/muscz.2025.006. ISSN 1803-7828 (Print), 2533-5634 (Online). Also available from: https://publikace.nm.cz/en/periodicals/musicalia-journal-of-the-czech-museum-of-music-casopis-ceskeho-muzea-hudby/17-1-2/jarmil-burghausers-estate-as-an-important-source-of-knowledge-of-his-life-and-work |
The study explains how the estate of the Czech musicologist, composer, event organiser, choirmaster, conductor, and scouting movement official Jarmil Burghauser (1921–1997) came into the possession of the National Museum – Antonín Dvořák Museum. It remains in storage there and will now undergo expert processing in its entirety; thereafter it will be made accessible on request. It came to the museum in stages between 1998 and 2024. This was done on the basis of the composer’s last will and testament (music library) and by a donation from his heir—his partner of many years Jarmila Hněvsová (autographs and printed editions of his compositions, manuscripts of his books and of various studies and articles, and a large collection of photographs, recordings, and family documents). The museum acquired further materials through purchases (iconography by Hugo Boettinger and Zdenka Burghauserová), and finally, remnants of various kinds of material from Jarmila Hněvsová’s house came to the Antonín Dvořák Society after her death, and the society donated the materials to the National Museum – Antonín Dvořák Museum in 2024. This large estate offers us a microscopic view of Jarmil Burghauser’s broad range of activities. The documentation preserved in it bears witness to times that left their imprint on the course of Burghauser’s life and activities, with many reversals of fortune he often had to struggle to overcome. The estate is a valuable source for learning about his life and career and about the period when this important Czech cultural figure (a man of international importance as well) was living and working.