Bust of Karl Riemenschneider with portrait of Bach in RBI Library
RIEMENSCHNEIDER BACH INSTITUTE LIBRARY
In October 1968, Baldwin-Wallace College began a project which culminated in September 1969, with the opening of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute. Now located in Merner-Pfeiffer Hall at 49 Seminary Street in Berea, Ohio, the Bach Institute houses the well-known Riemenschneider Bach Library–a unique collection of Bach-oriented books, manuscripts, archival materials, and scores, including many rare items: the Emmy Martin Collection of first-edition scores; the Riemenschneider Graduate Library Collection; the Hans T. David Collection of books, manuscripts, archival items, and scores (including a number of first-edition scores); the opera-oriented Tom Villella collection of phonodiscs, books, archival materials, and memorabilia and the Albert and Helen Borowitz Recording Collection (2007). The library also holds a collection of Cleveland Orchestra programs (1902 to 1954).
Currently, the total Bach Institute "volume count" exceeds the 20,000 mark.
Among recent acquisitions, the Bach Institute now lists newly added microfiche collections, such as the Olearius Biblische Erklärung from the Herzog-August-Bibliothek in Wolfenbuettel, Germany. Other collections are listed below (click on links).
THE ALBERT AND HELEN BOROWITZ RECORDING COLLECTION
BACH MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STAATSBIBLIOTHEK BERLIN-PREUSSISCHER KULTURBESITZ (MICROFICHE)
TELEMANN MANUSCRIPTS IN THE STAATSBIBLIOTHEK BERLIN-PREUSSISCHER KULTURBESITZ (MICROFICHE)
TELEMANN MANUSCRIPTS IN THE UNIVERSITÄTSBIBLIOTHEK FRANKFURT AM MAIN (MICROFICHE)
BALDWIN-WALLACE COLLEGE LIBRARY CATALOG (including holdings of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute)
To date, the Riemenschneider Bach Institute has brought to press annotated editions of five Bach exemplars in the R.B.I. collection of editions published or readied for press during the composer’s lifetime and its three Bach-autograph and Bach-circle manuscripts.
In addition to opening the library collection for the use of Baldwin-Wallace College, the local community, and Riemenschneider Bach Institute members during the school year, the Riemenschneider Bach Institute also extends library privileges (with necessary restrictions placed upon certain rare materials) to scholars, performers, and students worldwide.
The Riemenschneider Bach Institute serves as a research center for Bach and Baroque performance and publication, sponsors regularly scheduled concerts and lectures, and also publishes a journal, BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute. BACH, first published in 1970, is now distributed to members nationwide as well as in 36 countries.
The Riemenschneider Bach Institute’s initial Symposium-Concert Series was held in February 1970. Annual Symposium-Concerts featuring performers and lecturers of local, national, and international note have been presented regularly since that time. These events are free and open to the public.
275 Eastland Rd.