ABSTRACT
Maria Elisabeth Gräfin von Schlik (1792–1855) was not only an influential patron of the arts, but at the same time a devoted musician. In Constantin Wurzbachʼs encyclopaedia (1875), she is named “poetess and composer.” In addition, the article refers to song settings of her own poetry as well as “a couple of concert and dance pieces,” some of which she published. It is known that she kept an open house with typical salon activities, both at the family estate in Kopidlno and at her Prague palace. Hardly any research has been done on Schlikʼs salon, especially concerning the exchange between professional musicians and aristocratic circles, themselves often making music at the highest level. Regarding new knowledge about musical practices in the domestic or semi-public social sphere, musical autograph albums have to be considered an innovative source. These albums—in German called Stammbücher—are based upon the idea of collecting handwritten contributions, usually during a face-to-face meeting. Among professional musicians and in art-loving circles of the nineteenth century, the Stammbuch practice was widespread and focused especially on gaining signed musical autographs. Countess Schlik, too, maintained such a musical autograph album, initiated by her mother, around 1813/14. Over a period of four decades, the two women collected in the album compositions by musicians who came in touch with the Schlik family or were frequent house visitors, like Wenzel Johann Tomaschek, Johann Friedrich Kittl, and Ignaz Moscheles. In analysing Countess Schlik’s album, I accomplish two different but interrelated goals. On the one hand, I explore musical practices driven by her and her salon. And on the other, I show how art-related sociability by aristocrats in the musical life of nineteenth-century Prague was far more influential and pervasive than has been generally acknowledged.
