ABSTRACT
If Protestant tradesmen and commoners sought to resist the perceived hegemony of Catholic institutions through the medium of music, the same cannot be said about the leading Protestant musical institution in Augsburg, the cantorate of the church and school of St Anna. The music library of St Anna, described in detail, was indeed remarkable in its scope, variety and ecumenism. The music library contained not only numerous prints by Catholic composers, but also a significant amount of secular music, including many collections of Italian canzonettas and madrigals. A surviving inventory of the music books at St Anna in 1620, with additions in 1625 and later years, demonstrates this ecumenism clearly. Konrad Hagius's polyphonic settings of the Ulenberg Psalter, intended as a Catholic response to 'falsified' Lutheran psalm translations. It would be a mistake to draw firm conclusions about Adam Gumpelzhaimer's religious attitude on the basis of his published compositions and extant inventories alone.
