Fortunato Santini

Fortunato Santini (Rome, 5 January 1777 – Rome, 14 September 1861) was an Italian priest, composer and music collector.

Santini was born in Rome and raised in an orphanage, where he studied counterpoint with Giuseppe Jannacconi. Later on he took organ lessons with G. Giudi. Between 1798 and 1801 he studied theology and philosophy and was ordained a priest in 1801. In those years he already started to copy and collect music manuscripts of the Roman School. He believed that he would only fully understand these old scores if he were able to copy them. Even in the 19th century it was not easy to understand the complicated handwritten scores of the 16th century. These first copies he made, set up the base for his collection which soon became more and more important. To copy musical compositions, Santini went to look for the originals in the different libraries and archives of Rome's churches and monasteries. Thanks to cardinal Carlo Odescalchi, who quartered Santini's collection in his private palace in Rome, Santini had access to private archives held by the Roman nobility, like the Ruspoli family.

In 1820 Santini published a catalog of about a thousand musical scores in his growing collection. This catalog was soon recognized throughout Europe and Santini established contacts with an international range of musicologists, musicians and collectors: Karl Proske, Raphael Georg Kiesewetter, Carl von Winterfeld, Carl Friedrich Zelter and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

In 1835, through cardinal Odescalchi, Santini became a member of the Congregazione e Accademia di Santa Cecilia; in 1837 of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, in 1845 of the Mozarteum in Salzburg and in 1840 of the French Comité historique des arts et monuments du Ministére de l'Instruction Publique.

When in 1838 cardinal Odescalchi decided to give up his title of Cardinal to become a simple member of the Jesuits, Santini moved with his library to an apartement close to the church of Santa Maria dell'Anima, the national church of the whole Holy Roman Empire in Rome and henceforth the national church of Germany and hospice of German-speaking people in Rome. There, Santini started to organize weekly private music soirées where pieces from his precious collection were executed. Mainly vocal sacred music in German by Bach, Händel and Graun who were mostly unknown in Italy in those days. To make German texts more comprehensible he translated them into Italian or into latin.

Between 1830 and 1840 Santini's economic condition became difficult and he considered for the first time selling his collection which then numbered 4.500 handwritten and 1.200 printed scores. All important libraries in Europe, Berlin, Paris, Brussels and Saint Petersburg were interested. But only in 1855, did Santini convey it to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Münster. The exact amount paid is something of a mystery. The only thing certain is that Santini received, in addition to the amount of the sale, an annuity of 465 scudi paid quarterly. At first, the music collection was deposited in rooms at the Campo Santo Teutonico, the German cemetery in Rome. Only a year after Santini's death on 14 September 1861, was his library transported, piece by piece, by donkey cart to Münster.

In Münster the collection was deposited in the Episcopal Museum of Christian antiquities and fell into disuse and was forgotten for many years. Only in the beginning of the 20th century Santini's library was rediscovered by the English musicologist Edward Dent. In 1923 the Bishop loaned Santini's library to the University of Münster, where the collection could be properly catalogued and analyzed. During World War II two-thirds of the University library were destroyed and the card catalogues were burned. Santini's library however escaped damage. After the first bombardments – as a safety measure – the collection had been moved to a Bishop's country residence. Today the Santini Collection is in the new library of the diocese of Münster. Here the precious manuscripts are deposited in a proper manner and can be consulted by all.

Santini composed sacred music which till today is unpublished. Some of his handwritten letters and scores are also kept in the library of the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini | liceo musicale di Bologna