Nederlands Muziek Instituut

The Nederlands Muziek Instituut (The Netherlands Music Institute) is a collaborative effort involving three important 'paper' collections: the music archives and library of the Hague Municipal Museum and the impressive collection of Dutch music built up by the Hague violinist, music historian and collector Willem Noske (Musica Neerlandica). With this assembly of collections, knowledge and activities in the area of music in general, and Dutch music and the Dutch music scene up to about 1950 in particular, the Muziek Instituut can be regarded as the headquarters for collecting, preserving, registering and making accessible the musical heritage of the Netherlands for the public in the broadest sense of the word.
Since 1 January 2001, the Nederlands Muziek Instituut has been one of the residential bodies of the KB in The Hague.

History of the collection

The first steps taken to compile a music library were taken by Hague musicologist Daniel François Scheurleer (1855-1927). A few years after his death, the library was moved to the Hague Municipal Museum, where the first music custodian, Dirk Balfoort (1886-1964), assumed the task of collecting material for the music archives (mainly composers' archives). Willem Noske (1918-1995) began his collection after becoming intensely interested in Dutch music history at Balfoort's instigation. In a few decades he managed to gather a great many editions of Dutch music and documentation, particularly from the period 1850-1950

The collection in its present form

The Scheurleer Collection forms the heart of the library section of the Nederlands Muziek Instituut. It includes a number of important manuscripts and mainly early editions of musical works and interesting treatises on music, in addition to more recent works. Later additions consisted for instance of the collection of opera scores with performance material from the Théâtre Français de La Haye, the music libraries of various orchestras (such as the Hofkapel) and a few private collections. Important features of the present collection are the musical instrument, Dutch music and the repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. For several years, the monumental Alsbach Collection (14,000 titles of Dutch music) has been part of the collection.
This collection is directly related to the collection of Dutch music brought together by the violinist Willem Noske, in which the emphasis is roughly on the period 1850-1950. Most of the collected music consists of printed editions (about 26,000), among which are a considerable number of manuscripts. The documentation consists chiefly of clippings and music programmes.
The archives collection includes hundreds of legacies left by Dutch composers and performing musicians, such as Alphons Diepenbrock, Willem Mengelberg and Johan Wagenaar. The collection consists of a wide range of music manuscripts (more than 40,000), correspondence (more than 100,000 letters), illustrated material (including more than 6,000 photos), audio material such as tapes, music cassettes, CDs and various and sundry personal documents from the period 1870 to the present. Large archival collections from organizations and musical institutions that play an important role in the Dutch music scene, such as Donemus and Buma/Stemra, are also included.

Opening hours

The Nederlands Muziek Instituut is located at number 5, Prins Willem Alexanderhof in The Hague. The Instituut is open from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and can be reached by telephone at +31 (0)70 3140700 or by e-mail info@nedmuz.nl. Visitors may announce themselves at the KB reception desk. In many cases it is possible to have documents photocopied. Photocopies can either be made on the spot or be ordered. Photos, slides and microfilms can also be provided. Prints can be made of older files available on microfiche. The Instituut's website may be visited at http://www.nederlandsmuziekinstituut.nl.