Ton Koopman collection
Advancing new methodologies in digital humanities
Nicholas Cornia, Liesa Deville, Bruno Forment, Eline Holl, Sigrid T'Hooft
17th and 18th century
In 2020 Orpheus Instituut acquired the prestigious library of Ton Koopman. The focus of the collection is 17th- and 18th-century music, its cultural context and performance practice.
In the course of his sixty-year career, Koopman has collected an impressive collection of books and music. Among the thousands of prints and manuscripts are numerous unique works. In addition to this historical library with works from the 15th to the early 19th century, Koopman has also collected thousands of modern books and periodicals on Baroque music and culture. Many of the books have been annotated extensively by the artist himself, making the collection unique.
The Ton Koopman Collection is currently the focus of the research group Resounding Libraries, led by Dr. Bruno Forment. This cluster develops projects that engage with the collection in order to foster innovative artistic practices and advance new methodologies in the digital humanities. In this context, Orpheus Instituut is also providing digital access to the collection, making it available to researchers in Belgium and beyond. At present, 266 manuscripts and 400 historical prints have been digitized and are made available via the catalog.
