A new center for music documentation, including history, research, and digital innovation
The Media Library of Grandezze & Meraviglie was founded within Modena Armonica, a project that reorganizes and enhances the documentary heritage of the Associazione Musicale Estense and Festival Musicale Estense, as the result of a broad process of valorization, study, and digitization of Modena’s musical heritage, developed by the Association itself, which for over twenty-seven years has represented one of the most significant experiences in the rediscovery and dissemination of early music in Italy.
The new Media Library is a stable, open, and accessible space, dedicated to the preservation, enjoyment and dissemination of documentary collections collected over decades of artistic, scientific, and publishing activity.
Inauguration Tuesday, December 16
The inauguration will be on Tuesday 16th December, at the Grandezze & Meraviglie headquarters, via Ganaceto 40C, Modena:
- 3:30 – 4:30 pm: PRESENTATION OF THE MEDIA LIBRARY with institutional introduction and testimonies;
- 4.45pm – 5.30pm: CONCERT at the Sacristy of the Church of San Domenico (via Tre Febbraio, 3, Modena) by the students of the Lute, Theorbo and Baroque Guitar seminary with Franco Pavan;
- 6 pm: REFRESHMENT in the Media Library.
A project recognized at the regional and national levels
The initiative is part of the interventions launched thanks to the Modena Armonica project, which was among the first at the national level in the MiC‘s TOCC-PNRR call (interdisciplinary area – 6th in Italy out of 223 approved, 1st in Emilia-Romagna).
The project is sponsored by the Municipality of Modena, with the scientific contribution of the University (DhMoRe), in the direction of enhancing and disseminating Modena’s musical heritage, also in line with the prospects of the AGO Modena Cultural Factories project. The innovation process has integrated artistic production, musicological research, and new technologies, involving national and local scientific and cultural institutions (ICCU, Central Institute for the Single Catalogue of the Mic, DhMoRe, Modena Library Center).
Activation in the Library Center and Agreement with the Emilia-Romagna Region
The Media Library is established within the Modena Library Center (SBN), achieving stable institutional recognition and integration into the regional and national library system.
It also enjoys the Convention with the Emilia-Romagna Region within the framework of the Regional Law 18/2000 (Three-year program 2024-2026), which enabled priority actions for expanding services, equipping spaces, purchasing technological equipment, cataloging and preserving materials, training staff, and enhancing heritage.
Documentary heritage: funds, uniqueness, potential
The heritage held by the Media Library includes distinct and complementary collections of great interest to scholars and musicologists:
- Mirco Caffagni Collection (Secc. XVII-XXI) – historical musical manuscripts, rare volumes, correspondence with Italian and international musicians, critical documentation;
- Maurizio Pratola Library – studies, editions, and specialized materials on the lute, theorbo, baroque guitar, and ancient instruments;
- Library of the Estense Musical Association (Secc. XVI-XXI) – volumes on the history of music, culture, music publishing, catalogues of international festivals, also formed thanks to targeted book donations;
- Photo, audio and video archive of the Festival Grandezze & Meraviglie – unique testimonies of twenty-seven editions of concerts with ancient instruments and rare repertoires.
The collection features highly unique elements: manuscripts, volumes, and documents largely absent from the Polo Modenese or SBN, materials fundamental to the history of plucked instrument performance in Italy, complete recordings of live concerts, and iconographic materials from the 16th to the 19th century.
A project rooted in the territory, in dialogue with the country and Europe
The Media Library also began as a meeting and training center: it will collaborate with schools, conservatories, and music high schools in Modena, Italy, and abroad, launching educational programs, seminars, and internships. It opens its materials to free consultation and provides services for researchers, students, musicians and enthusiasts, becoming a new stable cultural space for the city of Modena.
Several materials are available for home lending; others, for protection or rights reasons, remain available exclusively on-site, while still providing full access to researchers, students, and scholars through a dedicated service.
The Media Library aims to be a new public cultural service for the city, dedicated to research, education, and sharing, where musical memory becomes a living heritage for the community.
Practical:
Monday to Friday: 9.30-13.00 / 14.30-18.00
Opening by appointment. Closure on holidays and holiday periods.
A new home for musical memory
The Media Library of Greatness & Wonders today represents a living, ever-expanding archive: a bridge between past and present, between historical heritage and digital innovation, between scientific research and dissemination. A place that preserves musical memory and makes it available and accessible for future generations.
