Our collections

As a lover of walks in the Grisons Alps, or a die-hard patriot, or a fan of children’s literature that you secretly read under a Jean d’Ormesson book cover, or nostalgic for the time when your dad/mum read you one last little story before going to sleep… perhaps you’ve recently been looking in Renouvaud for […]

Compared to Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven’s catalog shows a drastic reduction in the number of compositions: 9 symphonies versus Haydn’s 100 or so and Mozart’s 50 or more, for example. Why was this? Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 and quickly established himself as an independent artist, free to impresario himself according to the musician’s […]

The greatest thorn in Beethoven’s side was deafness, which accompanied a character already prone to emotional excess, extravagance and emotional change. As early as 1798, the composer realized that this infirmity would prevent him from expressing his talent as a performer. Fortunately, his creative vitality did not suffer. Beethoven devoted himself to composition with great […]

It’s hard not to draw on the infinite wealth of classical music to further express one’s own intentions, projects or even emotions. Cinema is no exception, and a number of composers from the past have found their way into modern productions. Beethoven did not escape this fate, and his creations have been reused in many […]

In the early 1800s, Beethoven was the youngest member of Viennese musical life. Even after the birth of the rising star Rossini, Beethoven’s primacy remained intact, especially in German culture. However, in 1822, when the Swan of Pesaro arrived in Vienna for the performance of his opera Zelmira, the Viennese people eagerly awaited him, and […]

A medieval manuscript from the convent of St. Francis of Assisi on our premises! In 1960, the auction of a 13th-century manuscript containing the Latin text of Solomon’s Book of Wisdom, with an inscription referring to the “conventus beati Francisci”, attracted the attention of the library’s directors. The inscription most likely indicates the convent of […]