Mell, Gerhardus (…-…). Musician; Organist; Singer

Innsbruck, Imperial chapel, 1520. Listed as one of the twenty-one Singerknaben of the Imperial chapel in the household inventory made in January 1520, soon before the dissolution of the chapel. It was originally intended by those commissioned to manage the dissolution of the chapel that all the choirboys were to be sent to the University of Vienna for three years, and then to receive financial support for another year after that (die Singer knaben auff der vniversitet zu wien in studio drey Jarlanng vnderhalten vnd nachmals ein Jeder an ort vnd Ennd gethon vnd gefudert werde darzu er dan geschickht erfunden wurt wie dan bey kay. Mt. der gebrauch gewest ist). However, in the event the only ones to receive financial support were those who expressed the desire to become priests; for these, benefices were to be found by the bishop of Vienna, Georg von Slatkonia.

Munich, Imperial chapel of Ferdinand I, 1527. The first inventory of the household of Ferdinand I, made on 1 January 1527 (Munich, Staatsarchiv [formerly Kreisarchiv] Faszikel H. L. Freising 317), names a certain “Melle” as organist of Ferdinand’s Munich chapel, and his brother Blasius as bellows-treader. This may be the same person as the Gerhardus Mell of the 1520 chapel list.


Fellner and Kretschmayer 1907, p. 145; Hirzel 1908, p. 153-154; Koczirz 1931, p. 532, 534-536 (from Registratur de anno 1519 bis 1520, Vienna, Hofkammerarchiv Sign. 46 [olim D 131]).