Paul Sacher Foundation, Music archive and research center in Basel, Switzerland.

The Paul Sacher Foundation is an archive and research centre in Basel for the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Founded in 1973 by the conductor and patron Paul Sacher, it holds around 120 estates and collections of composers and performers, among them Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Anton Webern, György Ligeti, Heinz Holliger, Sofia Gubaidulina and Kaija Saariaho. A specialist library, a sound library and a video library complete the holdings.

The conductor and patron Paul Sacher founded the foundation in Basel in 1973, initially to preserve his own manuscript collection and music library. Systematic expansion of its holdings later broadened that task, and it became an international research centre for 20th- and 21st-century music. Its roughly 120 composer and performer collections include estates and archives of Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Anton Webern and György Ligeti.

The foundation's name recalls Paul Sacher, the Basel conductor and patron who began it in 1973 with his own manuscript collection. Today it holds around 120 estates and collections, among them those of Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Anton Webern, György Ligeti, Heinz Holliger, Sofia Gubaidulina and Kaija Saariaho, alongside a specialist library, a sound library and a video library.

The archive welcomes researchers and musicians seeking access to original manuscripts and correspondence, though visits must be arranged in advance. It helps to plan clearly what you want to research and gather information about available collections beforehand.

The institute publishes scholarly materials regularly, including an annual bulletin freely available online that gives researchers worldwide access to findings. This material offers insights into ongoing studies and discoveries about composers and their works.