IAML/IASA Joint Committee on Music and Sound ArchivesAuthor(s): Derek LewisSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Januar-März 1980), pp. 27-29Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23505546 .

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IAML/IASA Joint Committee 2 7

and the Rheinisches Bildarchiv (together including approximately 500,000 items, partly published on

microfiche), will be checked, and the photo collection of the Zentralinstitut fiir Kunstgeschichte in Munich (about 460,000 items) will be surveyed. Then in the Fall, the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, encompassing sixteen museums, will be inventoried. Four different indexes are planned for the catalogue cards: 1) present location, utilizing RISM's local sigla; 2) medium and

technique, arranged chronologically and alphabetically by artist; 3) instruments, following the Horn bostel-Sachs classification; 4) subject.

(Elisabeth Heckmann, Frankfurt): The holdings of the Hessian museums are now being catalogued; the Historisches Museum and the Goethe-Haus in Frankfurt have already been inventoried, and work is beginning at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Kassel.

(Rudolf and Uta Henning, Ludwigsburg): The Hennings' private collection of pictures related to the 18th century now includes about 10,000 items from all artistic media. From this collection, annual calendars and a book (Zeugnisse alter Musik, Herrsching 1975) have been printed. Further documen tation is planned on the following subjects: 1) little-known woodcuts inspired by Emperor Maximi lian I; 2) 17th- and 18th-century graphics illustrating instrument making and makers; 3) instruments

depicted in medieval dance-of-death scenes; 4) musical frescoes in the parish churches of Carinthia/ Austria. Mrs. Henning suggested that unidentified pictures be reproduced in the RIdlM/RCMI News letter in case other subscribers know anything about them.

France (François Lesure): The collection of Mme. de Chambure in the Conservatoire de Musique is

again accessible, but is not yet organized and catalogued. M. Thieck, in charge of that collection, plans an exhibition on "Projets des décors de clavecin par des artistes contemporaines.

" The Cortot Institute has prepared a checklist of English paintings related to musical iconography. A similar catalogue of French paintings will be started in 1980.

Italy (Mariangela Donà): RldlM inventorying in Umbria will be carried out by the Institute of Medieval and Modern History of Art and Musicology with a grant from the Ministry of Education. The Umbrian National Gallery in Perugia has already been searched for musico-iconographical materials. In Lombardy, RIdIM work has been placed under the direction of the Institute of Musicology of the

University of Milan, with funding from the region. To date, the Brera Gallery has been inventoried; all Milanese collections will be searched by the end of 1979.

The Ministry of Culture and Arts is making a computerized subject catalogue of all Italian art works. For those items illustrating the arts and sciences, a supplementary card is being prepared. Fabio

Bisogni of Florence is in charge of music.

Hungary (Zoltän Falvy): RldlM is housed at the Museum of the History of Music at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The cataloguing of the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest is under way; catalogue cards of 18th-century Dutch paintings have been sent to the RCMI and the engravings from the same museum are now being inventoried.

Netherlands (Magda Klerk): Although a Dutch RIdIM group has not yet been established, catalogu ing of the collection at the Municipal Museum in The Hague has begun. Plans are under way to co

operate with the University of The Hague to raise funds for the RIdIM project. Belgium (Bernard Huys): The Bibliothèque Royale Albert Ier in Brussels has one full-time staff

person, Isabelle Hottois, who is a specialist in medieval musical iconography. She will be cataloguing the illuminated manuscripts in the Bibliothèque and plans to publish a catalogue of her work.

Japan (Kazuo Fukushima): Although there is great interest in the field of musical iconography, no RIdIM center has yet been established in Japan. Iconographical research will be invaluable in under

standing the musical life of ancient Japan, especially since the tabulatures are difficult to read. A special afternoon meeting was devoted to the cataloguing emendations proposed by Tilman See

bass, who is working on an expansion of the RIdIM cataloguing instructions to encompass ethno

graphic materials. Barry S. Brook. Chairman Barry S. Brook, Chairman

Monika Holl, Secretary Pro tem Carol Oja, RCMI

IAML/IASA Joint Committee on Music and Sound Archives

Tuesday, 3 July 1979

Chairman Claes Cnattingius (Sveriges Radio, Stockholm) explained the reasons for the creation of

the IAML/IASA joint committee, and its aims. The business would include matters continuing from

previous meetings as well as new topics requiring cooperation from members of both organisations.

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28 IAML/IASA Joint Committee

The meeting fell into two sections: a report from Gerald Gibson (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) on two projects dealing with research material, followed by accounts of recent developments in the audio-visual field in Sweden, the USA and Africa.

Mr. Gibson's topics were: 1) the revised list of record companies and dealers, and 2) the revised

bibliography of reference literature relating to sound recordings. Some members had not responded to the request to supply information to be used to update and expand the work already achieved. While

recognising that personal and professional obligations necessarily take preference over such work, he

questioned whether, if members are not willing to respond, there is need to continue the projects. Suggestions for the content of the projects, made from the floor, included one by Dietrich Schüller

(Vienna) that consideration be given to including technical articles and books in the bibliography. The consensus was that Mr. Gibson should continue the work provided he receives support from contri butors.

A further item inserted at this point consisted of a talk by Martin Eiste (Berlin) on his publication Record Research. The author described his theories of a systematic approach to listening to records, the problem of discology as opposed to discography, and the importance of availability of allied media

(i.e., scores, reference books, etc.) when cataloguing and listening to recordings. Speakers from the floor allowed the desirability of this but spoke of the cost of maintaining such libraries. Rolf Schuurs ma (Utrecht) queried its justification when only a small number of investigators would benefit.

There followed the presentation of developments in the three archival areas:

a) Archive of Recorded Sound and Video Recordings in Stockholm (ALB). In the absence of curator Leif Larsson, his paper was read by Björn Englund. It referred to the recently implemented Legal Deposit Act in Sweden which requires automatic deposit of all phonograms produced in the

country, and has led to the foundation of the present institution. The Archive covers both commercial discs and cassettes, Radio and TV programmes and copies of films made for public showing. Inevitably there are problems about interpreting legal aspects, to what extent manufacturers are obligated, and what material is required to be supplied. However, at least a start has been made in this exciting project.

b) Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress. Curator Gerald Gibson explained the thinking behind expansion of the Library's activities. Its scope is enor

mous, covering material issued not only in the US, but relevant material from other parts of the world as well. Means have been found for increasing the staff and training programmes are being devised. Not all details of this exciting project have been worked out. Mr. Gibson will be visiting Archives and

Broadcasting stations about acquisition of suitable material.

c) It had been hoped that an Archivist from Black Africa would be able to attend, but this had not

proved possible. Marie-France Calas (Paris) presented a short paper based on information provided by a correspondent in Dakar. The position regarding Sound Archives in Africa is far from clear. Madiayna Ndiaye referred to an organisation called the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa founded around 1973 to look after sound documents. There are also the Centre d'études des Civilisations and the Cultural Archives of Senegal, founded in 1967. Their function is to collect not only material on old and continuing traditions, but also to re-activate these traditions by means of oral and video evidence. Dietrich Schüller referred to another centre for African studies, of which the name for the moment eluded him. The Chairman said that more information on sound archive centres in Africa would be welcome and it would be a continuing responsibility of the joint committee to encourage such partici pation in our activities.

Thursday, 5 July 1979

The Value of the Sound Recording as a Source in Musicological Research: a Panel Discussion

Chairman: Claes Cnattingius; Kurt Blaukopf (Musicologist, Austria); Alfred Kaine (Producer, Polydor, German Federal Republic); Helmuth Mühle (Producer, Sveriges Radio); P. Tanzmeier (ORF,

Salzburg, representing Leopold Hager, who was unable to attend).

Papers by the four participants had already been circulated; the speakers expanded on these, some with musical illustrations. Their arguments centred on the extent to which recordings could be accept ed uncritically as documents of actual performing practice, and the ability of the musicologist to understand and allow for the part that a producer or recording engineer plays in the finished product. Opinions differed on both the desirability and the extent to which a producer could influence an inter

pretation either by technical manipulation or by subtle encouragement of performers through sympa thetic recording conditions.

Alfred Kaine pointed out that the sound the conductor hears on the podium is not the sound the audience hears. During recording, studio acoustics change throughout a session due to atmospheric conditions, creating problems when splicing sections from earlier and later parts of a session. He main

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IAML/IASA Joint Committee 29

tained however that tradition and stylistic performance practice have been adequately represented by recordings. Helmuth Miihle's view was that editing should be kept to a minimum. Artistic considera tions should prevail over technical ones. Kurt Blaukopf referred to the performer's participation in the final mixing process. He felt that a recording in which the performer plays an active part in the final sound mixing has greater documentary value. Alfred Kaine remarked that some performers have no wish to be involved with the sound of the recording and are content to leave this to engineers.

From the floor Harald Heckmann asked the panel's views on the importance of an authentic score used in a recording. Helmuth Mühle said that an autograph was not necessarily the authentic one, as

performances could cause a composer to amend his original thoughts. Alfred Kaine wondered whether a modern audience would really want to experience a Mozart symphony played under the conditions in which it would have been originally performed. Herr Mühle said that at least performers and record

ing producers had the obligation to consult original sources and subsequent variations before deciding on the version to be used. Herr Tanzmeier expressed regret that technology had forced the modern day listener to demand perfection. Personally he is not worried by small errors in ensemble. What is of

paramount importance is the human touch - the emotional contact between performers and listeners. Mr. Kaine felt it important to preserve the right not to make public certain performances, and

there was some discussion on the advisability of allowing authorised researchers to attend recording sessions. Ulf Scharlau (Stuttgart) referred to the problem peculiar to broadcasting archives, where

recordings are made of two identical programmes. The performance finally approved for transmission could be an amalgamation of both concerts, not necessarily reflecting the special atmosphere of either. Other points raised included the occasions when a composer performs his own compositions and over the years discrepancies creep into his performances and the resultant recordings, as well as the occa sions when tensions in performances are created by the direct-cut process.

Dietrich Schüller asked us to consider what a sound document is for. It is not necessarily a docu ment of an interpretation, and recordings may be used for both musicological and interpretative research. He questioned the amount of documentation used to supplement recordings held in Archives. There is need for much more ancillary information, such as that provided by recording companies' original recording sheets. He suggested that copies of these be made available to National Sound Archives. The influence of the recording venue and attendant conditions on the final performance are

becoming increasingly important to musicology. Another speaker suggested that recording companies be compelled to issue a statement of policy as a guarantee of the authenticity of the published perfor mance. Professor Blaukopf noted that two different needs were emerging: those of the Sound Archivist and of the Musicologist. IASA could help by defining what basic documentation should accompany the issue of a recorded performance. Record companies have been slack about preserving their own docu mentation; they should recognise their obligation to posterity in this respect and consider as well mak

ing the documentation available to research. Helmuth Mühle noted that in recent years companies have

improved in the amount of documentation they supply with their records. In closing the discussion, Claes Cnattingius suggested that the IAML/IASA joint committee con

sider drafting a document along the lines suggested by Professor Blaukopf. Mr. Cnattingius thanked the speakers and called for suggestions for topics for next year's meeting. Mr. Schuursma asked whether a meeting similar to the lines of the present one could usefully encompass spoken word re cordings; another subject suggested was suitable training for Sound Archivists. These and other matters would be discussed by members of the joint committee when they met later in the year in London to decide on the 1980 programme.

Derek Lewis, Secretary

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