Digitisation / Cataloguing of non-textual objects: Archive of Voices. Digitalization and Scholarly Indexing of Historical Public Domain Vocal Recordings on Shellac Discs, 1896 - 1960

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For the first time in Germany, the project “Archive of Voices” will make one of the most important primary sources for interpreting art music accessible online for research and teaching purposes. Approximately 17,000 recordings of vocal pieces originating from 8,500 shellac discs from the period between 1896 and 1960 will be made available for listening. Technical data gathered by scholarly, systematic indexing will also be made available in digital form via the Digital Media Library’s (Mediathek) database, as well as library network catalogues. Dating back to one of the most significant public domain collections of historic vocal and instrumental recordings on shellac discs, namely the SLUB Media Library’s collection of ca. 55,000 items, most of these recordings are quite rare. Characteristic for this collection is its relatively large number of acoustically recorded pieces—in other words, works that were recorded before 1925 without a microphone. Many of the recordings have only survived on this medium. Works of both well-known and lesser-known composers have been interpreted by international stage celebrities as well as by studio musicians, i.e., artists of local or regional importance. The project is intended to serve as a building block in the ongoing effort to create a desperately needed European discography of historical musical recordings, thus representing an essential contribution to safeguarding our audio-visual heritage.