German music archive

Music reading room of the German Music Archive of the German National Library in Leipzig

The German Music Archive ( DMA ) of the German National Library (DNB) in Leipzig is the central gathering place for published scores expenditure and music tinge in Germany. It is also Germany's music bibliographic information center.

The archive collects sheet music and sound recordings and makes them available for use. The basis of the collection are the publications of German sheet music publishers and labels. His work is part of the mission of the German National Library to "collect, inventory, index and bibliographically record media works [...] in the original, to secure them in the long term and to make them usable for the general public, and to provide central library and national bibliographic services" .

The German Music Archive has been headed by Ruprecht Langer since September 1, 2017 .

history

The music archive resided in the Correns mansion (Siemensvilla) in Berlin-Lankwitz until 2010

The German Music Archive was founded on January 1, 1970 in West Berlin (district Lankwitz ) as a department of the German Library (headquarters: Frankfurt am Main). By merging the German Library and the German Library (Leipzig) in 1990 to form a joint organization, the German Music Archive is now a department of the German National Library in Leipzig.

When it was founded, the German Music Archive took over the holdings of the Deutsche Musik-Phonothek (1961–1969). It continued their activity, but was able to rely on the so-called mandatory delivery of music and sound carriers by their producers in the further development. With the entry into force of the First Ordinance on the Compulsory Delivery of Sheet Music and Music Records to the German Music Archive of the German Library (1st Compulsory Piece Order for Music) from June 6, 1973 on June 15, 1973 (BG Bl. I, p. 519), music publishers and Sound carrier manufacturers are obliged to leave two deposit copies of each of their publications to the German National Library for archiving and use. According to the unification agreement of August 31, 1990 (Annex I, Chapter II B II, Annex I, Chapter II; Subject B - Administration) and the amendment to the Law on the German Library (from 1969) formulated therein, the following applies: "From every printed work [...], that is published within the scope of this law [...] is to be delivered one piece each (mandatory piece) to the German Library and the German Library . "

The German Library (Leipzig) and the German Library (Frankfurt am Main) were merged in the unification agreement. They initially operated under the name Die Deutsche Bibliothek , and since 2006 the institution has been called the German National Library . The seat of the German Music Archive remained in Berlin until 2010. Since then, the department has been based in Leipzig, where after the completion of the fourth extension building there, it received new work and storage areas, the new music reading room, the listening booth with surround system and the sound studio complex at the highest technical level. Until then, the focus of the collection was on sound carriers from 1970 onwards and music from 1973 onwards, but with the move to Leipzig, the collections of music and sound carriers in the Deutsche Bücherei (from 1943) and music (from 1935) were also transferred to the collection of the German Music Archive.

Stocks

The sound carrier collection goes back to the beginnings of sound carrier production in the 19th century. In addition to modern digital sound carriers, it also includes shellac records, phonograph cylinders and piano rolls. While these materials mainly come from collectors' estates and purchases, the build-up of media collections in the 1960s and 1970s took place as part of the current collection activities ( primarily through the receipt of deposit copies ) of the German Music Archive and the archives it currently houses (including the Collection of music and recordings from the Deutsche Bücherei ). According to § § 14 f. of the German National Library Act (DNBG), music publishers and sound carrier manufacturers with their registered office, business premises or main residence in Germany are obliged to submit one or two deposit copies to the German National Library and thus to the DMA. Since 1993, a deposit copy has been passed on to the Frankfurt House of the German National Library for archiving and use. For intangible media works (online publications), a corresponding delivery obligation applies to those persons and institutions that are authorized to make the works publicly available.

In 1991 the holdings of the Music Information Center of the Association of Composers and Musicologists of the GDR were taken over. They offer a comprehensive overview of forty years of music history in the GDR and include around 10,000 sound carriers, 1,000 sheet music, a work file comprising 36,000 documents (compositions in connection with programs, press reports, reviews and analyzes) and a photo archive with recordings of composers and performers.

Since July 2000 the German Music Archive has been the collection point for GEMA notes. Since then, music publishers have only submitted their print copies to the German Music Archive when registering their work, but no longer to GEMA. The GEMA scores (210,000 pieces) collected up to the year 2000 are now stored in the German Music Archive.

At the end of 2016, the DMA had 3,058,718 media, of which 1,680,288 music carriers, 378,893 voice recordings and 999,537 music. Of the music sound carriers, 593,277 are opto-electronic media (CDs, DVDs, SACDs), 369,861 are vinyl records and other analog media (LPs, singles, compact cassettes) and 161,893 are historical music sound carriers (shellac records, cylinders and piano rolls, etc.).

use

A library card from the German National Library is required to use the German Music Archive. Users of the German National Library must be at least 18 years old.

In view of the fact that the German National Library acts as an archive for securing and preserving cultural assets, the holdings of the German Music Archive are also intended exclusively for use in the house. The music reading room of the German Music Archive and a listening studio are available for this. The German Music Archive thus works according to the principles of a reference library . Individual articles or chapters can also be ordered as (digital) copies for a fee. There are 18 audio workstations available in the music reading room. The listening booth is equipped with a surround system. The equipment of the music reading room also includes 4 workstations with keyboards for playing notes. Current music magazines are also displayed in the music reading room and a handset for relevant literature is available. All holdings of the German National Library are available in the music reading room. They can be researched and ordered using the catalog of the German National Library. Holdings from 1993 are also made available in the Frankfurt House of the German National Library.

The music archive also offers other music bibliographic services. The common authority file with personal names, corporations and work titles of the music is available for research purposes and as a cataloging tool. Until 2012, the DMA operated the standard title file of the German Music Archive , which was incorporated into the common authority file on April 19, 2012. In addition, the German Music Archive has set up a database of musical loan material, the Bonn catalog , which is continuously updated in the catalog of the German National Library.

In the foyer of the music reading room, exhibits such as sound carriers, sheet music and audio players are on display, which trace the main stations of the products of the music industry.

Guided tours through the DMA are offered regularly.