Deutsches Musikarchiv
Introduction
Catalogue of the Deutsches Musikarchiv with titles
since 1976
Inquiries on music
The Deutsches Musikarchiv in Berlin is the central collection of sheet music and sound recordings in Germany and serves as the centre of bibliographic information on music and recordings issued in Germany.
The Musikarchiv was founded in 1970, it continues the activities of the Deutsche Musik-Phonothek, which existed from 1961 - 1969. The Musikarchiv is a department of the German National Library in Leipzig.
The basis of the collection are publications deposited by German music publishers and sound recording manufacturers in the Deutsches Musikarchiv, as required under the Law regarding the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Two legal deposit copies are deposited. After processing by the Deutsches Musikarchiv, one is passed on to the sheet music and sound recording collection of the German National Library in Leipzig for archiving and use.
The focus of the Deutsches Musikarchiv is the legally defined collection: sound recordings since 1970 and sheet music since 1973. The sound recording collection, featuring audio media including shellac discs, phonograph cylinders and piano rolls, dates to the origins of sound recording production in the nineteenth century. The material is from collectors' estates and purchases.
With the acquisition of the Music Information Centre of the association of composers and musical scholars of the GDR (MIZ), sound recording tapes, notes and working card files are available documenting the musical life and production of the former GDR in the area of serious music.
The Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights designated the Deutsches Musikarchiv as the home for its music collection in July 2000. The entire inventory of the GEMA archive - comprising 210,000 pieces of music - was simultaneously assigned to the Deutsches Musikarchiv. The holdings of the Deutsches Musikarchiv can be used on-site.
The legal deposit copies are the basis of the bibliographic music services. Authority files of personal names and uniform titles are available in machine-readable form for research purposes and as cataloguing tools. As a supplement, the Deutsches Musikarchiv has built up a database of reverse-bound musical material on loan, the Bonner Katalog, which is constantly updated in the catalogue of the German National Library.
Silke Sewing
