Répertoire International des Sources Musicales
Encyclopedia
The Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (Abbreviation RISM, English
International Inventory of Musical Sources, German
Internationales Quellenlexikon der Musik) is an international non-profit organisation, founded in Paris
in 1952, with the aim of comprehensively documenting sources of music surviving all over the world. It is the largest organisation of its kind and the only entity operating globally to document written musical sources. Shortly after its founding, A.H. King called RISM "one of the boldest pieces of long-term planning ever undertaken for the source material of any subject in the humanistic field."
The musical sources recorded are hand-written or printed music, writings about music and libretti. They are stored in libraries
, archive
s, monasteries
, school
s and private collections
. RISM establishes what exists and where it is kept. RISM is recognised among experts as the key place for documenting music sources all over the world.
The work of RISM in compiling a comprehensive index fulfills a twofold purpose: on the one hand, the musical legacy is protected from loss, and on the other, it is made available to academics and performing musicians.
One or several RISM working groups in each of 35 countries take part in the project. Around 100 individuals from those working groups catalogue
the musical sources preserved in their countries. They pass their results on to the RISM Zentralredaktion (Central Editorial Office) in Frankfurt am Main, where the entries are edited and published.
RISM working groups are currently active in the following countries and cities:
The RISM Zentralredaktion and the working groups in Germany are a project of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz
. The other working groups are supported financially in their countries.
In addition to these, the working groups conduct projects to document libretti surviving in their respective countries.
from about 1500 to 1800. Over 78,000 prints of music by 7,616 composers from 2,178 libraries are documented in the nine volumes of the series (published 1971–1981). Four supplementary volumes appeared between 1986 and 1999, and in 2003 there followed an index volume listing publishers
, printers, engravers
and places of publication. All volumes of the RISM Series A/I were published by Bärenreiter
in Kassel
. The catalogue is arranged alphabetically by composer name and contains only individual prints, meaning printed music of works by a single composer. Collected prints (printed music of works by various composers) are published in the RISM Series B.
Each individual entry contains the following information:
A CD-ROM
of the RISM Series A/I is planned for 2011. Apart from the stated intention of opening the way to the primary source for researchers and performers
, this sort of catalogue provides attractive possibilities for other areas of interest and inquiry
as well. For example, one can gain insight into many different topics while researching the reception of a piece
. One way could be to find out how the music of a composer
was regarded after his death; to find this out, it would be important to know how many and which of his works were reissued
.
music. They are described in detail according to a uniform scheme containing more than 100 fields and stored in a database at the RISM Zentralredaktion in Frankfurt
. There are currently more than 734,000 entries on pieces by around 25,000 composers available (as of March 2011, and the number is constantly increasing). The total number of music manuscripts extant worldwide is many times that large.
The entries are currently from 900 libraries
in 34 countries: Australia
, Austria
, Belarus
, Belgium
, Brazil
, Canada
, Croatia
, the Czech Republic
, Denmark
, Finland
, France
, Germany
, Hungary
, Italy
, Japan
, Latvia
, Lithuania
, Mexico
, Netherlands
, New Zealand
, Norway
, Poland
, Portugal
, Romania
, Russia
, Sweden
, Switzerland
, Slovakia
, Slovenia
, Spain
, Uruguay
, Ukraine
, the United Kingdom
and the United States
. This makes RISM’s database
by far the most extensive accessible set of records in the field.
The RISM database has been avalaible free of charge online since June 2010. Access to this online catalog is through the Internet via the RISM online catalog or the RISM website. The catalogue was made possible through cooperation between RISM, the Bavarian State Library
(Bayerische Staatsbibliothek) and the Berlin State Library
(Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin). The CD-ROM version of the accumulated database produced and published by K. G. Saur
in Munich
was discontinued in 2008. The subscription database hosted by EBSCO
(formerly by NISC) is still available.
The catalogue entries describe each piece in detail. Included are, among other things, information about the composer (including dates of birth and death), title, performing forces
, as well as references to musicological literature. The manuscripts themselves are described in detail in respect to copyist
, place and time of origin, librettist, previous owners, and dedicatees. In addition, practically every work can also be identified unambiguously by means of a music incipit
, that is, the opening notes or measures from important movements or sections of a piece.
A variety of search boxes enables browsing and discovery through any of these fields. Specific questions can be answered by combining specific indices. For example, it is possible to immediately access all the information stored by RISM about masses
by Joseph Haydn
.
A search by means of a musical incipit is a valuable research tool when trying to identify an anonymous piece or a fragment of a piece. To make use of this tool, the researcher keys in the first few notes of the work.
The database provides information not only about the dissemination of works by composers who are still well known today, but also a wealth of knowledge about those many creative musicians who were highly regarded in their day, but are currently either little known or even forgotten. This makes the database invaluable for music historians and also makes it possible for performing musicians to “excavate” and rediscover many things.
. The following volumes have been published by G. Henle
of Munich
(an English translation of the title appears in parentheses where necessary):
, archive
s and private collections
which house historical musical materials. This index of music libraries is produced in cooperation with the Publication Committee of the International Association of Music Libraries (IAML). The special volume RISM-Bibliothekssigel. Gesamtverzeichnis (RISM Library Sigla. Complete Index), which appeared in 1999, has been available in a regularly updated version on the RISM website since 2006.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
International Inventory of Musical Sources, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
Internationales Quellenlexikon der Musik) is an international non-profit organisation, founded in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1952, with the aim of comprehensively documenting sources of music surviving all over the world. It is the largest organisation of its kind and the only entity operating globally to document written musical sources. Shortly after its founding, A.H. King called RISM "one of the boldest pieces of long-term planning ever undertaken for the source material of any subject in the humanistic field."
The musical sources recorded are hand-written or printed music, writings about music and libretti. They are stored in libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s, monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s and private collections
Private library
A private library is a library under the care of private ownership, as compared to that of a public institution, and is usually only established for the use of a small number of people, or even a single person. As with public libraries, some people use stamps, stickers, or embossing to show...
. RISM establishes what exists and where it is kept. RISM is recognised among experts as the key place for documenting music sources all over the world.
The work of RISM in compiling a comprehensive index fulfills a twofold purpose: on the one hand, the musical legacy is protected from loss, and on the other, it is made available to academics and performing musicians.
Organisation
Library catalog
A library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations...
the musical sources preserved in their countries. They pass their results on to the RISM Zentralredaktion (Central Editorial Office) in Frankfurt am Main, where the entries are edited and published.
RISM working groups are currently active in the following countries and cities:
- AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
: Adelaide - AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
: Innsbruck, Salzburg and Vienna - BelarusBelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
: Minsk - BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
: Brussels and Louvain - BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
: Bahia, Brasília, Campinas, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo - CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
: London (Ontario) - CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
: Zagreb - Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
: Prague - DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
: Copenhagen - EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
: Tallinn - FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
: Åbo/Turku - FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
: Paris - GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
: Dresden and Munich - GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
: Thessaloniki - HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
: Budapest - IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
: Waterford - ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
: Milan and Rome - JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
: Tokyo - LatviaLatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
: Riga - Lituania: Vilnius
- NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
: The Hague - NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
: Trondheim - PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
: Gdansk, Lublin, Warsaw, Wrocław - PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
: Lisbon - RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
: Bucharest - RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
: Moscow and St Petersburg - SlovakiaSlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
: Bratislava - SloveniaSloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
: Ljubljana - SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
: Barcelona - South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
: Seoul - SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
: Stockholm - SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
: Bern - UkraineUkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
: Kiev and Lviv - United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
: London - United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: Cambridge (Massachusetts)
The RISM Zentralredaktion and the working groups in Germany are a project of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
. The other working groups are supported financially in their countries.
Publications
RISM publications are divided into the following series:- The alphabetic series A
- The systematic series B
- The music libraryMusic libraryA music library contains music-related materials for patron use. Collections may also include non-print materials, such as digitized music scores or audio recordings. Use of such materials may be limited to specific patron groups, especially in private academic institutions...
index series C
In addition to these, the working groups conduct projects to document libretti surviving in their respective countries.
RISM Series A/I – Music Prints
The RISM Series A/I Single Prints before 1800 is a catalogue of printed musicHistory of music publishing
- Early publishing:Music publishing did not begin on a large scale until the mid-15th century, with the first printing of music. The earliest existence of printed music dates from about 1465, and then only liturgical chants were printed...
from about 1500 to 1800. Over 78,000 prints of music by 7,616 composers from 2,178 libraries are documented in the nine volumes of the series (published 1971–1981). Four supplementary volumes appeared between 1986 and 1999, and in 2003 there followed an index volume listing publishers
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, printers, engravers
Music engraving
Music engraving is the art of drawing music notation at high quality for the purpose of mechanical reproduction. The term music copying is almost equivalent, though music engraving implies a higher degree of skill and quality, usually for publication. Plate engraving, the process the term...
and places of publication. All volumes of the RISM Series A/I were published by Bärenreiter
Bärenreiter
Bärenreiter is a German classical music publishing house based in Kassel. The firm was founded by Karl Vötterle in Augsburg in 1923, and moved to Kassel in 1927, where it still maintains headquarters; it also has offices in Basel, London, New York and Prague...
in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
. The catalogue is arranged alphabetically by composer name and contains only individual prints, meaning printed music of works by a single composer. Collected prints (printed music of works by various composers) are published in the RISM Series B.
Each individual entry contains the following information:
- Name of composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
- An opusOpus numberAn Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
or catalogue number if there is one - Title of the print
- Format – e.g. score, partsPart (music)1) A part is a strand or melody of music played by an individual instrument or voice within a larger work. Parts may be referred to as an outer part or an inner part . Part-writing is the composition of parts in consideration of harmony and counterpoint...
or piano reductionPiano reductionA piano reduction is sheet music for the piano that was once music for other instruments that was reduced to its most basic components within a two line staff for piano. It is also considered a style of orchestration or music arrangement less well known as contraction scoring, a subset of elastic... - Place of publication
- Publisher
- Year of publication, if possible
A CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
of the RISM Series A/I is planned for 2011. Apart from the stated intention of opening the way to the primary source for researchers and performers
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, this sort of catalogue provides attractive possibilities for other areas of interest and inquiry
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
as well. For example, one can gain insight into many different topics while researching the reception of a piece
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
. One way could be to find out how the music of a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
was regarded after his death; to find this out, it would be important to know how many and which of his works were reissued
Reprint
A reprint is a re-publishing of material that has already been previously published. The word reprint is used in many fields.-Academic publishing:...
.
RISM Series A/II – Music Manuscripts
The RISM Series A/II Music Manuscripts after 1600 lists only handwrittenMusic manuscript
Music manuscripts are handwritten sources of music. Generally speaking, they can be written on paper or parchment. If the manuscript contains the composer's handwriting it is called an autograph. Music manuscripts can contain musical notation as well as texts and images...
music. They are described in detail according to a uniform scheme containing more than 100 fields and stored in a database at the RISM Zentralredaktion in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. There are currently more than 734,000 entries on pieces by around 25,000 composers available (as of March 2011, and the number is constantly increasing). The total number of music manuscripts extant worldwide is many times that large.
The entries are currently from 900 libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
in 34 countries: Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This makes RISM’s database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
by far the most extensive accessible set of records in the field.
The RISM database has been avalaible free of charge online since June 2010. Access to this online catalog is through the Internet via the RISM online catalog or the RISM website. The catalogue was made possible through cooperation between RISM, the Bavarian State Library
Bavarian State Library
The Bavarian State Library in Munich is the central "Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria and one of Europe's most important universal libraries. With its collections currently comprising around 9.39 million books, it ranks among the best research libraries...
(Bayerische Staatsbibliothek) and the Berlin State Library
Berlin State Library
The Berlin State Library is a library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.-Buildings:The State Library runs several premises, three of which are open for users, namely House 1 in Unter den Linden 8, House 2 in Potsdamer Straße 33 and the newspaper archive...
(Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin). The CD-ROM version of the accumulated database produced and published by K. G. Saur
K. G. Saur Verlag
K. G. Saur Verlag is a German publisher that specializes in reference information for libraries. The publishing house is owned by Walter de Gruyter and is based in Munich....
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
was discontinued in 2008. The subscription database hosted by EBSCO
EBSCO Industries
EBSCO Industries, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a privately held, widely diversified corporation and the largest subscription agency in the world. It was founded in 1944 by Elton Bryson Stephens...
(formerly by NISC) is still available.
The catalogue entries describe each piece in detail. Included are, among other things, information about the composer (including dates of birth and death), title, performing forces
Instrumentation (music)
In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...
, as well as references to musicological literature. The manuscripts themselves are described in detail in respect to copyist
Copyist
A copyist is a person who makes written copies. In ancient times, a scrivener was also called a calligraphus . The term's modern use is almost entirely confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger's manuscript.-Music...
, place and time of origin, librettist, previous owners, and dedicatees. In addition, practically every work can also be identified unambiguously by means of a music incipit
Incipit
Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...
, that is, the opening notes or measures from important movements or sections of a piece.
A variety of search boxes enables browsing and discovery through any of these fields. Specific questions can be answered by combining specific indices. For example, it is possible to immediately access all the information stored by RISM about masses
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
.
A search by means of a musical incipit is a valuable research tool when trying to identify an anonymous piece or a fragment of a piece. To make use of this tool, the researcher keys in the first few notes of the work.
The database provides information not only about the dissemination of works by composers who are still well known today, but also a wealth of knowledge about those many creative musicians who were highly regarded in their day, but are currently either little known or even forgotten. This makes the database invaluable for music historians and also makes it possible for performing musicians to “excavate” and rediscover many things.
RISM Series B
The RISM Series B comprises a systematic series which documents a self-contained group of sourcesPrimary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
. The following volumes have been published by G. Henle
G. Henle Verlag
G. Henle Publishers is a German publishing house that specializes in Urtext editions of sheet music. The programme includes works by composers from all different periods, in particular composers from the baroque to the early twentieth century whose works are no longer under copyright. In addition...
of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
(an English translation of the title appears in parentheses where necessary):
- B/I and B/II: Recueils imprimés XVIe–XVIIIe siècles (2 Volumes). (Printed Anthologies from the 16th to the 18th Century).
- B/III: The Theory of MusicMusic theoryMusic theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
from the Carolingian Era up to c. 1500. Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts (6 volumes). - B/IV: Handschriften mit mehrstimmiger Musik des 11. bis 16. Jahrhunderts (5 volumes, 1 supplementary volume). (Manuscripts with [Polyphony|Polyphonic Music]] from the 11th to 16th Century)
- B/V: Tropen- und Sequenzenhandschriften. (Manuscripts of TropesTrope (music)A trope or tropus may be a variety of different things in medieval and modern music.The term trope derives from the Greek τρόπος , "a turn, a change" , related to the root of the verb τρέπειν , "to turn, to direct, to alter, to change"...
and Sequences) - B/VI: Écrits imprimés concernant la musique (2 volumes). (Printed Writings about Music)
- B/VII: Handschriftlich überlieferte Lauten- und Gitarrentabulaturen des 15. bis 18. Jahrhunderts. (Manuscripts of LuteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
and GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
TablatureTablatureTablature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches....
from 15th to 18th Century) - B/VIII: Das Deutsche Kirchenlied (2 volumes, Kassel: Bärenreiter). (German Ecclesiastical Song)
- B/IX: Hebrew Sources (2 volumes).
- B/X: The Theory of MusicMusic theoryMusic theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
in Arabic Writings c. 900–1900 (2 volumes). - B/XI: Ancient Greek Music TheoryMusic of Ancient GreeceThe music of ancient Greece was almost universally present in society, from marriages and funerals to religious ceremonies, theatre, folk music and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. It thus played an integral role in the lives of ancient Greeks...
. A Catalogue Raisonné of Manuscripts. - B/XII: Manuscrits persans concernant la musique. (PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
Manuscripts about Music) - B/XIV: Les manuscrits du processionnal (2 volumes). (Manuscripts about the ProcessionalProcessional hymnA processional hymn is a chant, hymn or other music sung during the Procession, usually at the start of a Christian service although occasionally during the service itself. The procession usually contains members of the clergy and the choir walking behind the processional cross...
) - B/XV: Mehrstimmige Messen in Quellen aus Spanien, Portugal und Lateinamerika, ca. 1490–1630. (Polyphonic Masses in Sources from SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, from around 1490–1630)
RISM Series C
Under the title Directory of Music Research Libraries, RISM Series C lists in five volumes all the music librariesMusic library
A music library contains music-related materials for patron use. Collections may also include non-print materials, such as digitized music scores or audio recordings. Use of such materials may be limited to specific patron groups, especially in private academic institutions...
, archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s and private collections
Private library
A private library is a library under the care of private ownership, as compared to that of a public institution, and is usually only established for the use of a small number of people, or even a single person. As with public libraries, some people use stamps, stickers, or embossing to show...
which house historical musical materials. This index of music libraries is produced in cooperation with the Publication Committee of the International Association of Music Libraries (IAML). The special volume RISM-Bibliothekssigel. Gesamtverzeichnis (RISM Library Sigla. Complete Index), which appeared in 1999, has been available in a regularly updated version on the RISM website since 2006.
People who use the RISM publications
- Musicologists looking for sources connected with their field of research find a basis for exploring catalogues of works and editions of music texts;
- Performers who discover a vast wealth of little-known pieces for concerts off the beaten musical path;
- LibrarianLibrarianA librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
s, who can explore sources that complement the holdings of their own libraries; - Music antiquarians, who can look up information about other copies of pieces they are offering.
Further reading
- Brook, Barry S. and Richard J. Viano. "The Thematic Catalogue in Music: Further Reflections on its Past, Present and Future." In Foundations in Music Bibliography, edited by Richard D. Green, 27-46. New York: Haworth Press, 1993.
- Falletta, Martina, Renate Hüsken and Klaus Keil, eds. RISM: Wissenschaftliche und technische Herausforderung musikhistorischer Quellenforschung im internationalen Rahmen. Academic and Technical Challenges of Musicological Source Research in an International Framework. Studien und Materialien zur Musikwissenschaft 58. Hildesheim: Olms, 2010. ISBN 978-3-487-14431-3
- Heckmann, Harald. "Das Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) in Geschichte, Gegenwart und Zukunft," in Wege und Spuren. Verbindungen zwischen Bildung, Wissenschaft, Kultur, Geschichte und Politik. Festschrift für Joachim-Felix Leonhard, ed. Kelmut Knüppel et al (Berlin: Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH, 2007): 597-605.
- Jaenecke, Joachim. "RISM: Eine Fundgrube für verschollen geglaubte Musikdrucke aus Deutschland" ("RISM: A Treasure Trove of German Music Prints Thought to be Gone"). In Im Dienste der Quellen zur Musik. Festschrift Getraut Haberkamp. Ed. Paul Mai, 3-11. Bischöflichen Zentralbibliothek Regensburg: Tutzing, 2002.
- Keil, Klaus. "Report 2010." Forthcoming in Acta Musicologica (2011). Also available online.