Series 1: The First Expeditions 1901 to Croatia, Brazil, and the Isle of Lesbos

In presenting a complete edition of its historical material dating from the time before the introduction of tape recording in 1950/51, the Phonogrammarchiv breaks new ground among the international community of related institutions. The historical material comprises ca. 4000 recordings, ca. 3200 on so-called Phonogramme and ca. 800 on gramophone discs. The decision in favor of a complete edition was to a large extent motivated by increased interest in these recordings from outside the narrow circle of research institutions concerned with sound archiving. In many cases, the historical recordings are the earliest of their kind, documenting cultures and languages which have since been subject to fundamental changes. Some of the recordings preserve cultures or styles of expression that no longer exist in the form preserved here. These collections, therefore, are also attracting the attention of a general public interested in culture and historyy, especially in the regions of their origin. The edition of these historical sound documents on CD is meant to make possible easy access, not only to the sound documents as such. They are therefore accompanied by the original protocols, published on a CD-Rom as digital images, while a commentary section briefly discusses the historical material from a modern perspective in order to facilitate further evaluation. Of course, although these commentaries cannot anticipate or replace a more exhaustive treatment, they can provide useful information about the circumstances under which the recordings were made. Transliterations/transcriptions of the recorded melodies and texts will help in gaining access to the recordings' contents, which, due to their historical sound quality, are often difficult to hear. The First Expeditions was chosen to open the edition, since it was for these expeditions to prove the newly developed Archiv-Phonograph fit for its tasks. These expeditions of 1901 provided an ideal opportunity for putting it to the test. The reports from these expeditions not only predicated the continuation of the enterprise as such, but also played a role in establishing the Phonogrammarchiv as a lasting institution. These reports were also to lead to substantial improvements of the Archiv-Phonograph, which was employed for field recordings until 1931, and which was also used by institutions outside of Austria in Zurich, Zagreb in the Netherlands.