Annual Conference: Salzburg, Austria (with IAML)
President: Rolf L. Schuursma Foundation Film and Science, The Netherlands
Editor: Ann Briegleb, Ethnomusicology Archives, Music Dept. UCLA, Los Angeles, USA. Frank J. Gillis, Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
ROLF SCHUURSMA, IASA President
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS TO OPENING SESSION OF IAML AND IASA, "EIGHTY YEARS OF SOUND ARCHIVES, 10 YEARS OF IASA"
The title of my contribution "80 Years of Sound Archives, 10 Years of IASA" seems to imply that the history of sound archives dates back to 1899 and not any earlier. By stating this we would, however, commit a blunder which would not so easily be forgiven. Let me refer to one of the most famous books of literature, which in its German version was named: "Wunderbare Reisen zu Wasser und Lande, Feldzügen und lustige Abentheuer des Freyherrn von Münchhausen, wie er dieselben bey der Flasche im Zirkel seiner Freunde selbst zu erzählen pflegt", a tale which began its existence in English under the title "Baron Münchhausen's Narrative of his Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia".
I must apologize to our Austrian hosts that I am thus going to prove my point through a story which goes back to the Duchy of Braunschweig where Münchhausen was born, the likewise North- German territory of Hannover where one of the editors of the story had his origin and the University of Göttingen, which had the editor of the first German translation of the Münchhausen- story within its walls. Since there will be many occasions to praise Austria during my talk, there is no need to deplore the present excursion to Germany.
MŰNCHHAUSEN'S TRIP HOME FROM RUSSIA
It was during the trip from Russia to his home country that the Baron Münchhausen met with an adventure which caused me to connect him with the early history of sound archivism. During those days Europe was afflicted by a winter which was even more severe than the one we have just experienced and the Baron had to endure much discomfort. Once when the mail- coach entered a narrow road between lofty hedges, Münchhausen told the coachman to blow his horn, but however hard the driver tried—blowing several beautiful melodies-- no sound came. It was an astonishing affair, the more so since after a few moments another coach approached from the other direction. The Baron solved the situation by simply leaping over the hedges into the meadow behind, first with the coach, then with the two horses under his arm. Another series of jumps brought everything back onto the road again, past the other coach and the trip was continued without further ado.
They halted at a tavern where Münchhausen took a seat in the tap-room while the coachman hung his horn above the cooking-range. They were utterly astonished when suddenly the horn started to play a melody. Presently the cause of its former silence became clear. The tunes had literally been frozen in the tube and now that through the warmth of the stove the horn had thawed, the instrument produced one melody after another, featuring the "Prussian March" and melodies like "Without lover and without wine", and even a well-known evening song called "Presently the entire forest 1s at rest".
Münchhausen's sound archive thus lasted only a few hours but it had some advantages in comparison with modern archives, namely a very simple management and a surprising kind of accessibility.
THE PHONOGRAMM ARCHIV IN VIENNA
Management and accessibility were perhaps not the main things which occupied the minds of the respectable members of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna, the "Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften" in Wien, which in 1899 took the bold decision to start a collection of recordings through the institution of—as it is called in the official report--"einer Art phonographischen Archives", a kind of phonographic archive. Not withstanding Münchhausen 's adventure, the first of its kind, as Dr. Walter Graf has proved in his article "Aus der Geschichte des Phonogrammarchivs der Ősterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften"-- Aspects of the history of the Phonogrammarchive of the Austrian Academy of Sciences— which appeared in 1964 in the Polish "Bulletin Phonographique". With extraordinary foresight the Academy Committee on the establishment of a sound archive formulated three aims of such an undertaking:
It is remarkable to find that the Committee members even then expected such voice portraits not only to be important for historical research, but also worthwhile for the general public because of the great interest in the outward characteristics of well-known people, quite analogous to painted portraits. It is a pleasure to see that the Phonogrammarchiv has presented all of us with a small, but in fact wonderful "Stimmporträt of Kaiser Franz Joseph, 1903".
It is furthermore interesting to see why the Committee came to the conclusion that the establishment of a sound archive seemed valuable. I would like to quote the relevant part of the original report: "Since the invention of the phonograph by Th. A. Edison we have at our disposal a medium for the preservation of present day events for posterity, a medium which even though it may not be of equal importance to the written word, nevertheless, as pictorial and plastic methods of description, can stand beside the written documentation without unworthiness." It is obvious that as far as there was any hesitation on the part of the Committee, this came at least partly from the poor quality of the technical equipment of those days, notwithstanding the fact that the phonograph which the Committee developed for the special purpose of archive recordings, reached a relatively high quality level, according to the standards of the day.
During the Annual Meeting of IASA in London in 1973, the present director of the Phonogrammarchiv. Dr. Dietrich Schüller, presented us with a full account of the development of the Viennese phonographs so I do not have to go into that subject again. The sound archivist of our day may, however, safely conclude that his method of documentation is certainly not less significant than other media and in some cases is even superior.
The establishment of the Viennese Phonogrammarchiv is well documented and several publications have made that particular part of the history of sound archivism accessible to later generations. Things are in general different I am afraid when it comes to the subsequent founding and development of sound archives throughout the world and I do not envy the historian who one day decides to describe even only the main stages of the journey from 1899 till the present time.
SURVEYING THE HISTORY
Eighty years of sound archivism-- certainly a subject for an interesting survey, which would of course start with some reflections on the 1877- 1899 period, when the phonograph was already in use even as an instrument for scientific research and when the first thoughts about preservation and sound recordings kept some minds busy. The survey would dwell on the main points of later developments, including the extremely important establishment of radio archives which in the early days must have been something like a vague groping towards the advantages of the preservation of recordings for broadcasting, which for others provided a well prepared start of a new development in radio.
Another main point would be the start of the Oral History movement throughout the world with its ever growing impact on contemporary historical research and the growing importance of sound recording as the primary source of Oral History documentation. However, by naming as it were the chapters of the survey which I have in mind (although I am certainly not going to write it myself) I am risking the indignation of those sound archivists who find that their contribution to the history of our trade is hardly even mentioned.
Indignation is certainly not the right mood for a festive occasion like tonight: festive because of the jubilee of our Viennese colleagues who were really the first and who are at work today at such a high standard. Festive because of our Austrian hosts who will give us no doubt a splendid reception in Salzburg. Festive also because of the Tenth Anniversary of the International Association of Sound Archives.
IASA ANNIVERSARY
Let me then conclude with a few remarks on that latter subject. Would it not be one of the main efforts of our imaginary historian to find out why it was as long as seventy years before an international organization came into being which now can claim a decade of continuous activity? Indeed a remarkable question which would involve research into previous efforts like the international association of linguistic sound archives, established in Amsterdam in 1962, and the Fédération Internationale des Phonothèques which we remember as a point of discussion during many meetings of the Executive Board and the General Assembly of IASA. However that may be, IASA seems to have a real chance of surviving. It has overcome the difficult period of association of sound archives with rather different collections and aims and it is now clearly directed towards problems common to those archives: acquisition, preservation, cataloguing, matters of copyright, technical aspects of recording and play-back, accessibility and distribution. Since 1971 24 issues of the PHONOGRAPHIC BULLETIN have appeared together with two special publications, while two other special publications-- about the Technology of Sound Archives and Sound Archives in the Third World—are under preparation.
National branches have been established in several countries, including the very active Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ősterreichischer Schallarchive— the Association of Austrian Sound Archives, also including the Association francaise d'archives sonores— the French Association of Sound Archives— recently founded, and the establishment later this year of the Australian branch. Committees on technical matters, copyright and cataloguing deal with problems ranging from standards for tapes and tape recorders to the difficulties of the ISBD/Non Book Materials. Altogether signs of life of an active organization.
Ten years ago, in 1969, IASA was born in Amsterdam as an offspring of the International Association of Music Libraries. In Salzburg it seems, however, more appropriate to speak about the relationship between our two Associations as a marriage, a "nozze di IAML/IASA", actively supported by a joint Committee which is also there to help us resolve the little dissonances which occasionally enliven the otherwise Mozartean harmony between the two partners. Without the kind assistance of the greater partner in this remarkable relationship, IASA would not have existed as it exists now. Without the personal friendship between so many members of both Associations IASA would have been less successful.
From Münchhausen to Mozart. From Vienna via Amsterdam to Salzburg. Whatever the libretto and whatever the "mise en scène", Salzburg provides the perfect stage for another act in the history of IAML and IASA. It is also another milestone on the road to the perfectly functioning sound archive, for the use of science and education throughout the world.
