Music in Public Libraries —why? and what? Why should public libraries provide music?Author(s): LIONEL R. MC COLVINSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1957), pp. 80-83Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23504291 .

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80 FIFTH CONFERENCE OF THE IAML / COLVIN: MUSIC IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES

FIFTH CONFERENCE of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION of MUSIC LIBRARIES

The Fifth Conference and the Third General Assembly will be held at Cambridge, Eng

land, from June 29 to July 4, 1959, in conjunction with the First International Congress of

the Galpin Society. (This Society was founded in 1946 to commemorate the work of Canon

F. W. Galpin (1858—1945) and is devoted to the study and practical use of old musical

instruments.)

Full details regarding the programme of the Conference, accomodation, etc., will be sent

to members individually in due course.

Ve CONGRES de 1*ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALE des BIBLIOTHEQUES MUSICALES

Le Ve Congrès et la 3e Assemblée générale se tiendront à Cambridge, Angleterre, du 29

juin au 4 juillet 1959, en liaison avec le I-er Congrès international de la Galpin Society.

(Cette dernière a été fondée en 1946 pour perpétuer l'œuvre du chanoine F. W. Galpin,

1858—1945, et se consacre à l'étude et à la pratique des instruments anciens.)

Un programme détaillé du Congrès, ainsi que les renseignements pratiques nécessaires,

seront adressés individuellement à chacun de nos membres en temps utile.

V. KONGRESS der INTERNATIONALEN VEREINIGUNG der MUSIKBIBLIOTHEKEN

Der 5. Kongreß und die 3. Generalversammlung werden in Cambridge (England) vom

29. Juni bis 4. Juli 1959 stattfinden in Verbindung mit dem Ersten Internationalen Kongreß der Galpin Society. (Diese Gesellschaft ist 1946 zur Erinnerung an die Arbeit des Kanonikus

F. W. Galpin (1858—1945) gegründet worden und widmet sich dem Studium und praktischen Gebrauch der alten Musikinstrumente.)

Genaue Einzelheiten betr. das Programm des Kongresses, Unterbringung usw., werden

den einzelnen Mitgliedern bei nächster Gelegenheit zugehen.

LIONEL R. MC COLVIN (WESTMINSTER)

Music in Public Libraries - why? and what?

Why should public libraries provide music?

In the Memorandum on "The Development of Public Library Services" which was adopted

unanimously at the International Congress of Libraries and Documentation Centres held at

Brussels in 1955 it is stated that "it is the purpose of public libraries to make it possible for

all men, according to their needs and circumstances, to enjoy whatever benefits full access

to books and related forms of record may bring them", having regard to such other sources

of supply as may be available. No one would deny that library provision made with this

valuable objective would include books about music, as well as, for example, volumes of

poetry and belles lettres, books comprising reproductions of works of art, and the like. It

would, therefore, be illogical and wrong to exclude those printed pages upon which works

of music have been recorded. The only difference between a volume of music and a volume

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LIONEL R. MC COLVIN: MUSIC IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES-WHY? AND WHAT? 81

of poetry is that, necessarily, the creator's message is conveyed in different symbols—notes instead of letters. All those arguments which can justly be used in support of providing in public libraries, say, works of literature, are equally applicable. For example is it not to

the benefit of the individual, the nation and the world that people should have every possible

opportunity to enjoy, understand and create things of beauty and lasting value and that

they should be encouraged and educated to find satisfaction and pleasure in such things? We must avoid being misled by past deficiencies. In few parts of the world have public

librarians enough money to enable them to cater for all those who might legitimately seek

their help. Most librarians have to sacrifice some no less deserving potential users in order

to cater adequately for others. And the situation has been much worst in the past. Conse

quently certain valid interests have often been neglected—among them the needs of

musicians. But this does not invalidate the claims of the musician.

Agreeing that the musician should not be offered less at his public library than the lover

of poetry, or the student of economics, statistics, ballistics, civics or anything else, let us first

remind ourselves what these other people can find in a well provided modern public library.

First of all they will find on the open shelves a representative selection of material including all those works, old and new, which are of some general interest. Secondly if they require

something more specialised, or out of the way, it can usually be obtained for them because

all the public libraries participate in a nation wide system of co-operation which enables

them to draw not only upon the larger public library services but also upon various, maybe non public, specialising libraries.

Comparable opportunity is necessary where music is concerned, i. e. that at every public

library there shall be a selection, large or small according to its size, of the outstanding

works of general significance, and that the musician shall nevertheless, however small his

local library, be able to have provided whatever it is that he needs.

Before this ideal can be attained three obstacles must be overcome. Firstly those responsible

for public library services must not only be made aware of the claims of musicians but also be

rendered capable of meeting them. Thus the musicians must both press their claims and also

give their full support to public library development in general. Too often it is true that those

who complain that their local public library is not giving them what they want forget that

the public library depends largely upon the understanding and support of the public of

which they are part. Secondly, those responsible for public libraries need not be and often

are not interested in, or informed regarding music. Even if they are willing to provide music

they don't know what to provide. It is, therefore, the duty of branches of the I. A. M. L. to

offer every possible guidance, by compiling guides both to basic materials and to new pub

lications. Thirdly, musicians in association with the public library authorities and associations

must endeavour to build up one or more really large and comprehensive music collections which

shall be available for loan throughout the country and to develop and bring within the

scope of national co-operative systems as wide and rich a variety of specialising music

libraries as possible. At present in few countries do such larger, or specialising, music libraries

exist. In most the only music libraries embracing specialised material are those of conser

vatoires of music, musical associations, broadcasting organisations and the like which are

not usually available to the general public and the practising musician. It is significant

that often the musicologists have better facilities than the practising musicians, i. e. those

who perform or listen. It is they for whom the public library must cater, be they professional

or amateur—and, of course, in most communities the latter will predominate though the

needs of the former must not be forgotten.

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82 LIONEL R. MC COLVIN: MUSIC IN PUBLIC LIB R ARIES -W H Y? AND WHAT?

There should not be any arbitrary limit to what the musician may obtain—either from

his local library's own resources or by means of library co-operation. The task must be shared

because though it would be uneconomic for a small town to provide items that would hardly ever be needed, one must also remember that the process of borrowing from other libraries

is very expensive. Consequently each local library should aim at having in its stock most of

those items which are in reasonably general demand from its own public. Even the

smallest library can and should provide some music—and here the librarian is fortunate

because everywhere he will find that a wise selection from the outstanding masterpieces will be in constant and permanent demand.

When considering what and how much to buy for, say, the public library of a medium

sized city or county, have regard to the main reasons why people will use a public library

music collection.

The performer (professional or amateur) will need to have his own copies of most of the

works which he will perform but he needs (a) access to a wide selection of music in his

field from which he can select items for further study, (b) some source of supply for items

needed for occasional use, reference, etc., (c) somewhere whence he can obtain out of print

items and others that he cannot purchase. He needs also music to explore, 'to read' for

interest. Just as the general reader will read, say, biographical works, not for any ulterior

purposive motive but simply because he likes reading biographies and wants to extend his

knowledge and understanding, so often will the pianist, for example, want to take home and

play music with no thought of adding it to his repertoire but simply to discover 'what it is

like', to widen his range and indeed often for pure leisure enjoyment. From the public

library he should be able to select much such 'browsing' material.

The student of music needs access to the work of representative composers and periods

and he, like all other users, must also find in his public library a good selection of books

on the history, theory and practice of music and biographies of musicians.

The listener—whether to live performances or to radio or gramophone—will benefit from

scores of the works to be heard, maybe to follow the performance with the printed score,

maybe to study the work beforehand or refresh his memory afterwards. The use of miniature

full scores in conjunction with gramophone records, of which repeated hearing is possible,

is especially fruitful.

Performing groups—church choirs, amateur orchestras, choral societies, school classes, etc.

—frequently select works which will appeal to several similar organisations; consequently

many public libraries lend sets of orchestral parts, multiple copies of vocal scores, etc.,

thus saving the groups concerned considerable unnecessary expenditure.

In conclusion let the music librarian remember, that the value of a public library is not mea

sured only in termes of use. What matters most is that it affords a full, free and attractive

opportunity so that all who will may enjoy the good things offered in books of all kinds.

Surely we want music to take its proper place side by side with all these other good things.

(Malgré les apparences contraires, l'auteur est convaincu de la nécessité pour toute bibliothèque

publique, quelle qu'elle soit, d'offrir à ses lecteurs, et avec les mêmes facilités, des partitions de

musique et des ouvrages sur la musique, comme elle leur offre n'importe quel ouvrage de littérature,

d'histoire, de technique ou de sciences.

Deux moyens se présentent à elle pour cela: avoir d'une part dans chaque bibliothèque publique un

fonds général de musique immédiatement utilisable par le lecteur; lui procurer d'autre part des

ouvrages plus rares en les empruntant à des bibliothèques plus riches et plus spécialisées, ou à des

bibliothèques musicales centrales de prêt.

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CESARE VALABRECA: UNA STORIA DELIA A1USICA ITALIAN A IN... S3

L'AIBM, les musiciens et le public lui-même doivent aider les bibliothécaires des bibliothèques

publiques à prendre conscience de cette nécessité et leur donner tous les moyens pour y répondre. Il est

inexact de dire que la musique ne se lit pas et ne s'emprunte pas, mais qu'elle s'achète. Le musicien,

l'étudiant en musique ou en musicologie, un groupe d'exécutants privé, ne peuvent pas se permettre d'acheter tout ce qui les intéresse ou tout ce dont ils ont besoin. C'est à la bibliothèque de mettre à

leur disposition les partitions et les ouvrages qui leur manquent par ailleurs.)

CESARE VALABREGA (ROMA)

Una storia della musica italiana in dischi microsolco

Quando si parla di discoteche ci si rivolge a quanto di più sorprendente l'ingegno umano

ha inventato per custodire e tramandare musiche e interpreti. E non è affatto vero die la

musica riprodotta attraverso registrazioni e incisioni sia da considerarsi un po' come certi

cibi congelati che restano commestibili, ma spesso se ne va il sapore. In particolare maniera,

con il recente microsolco, la rivoluzione del disco si è manifestata nella sua completezza; e se

il disco a 78 giri, ormai superato, poteva un giorno dare ragione a certi pessimismi (alcuni la

chiamarono musica in scatola, come quella délia radio) — il disco a lunga durata e a incisione

elettromagnetica ha fatto cadere ogni pregiudizio. E' scomparsa l'ineluttabile condanna di

dover sopportare la costante frattura dell'ascoltazione. E' finito per sempre il supplizio di

dover ascoltare a fettine uno sinfonia, un concerto, un'opera. Oggi, con i microsolco forniti

da case rinomate, è possibile invece seguire — come tutti sanno — una composizione di vasta

architettura dal principio alla fine, con pause ricorrenti ogni 15—20 minuti, a seconda délia

grandezza del disco e in generale dettate dalla stessa struttura délia composizione. Si puô

aggiungere che i migliori microsolco possono offrire, per fedeltà di riproduzione e per valori

tecnici, l'illusione talora perfetta di assistere a concerti „dal vivo", o a spettacoli operistici

in teatri. E quanto un taie fatto venga considerato in certi paesi, lo dimostrano non soltanto le

altissime vendite commerciali, ma anche la diffusa consuetudine di organizzare concerti con

dischi, accompagnati da illustrazioni e commenti. Da questi rilievi preliminari facilmente

si giunge all'affermazione che il disco costituisce oggi un mezzo insostituibile per la diffusione

délia cultura musicale; e come di conseguenza sia indispensabile, da parte di coloro die sono

preposti all'istruzione pubblica e aile sorti dell'arte, di inserirlo, proprio per questa sua

specifica „culturalità", nella generale articolazione délia cultura nazionale.

Per quanto concerne gli ambienti nei quali sviluppare l'uso del disco, essi saranno natural

mente individuabili nei Conservatorî, nelle Biblioteche musicale e nelle scuole in genere, dalle

medie aile universitarie. Resta tuttavia aperta la funzione di „culturalità" del disco anche

verso ambienti meno qualificati di quelli didattici, allorquando cioè si organizzino per il

pubblico dei programmi di musica incisa, debitamente commentati. In Italia, un ciclo ricor

rente di tali manifestazioni viene da qualche anno allestito a Roma dalla Discoteca di Stato

ed è sorretto dai larghi consensi di un folto pubblico. E' appunto la Discoteca Italiana di Stato die, in considerazione dell'alto apporto del disco

nei campo délia educazione musicale, si è fatta promotrice di una importantissima iniziativa:

quella cioè di organizzare una Antologia délia Storia délia musica italiana, dalle origini al

sec. XIX0, in 40 dischi microsolco. Oltre aile ragioni genericamente relative alla grande diffusibilità culturale del disco, altre più specifidie hanno indotto la Discoteca di Stato a

considerare l'opportunità di realizzare una collezione discografica di taie genere. Basta infatti

rivolgere la propria attenzione all'ineguagliabile valore storico délia musica italiana, intesa

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