Das Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) nach Fünfzig Jahren

Abstract

In 1952, a Commission Mixte formed by members of the International Musicological Society (IMS) and the International Association of Music Libraries (lAML) constituted in Paris the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM). In 1971, the first two volumes appeared - the Écrits imprimés concernant la musique edited by François Lesure. In 1960, a central editorial office (Zentralredaktion) was founded in Kassel for the Series of the Einzeldrucke vor 1800/Single Prints before 1800. Consisting of 13 volumes, this is now complete with the exception of an index. Since moving to Frankfurt am Main in 1987, the Zentralredaktion has concentrated its work on the Handschriften nach 1600/Manuscripts after 1600. Because of its scope, this project presented RISM with an enormous challenge and, therefore, digitalization was a very early priority. In 1995, the first CD-ROM with the RISM manuscript database appeared followed each year by a cumulative edition; the sixth CD appeared at the end of 2000 containing about 350,000 entries from 575 libraries in 31 countries. Looking at what has been achieved in the last 50 years and taking into account the Series of special catalogs, now expanded to 29 printed volumes, the result deserves respect. There are, however, gaps. These include the fact that in some countries with an especially rich tradition, sources not yet accessible will have to be integrated into the RISM catalog. Spain is such a country and F. Gonzalez Valle has rendered great service in making these sources accessible. His pupils and successors are called upon to mobilize all forces so that within the international RISM community Spain takes up the place appropriate to its past and present rich musical culture.