RISM
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| Focus | Musical sources to ca. 1800 |
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| Location |
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| Origins | Robert Eitner |
| Product | Books, database |
| Method | Working groups around the world |
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Key people
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Klaus Keil, Director; Dr. Harald Heckmann, Honorary President; Dr. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert, President |
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Employees
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8 at the Central Editorial Office |
| Slogan | Knowing what exists and where it is kept |
| Mission | To locate and document extant musical sources worldwide |
| Website | www |
The Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM, English International Inventory of Musical Sources, German Internationales Quellenlexikon der Musik) is an international non-profit organization, founded in Paris in 1952, with the aim of comprehensively documenting extant sources of music all over the world. It is the largest organization 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 manuscripts or printed music, writings about music and libretti. They are stored in libraries, archives, monasteries, schools, and private collections. RISM establishes what exists and where it is kept. RISM is recognized 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: for one, music documents are protected from loss, and for another, they are made available to scholars and performing musicians.
One or several RISM working groups in more than 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 projects of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz. The other working groups receive independent funding in their own countries.
RISM publications are divided into the following series:
In addition to these, working groups conduct projects to document libretti surviving in their respective countries.
RISM Series A/I Individual Prints before 1800 documents printed music of works by a single composer published between 1500 and 1800. Collected prints (anthologies of works by various composers) are published in RISM series B.
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