Commercial Recordings and Source Criticism in Music Research:

Some Methodological Views

Abstract

Commercial Recordings and Source Criticism in Music Research:
Some Methodological Views
Although traditionally avoided by most musicologists, commercial audio recordings contain extremely promising material for research on the history of music. Source critical methods of modern historiography may offer solutions to difficulties caused by the special characteristics of gramophone records as a source group. Here, the initial application of external source criticism in order to ascertain the historical origin and spheres of influence of a source may then be followed by internal source criticism, which enables the researcher to interpret the content of the document, and to extrapolate what it can reveal about contemporary reality. This methodological article addresses such issues as dating recordings and using reissues as sources. It contains several analysed examples from the Balkans, Finland, and the USA.