Music Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb
| Other information | |
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| Director | Tatjana Mihalić (Head of the Collection) |
| Website | nsk.hr/en/music-collection |
History
The core of the Music Collection was established in 1945, after the singling out of sheet music from the general Library’s holdings. Its items have been systematically collected through legal deposit procedures, purchases and donations and it contains items in printed and handwritten form, the rich legacy of Croatian composers as well as an extensive collection of sound recordings.
Activity and holdings
The Collection assembles, processes, archives and makes available sheet music - the rich legacy of Croatian composers - as well as a large stock of sound recordings. All materials in the collection are available to the users of the National and University Library in Zagreb and they include nearly 17,000 printed music scores, 3,000 manuscript scores, 23,600 gramophone records, 5,700 cassettes, and 7,447 CDs. Over the years the materials were added to the Collection mainly through the submitted legal deposit copies of national printed scores and audio materials and to a lesser extent through the purchase of foreign materials and publications of this type. Since 1964 the Collection has been assembling gramophone records and cassettes, and in 1989 it also started acquiring compact discs and music DVDs.
The manuscript scores in the Collection most frequently belong to the musical legacies of various Croatian composers, and they mostly entered the Collection through donations, and to a lesser extent through purchase.
The Collection includes a varied selection of reference literature and books specializing in music.
Treasures
The most valuable items in the Collection are undoubtedly the manuscript scores and musical legacies of various Croatian composers, among which we would like to single out the works of Vatroslav Lisinski, Blagoje Bersa, Ivan Zajc, Ferdo Livadić, Ivan Padovec, Božidar Širola, Jakov Gotovac, Fran Lhotka, Ivan Brkanović, Branimir Sakač, Antun Dobronić, Johann Petrus Jakob Haibel, Stanislav Preprek and others. The Collection also holds the third edition of Cithara octochorda from 1757, the most comprehensive and first printed collection of songs in Latin and Kajkavian intended for choral and folk singing. Cithara octochorda has been digitized as part of the Digitizied NUL Heritage and is available here.
Also valuable among the Collection’s holdings are the historical audio recordings – the collection of 78 rpm shellac gramophone records, collection of old and valuable gramophone records made at the beginning of the development of the audio publishing industry in Croatia. The 78 rpm shellac records were released at the beginning of the 20th century by the Edison Bell Penkala company in Zagreb and there are also gramophone records featuring the performances of Croatian artists and published by foreign publishing companies. A project aimed at the digitization of gramophone records was launched with the purpose of ensuring their long-term preservation and availability.
Exceptionally valuable is the audio collection Fonoteka Čapka, a unique collection comprising more than 6,000 gramophone records, donated by the private collector, engineer Eduard Čapka. Čapka had systematically been assembling his collection of gramophone records for over 70 years and it includes numerous releases, from the old 78 rpm shellac gramophone records to more recent vinyl records featuring the repertoire of Croatian and foreign works of classical music. Apart from works of classical music, this extensive audio collection also includes unique and rare 78 rpm shellac records featuring folk and popular songs, along with salon music recorded at the beginning of the Croatian audio publishing industry. All its materials make this audio library a valuable and unique sound collection of musical heritage.
Catalogues
Alphabetical and specialized catalogues of printed music, audio materials and manuscript music, NUL Online Catalogue and the Collection’s digitized alphabetical catalogue.
Use of materials
The materials in the Collection may only be used in the Collection’s Reading Room, where users may obtain all the necessary information. Arrangements can be made for making microfilmed copies and other types of reproductions.
Users have at their disposal the listening rooms with the accompanying audio-visual equipment and which are suitable for group and individual study and research.