Reasons for consideration:
This project will result in digital images of the microfilmed copies of EMI catalogues of Indian music recordings and the corresponding release sheets. The catalogues proposed encompass the years 1905 through 1930. In addition to recordings made by HMV in India, the catalogues of other companies such as Zonophone and Twin are also included. The catalogues encompass recordings in all of the major languages of the subcontinent.
HMV in India, the catalogues of other companies such as Zonophone and Twin are also included. The catalogues encompass recordings in all of the major languages of the subcontinent.The catalogues document the overwhelming majority of all gramophone recordings released in colonial India through 1930. Those recordings included vocal and instrumental music of all varieties, dramatic performances, and speeches including large numbers of humorous stories in many languages. The catalogues are a primary source for understanding sonic culture of South Asia. They will be immediately valuable to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, linguists, historians, and others for whom the audible world of early twentieth-century India is a component of their research.
Author(s):
HMV, Zonophone, Twin, and other gramophone recording companies in India were corporate authors of the printed catalogues.
Publisher(s):
The EMI in collaboration with the National Sound Archive produced the microfilm. The National Sound Archive is now incorporated into the British Library.