Phonogrammarchiv - Austrian Academy of Sciences

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Listen-Inn - Excerpts from recordings

The Archive's historical collections 1899-1950 were included into the world register of UNESCO's "Memory of the World" Programme.

Excerpts from recordings in the Phonogrammarchiv - OEAW PHA CD D1

Idea and editing:	Christiane Fennesz-Juhasz, Helmut Kowar, Gerda Lechleitner, Wilfried Schabus
Mastering:	Nadja Wallaszkowits

Note: Please download the free software RealPlayer Basic to be able to listen to the sound samples provided.

Ph 3: Voice portrait Kaiser Franz Joseph I. (1830-1916) Recording: Fritz Hauser, Bad Ischl, 2/8/1903
sound sample	"Es hat mich sehr gefreut, auf Wunsch der Akademie der Wissenschaften meine Stimme in den Apparat hineinzusprechen und dieselbe dadurch der Sammlung einzuverleiben." I was very pleased to speak, at the request of the Academy of Sciences, my voice into the apparatus and thereby incorporate it into the collection. The complete recording, which appreciates the Phonogrammarchiv's activities, is available as "Kaiser Franz Joseph, Stimmporträt 1903" on OEAW PHA CD 3. The recording can also be heard on "Stimmporträts" OEAW PHA CD 8.	order CD
Ph 197: Voice portrait Sigmund Exner (1846-1926) Recording: Fritz Hauser, Vienna, in the Phonogrammarchiv, 21/12/1905
sound sample	"Wenn ich die Produktion naturwissenschaftlicher Arbeiten während der Dezennien meiner eigenen Wirksamkeit auf diesem Gebiet überblicke, so muß ich mich fragen, wohin das Anwachsen ins Ungemessene noch führen soll. Tatsächlich wird auf den meisten Gebieten mehr geschrieben als ernstlich gelesen wird..." When considering the output of work in the natural sciences during the decades of my own activities in this field, I have to ask myself where the increase to the immeasurable shall finally lead. As a matter of fact, in most fields more is written than seriously read ... The recording can be heard in full length on "Stimmporträts", OEAW PHA CD 8.	order CD
Ph 536: Voice portrait Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) Recording: Fritz Hauser, Vienna, in the Phonogrammarchiv, 19/3/1907
sound sample	"Lebendige Stunden? Sie leben doch nicht länger als der Letzte, der sich ihrer erinnert. Es ist nicht der schlechteste Beruf, solchen Stunden Dauer zu verleihen, über ihre Zeit hinaus." Living hours? Yet they won't live longer than the last to keep their memory. It is not the worst profession to endow such hours with duration beyond their time. The recording can be heard in full length on "Arthur Schnitzler und Schriftsteller seiner Zeit", OEAW PHA CD 4 and on "Stimmporträts", OEAW PHA CD 8.	order CD 4
sound sample		order CD 8
Ph 131: Love song, sung by the psaltes Michael Euthymiades Recording: Paul Kretschmer, Mytilene, Island of Lesbos, 13/9/1901
sound sample	In the course of the preparatory work for a historical grammar of the Greek language Paul Kretschmer (1866-1956) travelled to Lesbos in 1901. During his researches he also put the Phonograph to the test. However, his informants did not speak loud and clearly enough to be recorded. Singers, on the contrary, were less timid of the apparatus, so Kretschmer returned from his - linguistic - expedition only with recordings of songs. The recording can be heard in full length on "The First Expeditions 1901 to Croatia, Brazil and the Isle of Lesbos", OEAW PHA CD 7.	order CD
Ph 524: Chant of the Baifa men while dancing Recording: Rudolf Pöch, Cape Nelson, 12/11/1905
sound sample	Between 1904-1906, the physician and anthropologist Rudolf Pöch undertook an extended expedition to New Guinea. He ranks as one of the pioneers of modern field research, since he documented his expeditions not only by means of the Phonograph, but also in photos and films. The recording can be heard in full length on "Papua New Guinea (1904-1909). The collections of Rudolf Pöch, Wilhelm Schmidt, and Josef Winthuis ", OEAW PHA CD 9.	order CD
Ph 695: Chant in Irish from East Munster Recording: Rudolf Trebitsch, Ring, Co. Waterford, 27/7/1907
sound sample	The physician Rudolf Trebitsch was interested in European minorities, thus also in Celtic languages. Because of his contacts to the leading specialists in this field, who also recommended his informants or specialists in the relevant countries, he was able to make exceptional language recordings and some music recordings as well. Trebitsch notes in his report that the present recording is a ca. 200 years old folk song, which is known in various versions all over Ireland. The recording can be heard in full length on "The Collections of Rudolf Trebitsch (1906-1913)", OEAW PHA CD 14.	order CD
Ph 2053: Bible recitation of a Moroccan Jew, Esther I, 1-4 Recording: Abraham Zwi Idelsohn, Jerusalem, 21/2/1913
sound sample	As Idelsohn writes in his autobiography, his aim in life was to explore the Jewish vocal tradition. The Idelsohn Collection consists of the earliest sound documents of Jewish liturgical chants, which enable the comparison of the different traditions in the Jewish diaspora.
Ph 2581 / Ph 2567: Two Soldier Songs of the Austro-Hungarian Army "Moj fantic je na T'rolsko vandral" (Slovenian) Recording: Leo Hajek, Radkersburg, 3/3/1916. "A gözösnek hat kereke" (Hungarian, with violin accompaniment) Recording: Leo Hajek, Budapest, 1/2/1916.
sound sample	At the request of the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of War the Phonogrammarchiv was entrusted with the documentation of soldier songs. The objective was to record soldier songs in all languages spoken in the monarchy. The resulting collection comprises solo songs, choir songs with and without instrumental accompaniment and purely instrumental pieces (especially marches). The recording can be heard in full length on "Soldier Songs of the Austro-Hungarian Army. Comments by Oskár Elschek", OEAW PHA CD 11.	order CD
Kotek 63: "Bua, wannst willst auf d'Hahnpfalz gehen ..." hunting song "Boy, if you want to go cock-hunting ..." Recording: RAVAG, on the Pöstlingberg, Linz, Oberösterreich, 4/10/1936
sound sample	The yodel of the Upper Austrian vocal ensemble displays the typical timbre of "natural singers," which differs from today's sound ideal. From 1932 to 1938 the Österreichische Radio-Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (RAVAG) organised folk song singing events in all provinces; the recordings made by the RAVAG stem from the estate of the folk music researcher Georg Kotek, who also initiated these singing events.
B 6031: Ottakring variety of the Viennese dialect Recording: Maria Hornung, Vienna, 20/3/1962
sound sample	Philipp Deponti was Vienna's last professional Werkelmacher (barrel-organ-maker). His great orchestrion is exhibited today in the Technisches Museum in Vienna. He switches skilfully between dialect and colloquial language. Compared with today's standards, one will notice Deponti's cultured accentuation and style of speech.
B 8624: Horn dance of the Kutin Recording: Gehard Kubik, Koncha, Kamerun, November 1963
sound sample	While the men are blowing the horns, the musicians perform a slow circle dance. The horns, whose length varies between 1 m and 1.5 m, are built from longish bottle gourds fitted into one another.
B 10177: Conversation of two !Kung Recording: Gerhard Kubik, outside the village of Yawola, South Angola, 26/7/1965
sound sample	As in all other Khoi-San languages, clicks are a characteristic feature of the phonemic inventory also of the language of the !Kung bushmen.
B 13719: Jaraquis at spawning season Recording: Friedrich Schaller, middle course of the Rio Branco, Amazonia, 26/5/1966
sound sample	On a few evenings in a year, the air in middle Amazonia is filled with a strange drone: what sounds like the crescendo and decrescendo of a motorcycle race is in reality a choir of ca. 27 cm long fish having reached their spawning places. The fish sounds were recorded 1 m above the water-surface.
B 13275: Working song of women from Nuristan Recording: Hermann M. Preßl, Wama, Afghanistan, September 1968
sound sample	Polyphony with crossing voices, 4-tone scale. The polyphonic music of a population which was islamized only at the beginning of the 20th century.
B 36081: "Soro ratji mulatino ..." (loki gjili of the Lovara) "I will celebrate the whole night ..." Recording: Mozes F. Heinschink, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1968
sound sample	Slow lyrical song of the "horse trader" Roma in the characteristic free rhythmical presentation with varying chorus melodies. The female singer uses the researcher's tape recorder as a means of communication: in the introductory 'wishing' formula she does not, as usual, address those present, but she addresses her brother in the refugee camp Traiskirchen and also mixes the regular text with appropriate remarks to him. The recording can be heard in full length on "Kodo phende e Romora ... - Dies erzählten die Rom ... Lovarenge paramici taj gjila - Märchen und Lieder der Lovara", Romani Projekt CD 2.
B 22879: "Die Komedie vom letzten Gericht" "The comedy of the Last Judgement" Recording: Helga Thiel & Wilfried Schabus, Apetlon, Burgenland, 19/2/1976
sound sample	Michael Munzenrieder, son of the last active stage-manager, demonstrates the popular theatre/drama in whose last performance in 1931 he participated, whilst still a youth. In this recording, the Phonogrammarchiv employed for the first time the binaural ORTF recording technique, which allowed the adequate depiction of all the actor's moves. Moreover, all the polyphonous songs of the play (performed by Munzenrieder and his siblings) were documented in a recording as "transparent" as possible.
B 33040: Women's songs of the Bhil in the silver bazaar Recording: Sabina Haller & Manfred Kremser, Dohad, India, March 1979
sound sample	Ritual chants of the women who accompany the bride to the village silver bazaar, where the bridal jewellery (arm bracelets, formerly of silver, nowadays also of cheap materials) is forged on her - the smiths' hammering is clearly audible.
B 30667: Tampern am "unsinnigen Donnerstag" Ballyhoo on "Crazy Thursday" Recording: Sigrid Köhler & Markus Spielmann, Völs, Tirol, 26/2/1987
sound sample	From about 3 to 8 a.m. two groups of ca. 25 young men, dressed in the "Huttlergewand" and wearing old hats, march through the village, hitting wood-blocks on 20 litres petrol cans, thereby obeying their leader's commands uttered in the form of shouts and whistling. Before houses where the "Tamperer" (noise makers) get a schnaps or a snack, a special "Ehrenstadel" (drumming of honour) is performed. This custom of carnival noise-making was recorded in the course of the Phonogrammarchiv's project "Der musizierende Mensch im ländlichen Raum" (music-making in rural areas).
B 34938: Songs during field work Recording: Christian Luczanits, Stok, Ladakh, May 1994
sound sample	Antiphony of men while plowing the field. The chant also contains commands to the oxen. Added to this is the chant of the women raking the earth smooth again. This results in the rather accidential polyphony of male and female voices. Towards the end of the recording one can also hear the ox snort.
B 40381: The Berbers' treatment of sheep Recording: Wolfgang Kraus, Tabanast, Morokko, September 1995
sound sample	The farmer takes the sheep out of the pen, counts them and turns them out to grass. Subsequently the goats are taken out of their stable. The document records the typical shouts, whistlings and sounds of driving the animals on.
B 33474: On the preparation of Pachamánca and Masáto Recording: Wilfried Schabus, Pozuzo (quarter of Palmira), Dep. Cerro, Peru, 6/9/1989.
sound sample	The colony Pozuzo was founded in 1859 by immigrants from the Tyrols and from the Rhineland in the zone between the Andean highlands and the Amazonian lowlands at the Rio Huancabamba not far from where it joins the Rio Pozuzo. "Rhinelandic" as a language is extinct today; however, today's "Tirolés" is dominated by features of the dialect of the Oberinntal. The structure of the colonists' dialect is clearly influenced by the official Spanish language, which is now dominant in Pozuzo in all public domains. Loanwords from indigenous Indian languages (Quechua und Amuesha) are found in the local variety of Spanish as well.