Conference Agenda

The circulation of foreign printed music in Portugal, from the date at which music printing first became technically possible, around 1501, until 1834 – the year that marks the end of the Ancien Régime in Portugal and the consolidation of a new liberal constitutional order – offers a key lens through which it is possible to understand the kingdom’s integration into wider European cultural networks. In a context of limited music printing and publishing, access to repertoires intended for the court, for religious and academic institutions, and, increasingly, for an emerging urban public, was largely dependent on foreign editions. The data gathered so far suggest that the main publishing centres reaching Portugal shifted over the course of the period under study, from an initial predominance of Italian centres to a system increasingly dominated by the London–Paris Atlantic axis, which from the eighteenth century onwards was supplemented, on a more limited scale, by editions from Central Europe.

This paper investigates the specific circuits through which printed music circulated, identifying points of entry, mediating agents, and modes of distribution, and seeking to elucidate how these geographical shifts reshaped Portugal’s position within the European landscape of printed music. Methodologically, the study combines an examination of copies preserved in Portuguese libraries and archives with an analysis of catalogues, booksellers’ advertisements, and provenance data. It presents preliminary findings from ongoing research and outlines interpretative hypotheses for future expansion of the corpus.

Last year we presented the experience of cataloguing 9,000 musical manuscripts at the National Library of Portugal (BNP) in just 100 days, an effort that resulted in the creation of controlled terminology and internal guidelines that significantly influenced cataloguing practices for musical collections. This work was carried out within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which identified the preservation of intangible heritage as a priority and supported the description and digitisation of the M.M. (Musical Manuscripts) and C.N. (National Conservatory) collections.

In 2025, we set ourselves an even greater challenge: to double the number of documents processed within the same timeframe, To make this new phase possible — aimed not only at the organisation and cataloguing of the material, but also at the future migration of records to RISM — additional working tools had to be developed. Among the most relevant are the mappings created between UNIMARC and MUSCAT fields and subfields, as well as equivalence lists for genres and uniform titles, ensuring interoperability and consistency across systems.

This presentation will discuss the methods and solutions implemented to address the diversity and physical condition of the documents, the specificities of the BNP’s cataloguing software, and the demands of international standardisation. We will also place the project within a broader context, highlighting the role of research units and researchers in safeguarding, enhancing, and disseminating musical heritage, and reflecting on the methodological challenges that arise at the intersection of musicology and library and information science.

This communication presents a detailed report on the migration of the CMBV bibliographic database, a long-standing reference tool compiling scholarly publications published since 1800 on seventeenth and eighteenth centuries French music. Developed and maintained for over twenty years by the research department of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles (CMBV), the database has played a central role in supporting musicological research on the French Baroque repertoire. In order to improve sustainability, visibility, and interoperability, the database has undergone a multi-stage migration to the CMBV library’s Integrated Library System (ILS). The communication outlines the methodological choices that guided this process, from data extraction and XML processing to the normalization and harmonization of records in accordance with international bibliographic standards, as UNIMARC. Particular attention is given to the alignment of bibliographic data with the library catalogue in order to reduce redundancies, optimize cataloguing workflows, and foster closer collaboration between research and library services. The report also discusses the experimental use of artificial intelligence tools to assist in data normalization and metadata enhancement, underlining the advantages and drawbacks of its application in library. In parallel, a new user interface was developed, designed in accordance with the institution’s graphic identity while addressing the specific needs of specialized scholarly collections. By providing a critical assessment of the migration process, this contribution aims to share practical insights, highlight challenges encountered, and invite feedback from the professional community to inform future developments and the continued valorization of bibliographic research resources.