Conference Agenda

Choro is a Brazilian popular music genre and practice that was created in the XIX century in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) that became national heritage in 2024. Since then, the research group Choro Patrimônio is developing the Choro Database (CD) that consists of six information categories, the same used in the technical report for the patrimonialization process: 1) Collections 2) Teaching activities, 3) Associations and popular collectives, 4) Rodas de choro and places of performances, 5) Discography 6) Research and publications. For each one of these categories there is a specific metadata set. Objective: To discuss the theoretical framework that structures the music information (MI) representation in the CD. Methodology: The project uses collaborative action research to engage musicians, valuing knowledge; the database becomes a living memory-sharing space for choro. Results: The MI representation that underpins the CD considers the relation between the Choro practice (commonly in rodas which are a traditional performance venues that takes place on the street or inside any place in a circle formation) and the social elements. In CD some metadata are descriptive and explanatory, giving space to stories, places, people in general, narratives, popular organizations and practices that contribute to the continuity of the musical heritage. This theoretical framework brings to MI representation some principles from Ethnomusicology archives, expanding the narrative of the resources for beyond the system.

Italian libraries have recently rediscovered and catalogued extensive collections of 20th-century popular music printed editions, which were saved from oblivion through legal deposit acquisitions and donations. This has sparked a "second life" of entertainment music. Considered a form of ephemera, this repertoire documents the evolution of Italian song publishing and performance practices in cabaret theaters, dance halls, public spaces, and later in music festivals, radio, cinema, and television.

These collections mainly comprise parts for small orchestras, melodies with chord symbols, as well as scores for voice and lead instrument. The covers—often created by graphic artists or featuring photographs of performers—reflect the strong ties between musical production, the cultural industry, and the publishing market. Within this context, complex authorship and copyright issues emerge, further complicated by the widespread use of pseudonyms, which makes it challenging to reconstruct the careers and identities of some creators.

Cataloguing these materials requires consulting nontraditional sources of musical information, such as the BNCF’s Bollettino, and the SIAE Archive.

The National Central Library of Florence and the Ufficio Ricerca Fondi Musicali (Milan Conservatory) offer a joint contribution to shed light on the relationships between lyricists and composers, copyright practices, and the dynamics of the publishing market, given their impartial role in researching and preserving popular music collections. While Caterina Guiducci provides a comprehensive overview of music materials from the 1960s to the 1990s acquired through legal deposit, Sara Taglietti investigates the work of 1930s entertainment-music authors whose sources were recently made available at the Belluno Civic Library.