Mapping 'Portuguese music': the Armando Leça Collection (1939/40)

Abstract

This research concerns the extensive survey of rural musical traditions in continental Portugal, conducted by the folklorist Armando Leça in 1939/40; for decades, the resultant 487 sound recordings on 64 reel-to-reel tapes were considered to have been lost. After their “rediscovery” and with the technical support of the Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, especially Nadja Wallaszkovits, the recordings became audible again. The main purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the process of documenting rural musical traditions in Portugal, and to discuss some reasons that in my perspective justify the alleged “loss” of those tapes. The methodological approach combines archive research with fieldwork.