Collection

The history of the oldest collection of recordings of traditional Polish music dates back to the inter-war period and the post-war activities of Jadwiga and Marian Sobieski in the field of phonographic documentation of Polish folk music. The archive contains historic recordings of Polish folklore: songs, instrumental compositions, spoken lyrics, interviews, ritual spectacles as well as rich documentation of fieldwork: written transcripts of melodies and lyrics, workbooks, interviews, descriptions of rituals and customs. The documentation illustrates the traditional music of all ethnographic regions of Poland as well as music and dances of ethnic minorities. The collection has been continuously extended by new audio and video field recordings.