Chinese Music Collections
Overview
CHIME Collection of Chinese Music Research
About 3,400 sound carriers, 1,000 films, 4,500 monographs, 100 journals and 300 pieces of sheet music
C.C. Liu Collection of Modern Chinese Music
376 sound carriers, 737 pieces of sheet music, 491 articles from musical journals
Liu Yuan Collection of Chinese Music
About 1,200 records
Steen Collection of Popular Chinese Music
324 sound carriers (audio tapes, CDs)
von Schaper Collection of Rock in China
157 sound carriers (CDs, DVDs)
In preparation:
Lam Bun-Ching Collection
Musical scores, letters, composition notebooks and musical recordings
Hieronymus Collection
149 sound carriers (78 rpms, 7“ and 10“ vinyl and flexi discs)
Introduction to the Collections
Please note: We are working on a new digital infrastructure for our digital resources, which will make access much easier and will also include material like cover arts, handwritten notes, and a variety of manuscripts such as composer's scrap books, field work notes etc.
If you want to be updated about changes in the accessibility of our resources, please let us know.
CHIME Collection of Chinese Music Research
About 3,400 sound carriers, 1,000 films, 4,500 monographs, 100 journals and 300 pieces of sheet music
The CHIME collection started as the private collection of Antoinet Schimmelpenninck and Frank Kouwenhoven and was relocated from Leiden to Heidelberg in 2018. The collection includes a large variety of recordings and literature on Chinese music, including Chinese folk songs, local opera, Buddhist rituals, shidaiqu, pop and rock as well as avant-garde music. It includes material not only in Chinese and English, but in Tibetan, as well as many other Central and south East Asian languages. The literature included in the collection was mainly published in the 1980s and 1990s. [More...]
Access
Cataloguing of the collection in the University Library Catalogue HEIDI is currently in progress, please search or browse through the already catalogued items:
The shelfmarks for the printed volumes of our collections are following the Library of Congress Classification Schedule. The main shelfmark for "Music" is M, but you will also find relevant resources in other areas such as GV ("Recreation. Leisure", e.g. "Dancing") or P ("Literature", e.g. "Drama", "Theater") etc. Please refer to our list of the most relevant shelfmarks for our music collection.
Access to the digitized material is in preparation, please check digiCATS for what is already available (please apply for access here).
Since most of the sound recordings have not been catalogued yet you can also consult the list of CHIME sound recordings. If you identify an item you are interested in please contact us indicating the library code given in the last column.
C.C. Liu Collection of Modern Chinese Music
376 sound carriers, 737 pieces of sheet music, 491 articles from musical journals
This collection was established by Liu Ching-Chih 劉靖之 (*1935), renowned musicologist and music critic based in Hongkong. It was copied by Barbara Mittler in 1991. The original collection mainly includes works by composers of Chinese New Music active in the second half of the twentieth century. It has been expanded to include titles by younger composers as well as recordings of revolutionary model operas (yangbanxi 样板戏). The collection holds sheet music and recordings by and from over 30 individual composers from Hongkong (among them Doming Lam, Law Wing-fai and Lam Bun-Ching), over 100 individual composers from mainland China (including Huang Zi, Ma Sicong, Guo Wenjing, He Lüting, Nie Er, Jiang Wenye, Ding Shande, Xian Xinghai, Tan Dun and Qu Xiaosong) and about 40 individual composers from Taiwan (including Xu Changhui and Pan Huanglong). Many of the audio files are private cassette tapes of pieces that are not commercially available. They have been digitized and are available online. [More...]
Access
Please consult the Quick Guide to the C.C. Liu Collection for detailed information about navigating the different parts of the collection.
Browse through the collectionYou can browse through the C.C. Liu Collection using the subject headings in our old CATS Library Sound Catalogue |
Sound recordingsTo access the sound recordings of the C.C. Liu Collection please go to the old CATS Library Sound Catalogue and use the combined search as follows:
In the list of search results (short title list) you can click "Check all" to see details of all displayed results, or select one or more specific titles. If the catalog entry is referring to a digitized sound recording you will find a "play" link behind each title listed under "Contents/Access". Please note that access to the sound recordings is only possible for members of Heidelberg University. If you are not a member of Heidelberg University please send an email to digitalresources@zo.uni-heidelberg.de to apply for access. |
Sheet musicTo find the location of sheet music in the C.C. Liu Collection please go to the old CATS Library Sound Catalogue and use the combined search as follows:
In the list of search results (short title list) you can click "Check all" to see details of all displayed results, or select one or more specific titles. There, the shelfmark is displayed on top of each catalog entry (e.g.: "Shelfmark: M1.C5 C2 v.5 MAG"). You will find the sheet music in the corresponding archive box in the monograph section on basement floor 2 (UG 2) of the CATS Library. |
Article collectionThe articles are divided into three main parts:
Check the C.C. Liu Collection Guide-Summary table of contents to find the page number(s) within the Guide-Summary containing lists of corresponding articles. To find the full article please refer to the shelfmark written with pencil on top of the article lists in the Guide-Summary. You will find the article in the corresponding archive box in the monograph section on basement floor 2 (UG 2) of the CATS Library. |
Liu Yuan Collection of Chinese Music
About 1,200 records
This private collection by the suona-player, rock musician and jazz club owner Liu Yuan (*1960) offers unique insight into record production and circulation in mainland China in the first decades of the People’s Republic. The recordings mainly date to the 1950-1970s. They include revolutionary music (songs, choral music, operas, as well as pieces for instrumental ensembles and orchestral music), local and traditional operas, instrumental music as well as a few records of foreign music performed by Chinese musicians. Notable are also the over 30 plastic records (bomo changpian 薄膜唱片) produced during the Cultural Revolution and some versions of revolutionary operas in foreign languages. [More...]
Access
Sound recordings
To access the sound recordings of the Liu Yuan Collection please go to the old CATS Library Sound Catalogue and use the combined search as follows:
- Use "Personal Names" or "Title Word / Title String" to search for title or composer (NB: search in traditional Chinese characters or in Wade-Giles transcription!)
- Enter "computer file" in a free "Title Word / Title String" field
- Enter "liu yuan" in the field "Series Title"
- Press "Submit"
In the list of search results (short title list) you can click "Check all" to see details of all displayed results, or select one or more specific titles. If the catalog entry is referring to a digitized sound recording you will find a "play" link behind each title listed under "Contents/Access".
Please note that access to the sound recordings is only possible for members of Heidelberg University. If you are not a member of Heidelberg University please send an email to digitalresources@zo.uni-heidelberg.de to apply for access.
Steen Collection of Popular Chinese Music
324 sound carriers (audio tapes, CDs)
This private collection of Chinese “popular” music was assembled by the sinologist Andreas Steen and digitized in Heidelberg. It includes a large variety of jazz, funk, punk, rock and pop music and rerecordings of revolutionary songs from mainland China as well as songs produced in Hongkong and Taiwan (gangtai yinyue 港臺音樂). Most of the recordings date to the 1990s and early 2000s. [More...]
Access
To access the sound recordings of the Steen Collection please go to the old CATS Library Sound Catalogue and use the combined search as follows:
- Use "Personal Names" or "Title Word / Title String" to search for title or composer (NB: search in traditional Chinese characters or in Wade-Giles transcription!)
- Enter "computer file" in a free "Title Word / Title String" field
- Enter "steen" in the field "Series Title"
- Press "Submit"
In the list of search results (short title list) you can click "Check all" to see details of all displayed results, or select one or more specific titles. If the catalog entry is referring to a digitized sound recording you will find a "play" link behind each title listed under "Contents/Access".
Please note that access to the sound recordings is only possible for members of Heidelberg University. If you are not a member of Heidelberg University please send an email to digitalresources@zo.uni-heidelberg.de to apply for access.
von Schaper Collection of Rock in China
157 sound carriers (CDs, DVDs)
Access
To access the sound recordings of the von Schaper Collection please go to the old CATS Library Sound Catalogue and use the combined search as follows:
- Use "Personal Names" or "Title Word / Title String" to search for title or composer (NB: search in traditional Chinese characters or in Wade-Giles transcription!)
- Enter "computer file" in a free "Title Word / Title String" field
- Enter "von schaper" in the field "Series Title"
- Press "Submit"
In the list of search results (short title list) you can click "Check all" to see details of all displayed results, or select one or more specific titles. If the catalog entry is referring to a digitized sound recording you will find a "play" link behind each title listed under "Contents/Access".
Please note that access to the sound recordings is only possible for members of Heidelberg University. If you are not a member of Heidelberg University please send an email to digitalresources@zo.uni-heidelberg.de to apply for access.
In Preparation
Lam Bun-Ching Collection
Donated to the library in 2022 by the composer Lam Bun-Ching 林品晶 (*1954), this collection includes her composition notebooks, musical scores, letters to other composers as well as sound recordings and other material.
Access
The material has not been catalogued yet. Please refer to the item list for a better understanding of its scope and contents. For access please contact CATS Library.
Hieronymus Collection
149 sound carriers (78 rpms, 7“ and 10“ vinyl and flexi discs)
This small private collection of sinologist Sabine Hieronymus (*1962) consists of findings from flea markets and second-hand record stores in Europe and the USA, offering a glimpse on Chinese music that was consumed outside of Mainland China between the 1920s and 1970s. Additionally there is a collection of Chinese flexi discs of the late 1970s and early 1980s, consisting mostly of popular propaganda songs.
