Koncepce a podoba sbírek lidových písní z Čech z období příprav Národopisné výstavy českoslovanské 1895

The study summarizes circumstances and results of collecting Bohemian folk songs within the period of preparations for the Czechoslavic Ethnographic Exhibition held in Prague in 1895. It presents the history of preparations for the exhibition, the organisation and input of prominent persons, and the problems of the collaborators in particular regions. It assesses the scholarly conception and methodological materials relating to musical folklore. Regarding the collector’s way of work at that time, it notes the prevailing romanticising approach and the aesthetic point of view. The lack of methodological guidance of collectors was reflected, in addition to melographic mistakes, in the selection of genres and in the preference for older song layers; the self-censorship of informants is obvious as well. In total, 148 rural collectors collected 120 manuscript collections in Bohemia. The archival fond includes 5214 complete song notations, other 4910 lyrics without melodies, 75 instrumental records, and 67 folk music scores. The study describes the fate of the collections after the end of the Exhibition. Many of them were returned to those who provided them, while some were gradually transferred to institutional collections, archives, museums, and special departments. Several manuscripts were also lost. Only a fragment of the records was published.