British Library's Archival Sound Recordings project now has 1,000 classical music recordings

The British Library's Archival Sound Recordings project now has 1,000 classical music recordings online. The recordings include previously unheard concertos and sinfoniettas from composers such as Bach, as well as orchestral suites and concerti by Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms. The recordings are available to visitors to the British Library reading rooms and can also be accessed by the public at home. However, music can only be streamed rather than downloaded. Celia Duffy, head of research at the National Centre for Research in the Performing Arts, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama said: 'Digital collections, such as Archival Sound Recordings, have enormous potential for researchers and students. By placing previously inaccessible archives online, they create the potential for new fields of cross-disciplinary research, reflecting the social, cultural, technological and political changes that have shaped contemporary society.'