Organisation, inventory and research I Paulo Castagna’s activity (MMP)

Among the activities of collaborator Paulo Castagna, associated with the Music in the Modern Period Group, is the organisation and inventorying of a historical collection, specifically the musicographic collection of the Conservatório Dramático e Musical de São Paulo. This organisation and inventory resulted in a paper aiming to present the process and partial results of the project. The project is being carried out by a team from the Institute of Arts at São Paulo State University, with ongoing research support from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) since March 2023. Based on both Brazilian and international literature on the cataloging and processing of musical collections, the paper outlines the procedures followed across the seven phases defined for the project: 1) diagnosis; 2) removal of labels from plastic wrappers; 3) classification of the collection; 4) organization of the collection; 5) grouping of documents into documentary clusters; 6) codification; and 7) inventory.

Also noteworthy is his initial study of the professional career of João Pedro Gomes Cardim (1835-1918). This work presents an initial survey of information on the Portuguese composer, who has received little attention in Brazilian and Portuguese musicological literature. Drawing on Carlo Ginzburg’s evidentiary paradigm, the research involved locating and analysing six biographical texts about the composer, written between 1886 and 1922. Additionally, the study gathered information about Gomes Cardim from Brazilian and Portuguese historical periodicals. Manuscripts of some of his operas and operettas, which are in the musicographic collection of the Conservatório Dramático e Musical de São Paulo, were also examined. The work aims to establish the key facts of his biography and professional career, including the cities he lived in and the likely chronological periods he spent in each.

Both works are still in print. More updates soon.