Columbia History of Music by Ear and Eye

The Columbia History of Music by Ear and Eye was a significant educational recording project that emerged in 1930. This phonographic survey aimed to introduce students and teachers to instruments and music previously unfamiliar to many, such as viols, lutes, virginals, clavichords, and harpsichords, along with their associated repertoire. This initiative played a crucial role in popularizing early music, including that of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, by making it accessible through recordings. The development of musicology as a field was greatly enhanced by such recordings, especially for non-Western music transmitted orally, allowing for the study of performance practices that are difficult to transcribe into Western notation.1234