Dutch Song Database

What does the Dutch Song Database contain?

The Dutch Song Database contains more than 140,000 song descriptions, i.e. references to sources, and in a steadily growing number of cases also the texts, music notation and recordings of the songs. Most of the song texts are in Dutch, Flemish and Frisian, although sometimes songs in other languages have been included, like French, German and Latin, when these were sung in the Netherlands.
The Dutch Song Database runs from Middle Ages through the twentieth century. Each collection or repertoire has its own kind of songs and sources, and its own percentage of completeness. The Middle Ages, including the sixteenth century, have the highest percentage: approximately 100 percent of all surviving sources. The percentage becomes gradually lower from 1600 on. For the twentieth century mainly folk song collections have been excerpted, including thousands of fieldwork recordings. For contemporary popular music only references to a limited number of CDs are included.

The collections and repertoires have been included via many separate projects. Most of the collections are preserved in the Meertens Institute, but collections from other institutions or libraries have also been included.