We received an e-mail from a German toymaker recently, responding to our question as to which song plays in a certain music box he makes. The title was unfamiliar, so I turned to the ever-helpful Robokopp Folksong Index / Volkslieder Verzeichnis and quickly found both the lyrics and a MIDI of the music.

I have used Robokopp to look up sea shanties (who knew “The Banks of Sacramento” is still sung in German fraternities?), Stephen Foster compositions, and obviously German folk songs. It is a place where I can do research or just enjoy browsing. The database contains folksongs of Germany, Scotland, Ireland and America (among others), as well as Christmas, hiking, Civil War, and hymnal songs (to name a few). Add to this compositions by Mozart, Schubert, Isaac Waats…well, to say that the library is extensive is an understatement.

Robokopp does provide melodies for many (but not all) of its songs, but these are MIDIs rather than sheet music, and require a good ear for unfamiliar tunes. Still, it is a wonderful way to refresh your memory of long-forgotten tunes, and to discover new songs to learn and sing. It is one of my Pleasures of the Internet, and I hope that its collection continues to grow!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 28th, 2005 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.