List of folk song collections

This is a list of folk song collections including pioneer and notable work in collecting folk songs.

Many such collections were made in the 19th century. The earlier ones are often considered to be parts of the National Romanticisist interests in folklore. The monumental efforts of single enthusiasts laid the foundation for the modern academic investigations of epic folk songs. The comments made by various collectors also indicate that they respected and were inspired by the work done by their counterparts. Child's comments show that he indeed could read and understand ballads in Scandinavian languages.

The following table lists comparable pioneering works from different countries or language areas, and corresponding modern scholarly collections or classifications. The 'pioneers' are not necessarily the first collectors, but they were each the first to gain widespread recognition, and to provide classification or at least useful enumeration.

Country/region	Title	Collector	Modern classification
Denmark	Danmarks gamle Folkeviser (DgF)	started by S. H. Grundtvig 1853.	The original classification is essentially retained but expanded.
Faroe Islands	Færøiske kveder	V.U. Hammershaimb	Føroya kvæði. Corpus carminum Færoensium (CCF)
France	Chants et chansons populaires de la France	Théophile Marion Dumersan	The original classification is still in use.
Germany	?	John Meier?	Deutsche Volkslieder mit ihren Melodien. Balladen
Great Britain, and American variants	Child Ballads	Francis James Child	The original classification is still in use.
Lombardy	Canti popolari Lombardi	Giulio Ricordi and Leopoldo Pullè	The original classification is still in use.
Piedmont	Canti popolari del Piemonte	Costantino Nigra	The original classification is still in use.
Sicily	Canti popolari siciliani	Giuseppe Pitrè	The original classification is still in use.
Sweden	Svenska folk-visor från forntiden	Erik Gustaf Geijer and Arvid August Afzelius	Sveriges Medeltida Ballader (SMB).
China	Anthology of Yuefu Poetry (translated)	Guo Maoqian	Traditional, with some elaboration

See also

• The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad

Bibliography

• Marcello Sorce Keller, "The Problem of Classification in Folksong Research: a Short History", Folklore, XCV(1984), no. 1, 100- 104.

External links

• Chansons nationales et populaires de France digitized book
• Canti popolari del Piemonte digitized book
• Canti popolari siciliani digitized book