In February 2014, the three-year Europeana Sounds programme co-funded by the European Union to provide online access to a significant number of audiovisual digital objects, was launched. More than 540.000 high-quality recordings are now available through the European cultural portal Europeana, covering an impressive range of subjects from classical to traditional and from oral traditions to sounds of nature.

The sounds gathered through the programme encompass the full range of European cultural heritage: classical music and contemporary performances with timeless and international reach; traditional and folk music and narratives; sound effects; environmental sounds from the natural world; languages, accents and dialects as well as oral narratives from different regions. All these collections reflect the diversity of culture, the history and the language and creativity of European people over 130 years.

The Friends of Music Society participated in the programme with archival recordings from the Music Library’s collections.