The music sources in this database of the Fondo de Música Tradicional can be divided into three groups corresponding to (1) the folkloric MISIONES, (2) the CONCURSOS —both organized by the former Instituto Español de Musicología of the CSIC between 1944 and 1960— and (3) other materials from the Fondo itself and other sources, including old recordings in: CILINDROS (wax cylinders), 1945; HILO MAGNÉTICO (magnetic wire), 1949; MISIONES FONOGRÁFICAS (magnetic tape), 1952-1955; NO-DO: Spanish dances in video, 1956-1973; LOMAX (with links to Alan Lomax's recordings in Spain and related documentation at the Library of Congress in Washington), 1952-53; Fedefolk, materials (mostly "seguidillas manchegas") from a federation of folkloric associations from Castilla-La Mancha; and repertory published in old cancioneros.
The 65 MISIONES were comissioned to especific researchers, who were sent to the provinces to collect melodies and texts; from these Missions there are cards with melodies and texts, as well as the informants’ cards. From the CONCURSOS there are 67 notebooks that were collected; among them there are those presented by school teachers with songs collected from their students.
From here there are links to the basic description of each Mission and Competition; the list can be organized chronologically or by alphabetical order of researcher. The Competitions and Missions can also be selected by province; for a more detailed geographic search, though, see under "Locations" in the main menu. The titles of Missions and Competitions whose digitized materials can be consulted appear in capital letters; materials are being catalogued, digitized and incorporated to this website on an ongoing basis.