The Music Archive of the Cathedral of the Canary Islands is digitized

About
35,000 images in digital format already support the
more than 1,000 scores and scripts on works dated between the beginning of the Modern Age -16th century- and the 19th century, which make up the
Musical Archive of the Cathedral of the Canary Islandsthanks to the project promoted by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, the Canarian Government, the Capital City Council, the Canarian Museum, the Bishopric of the Canary Islands and different cultural entities on the Island.

The president of the Island Corporation,
Anthony Morales; the general director of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands,
Ruben Perez; the Dean of the Cathedral,
Joseph Washerwomanand the Official Chronicler of Gran Canaria,
John Joseph Laforetamong others, presented this initiative this Thursday, in an act that took place in the Cathedral of the Canary Islands.

«The Cabildo de Gran Canaria made a commitment to this project from the outset and
we assumed the rest that was proposed to us», argued Antonio Morales, «and you can continue to count on us to continue advancing in the entire process that is necessary to complete this work and
guarantee the best conservation of this legacy».

The president of Gran Canaria, likewise, promised the continuity of this support. "Count on us," he asserted, "as the Church is already counting on at this time in the conservation of that historical and spiritual heritage of the people of Gran Canaria." In this regard, he maintained that the Insular Corporation has
always involved in the rehabilitation of this heritage and, in fact, at the moment it is collaborating in the restoration of other centers, as it has already done in the rehabilitation of the Cathedral, so that, as specified, the possibility of creating an interpretation center in its north wing is being considered, among other future initiatives.

"We feel deeply proud and gratified to have participated in this project," concluded Morales, who reiterated "our commitment to continue working hand in hand with the Church, to preserve the spiritual, cultural and historical heritage of our people."

Gonzalo Angulo, director of the Asociación Taller Lírico de Canarias, one of the main promoters of this idea, emphasized this great importance of this Musical Archive, when
remarked that the work of the chapel masters of the Cathedral "It has been the seed of contemporary sacred music of the Islands and of the Philharmonic Society and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria".

José Lavandera, for his part, thanked the participating institutions and entities for their contributions to this project and, therefore, for the support they provide to Canarian culture, for
“to have saved and safeguarded such an important document such as the Musical Archive of the Cathedral. He also announced that, at the moment, "there is hope of recovering music from the palimpsests", the manuscript parchments that were scratched to be reused and on which he indicated that they have several and trust to be able to restore them.

In turn, Iván Rodríguez, director of 'Margullía', the company that has carried out the tasks of digitizing all the documents, stressed that for them "it has been a challenge and an opportunity to guarantee the long-term conservation of the information the richness of the heritage with which we have worked" and stressed that
the digital captures were made by means of a correct manipulation and with specific systems, given the fragility of each piece and the risk of their being destroyed due to the weakness of the paper.

He indicated that, from now on, once these 35,000 images are already available, the fundamental objective is
open these files to public knowledge and facilitate access to them to those who are interested in knowing them. To achieve this, a specific portal will be enabled, with references to the history, content and components of that Music Archive, "in a
digital dump that will maximize the security of the elementsin order to guarantee that this information, which is of vital importance for Canarian culture, can be accessed in optimal conditions”, he concluded.

Precisely this final phase was referred to in his speech by Rubén Pérez, who, after highlighting the joint work of the institutions and the work of the professionals who have materialized the project, pointed out that this part of the process generates "a special illusion, because it is the one that is going to allow us citizens to enjoy, to be able to
consult, download and interpret the great work that this archive possesses».