Database List By Subject: Music

The 19th-Century American Sheet Music Collection contains descriptions and of approximately 3,500 popular and instrumental works from the latter 70 years of the 19th century. Created by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's music library.

The Aaron Copland Collection, ca. 1900-1990, by the Library of Congress, presents a selection of digitized materials from the full Aaron Copland Collection. Materials include music sketches, correspondence, writings, and photographs.

Contains all of the Audio Engineering Society papers from the journal, conventions, and conferences, providing access to over 16,000 fully searchable PDF files documenting the progression of audio research from 1953 to the present day.,

Includes AES Publications Convention Preprints Timely technical papers, reproduced directly from the manuscripts of presentations given at recent AES conventions. Anthologies Renowned series of collected papers of archival quality reprinted from the AES Journal including: loudspeakers, disk recording, microphones, sound reinforcement, and time delay spectrometry. Collected papers from the highly regarded AES international conferences, each devoted to a specific topic. AES Standards, Drafts, and Information Documents Internationally approved documents developed under the auspices of the AES Standards Committee and its working groups. Directory of Educational Programs A comprehensive international guide to educational programs in audio.

African American Sheet Music is a growing digital collection of materials selected from the Sheet Music Collection at Brown University's John Hale Library. Pieces in the collection date from the 1820s to the present.

The American Memory project of the Library of Congress National Digital Library Program digitizes distinctive, historical Americana holdings at the Library of Congress, including photographs, full-text manuscripts and rare books, maps, recorded sound and moving pictures. To achieve its goal, this unique public-private program, also works in cooperation with members of the Digital Library Federation and other libraries and archives throughout the United States. For example, digital collections from the LC/Ameritech Digital Library Competition are included.

Audio, video, photographs and other digitized material from the Association for Cultural Equity's Alan Lomax Archive.

The Bach Cantatas Website focuses on Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas and other vocal works. The site provides online access to scores, texts, and translations, as well as other relevant resources. Full scores from the Gesamtausgabe der Bach-Gesellschaft (published in the late 1800s) and piano/ vocal reductions are available, both presented as PDFs.

The Library of Congress's collection of Baseball Sheet Music consists of over 140 published songs written about "America's Pastime."

Ludwig van Beethovens Werke is the 1860s edition of Beethoven's complete works, originally published by Breitkopf & Hartel and digitized by the International Music Score Library Project. Some listings include other digitized public domain scores, digitized and audio files (MIDI or recorded performances). Note: this page is updated manually; if a score is not listed, try browsing or searching for it in the left sidebar.

The digitized collections at the Biblioteca de Catalunya currently include more that 50,000 printed and manuscript music works, as well as personal papers of noted composers, scholars, and performers such as Isaac Albeniz and Enric Granados.

The Broadside Ballads project is a digitized collection of the University of Oxford Bodleian Library's 30,000 broadside ballads, popular songs sold in the streets of Britain from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Where music notation is available, MIDI sound files have been added to play the notation.

California Gold, by the Library of Congress, is an ethnographic field collection documenting the ethnic and cultural diversity of Northern California made by the WPA California Folk Music Project in the 1930s and 1940s. The collection includes audio recordings and related materials.

Captain Pearl R. Nye: Life on the Ohio and Erie Canal, by the Library of Congress, documents the culture and music of the people who worked and lived along the Ohio and Erie Canal. The collection consists of 75 songs perfomed by Captain Nye and recorded between 1937-1938, as well as transcriptions, lyrics, and related documentation.

Mississippi State University Libraries' Charles H. Templeton Digital Sheet Music Collection provides access to public domain pieces from a large collection amassed by Charles Templeton, Sr. The 22,000-piece collection dates from 1865 and includes blues, ragtime, musical theater, and more.

Chopin's First Editions Online presents a virtual collection of the original impressions of Chopin's first editions. The collection, which currently stands at around 5,500 was compiled from the holdings of more than 20 institutions, including the Bibliotheque National de France, the Bodleian Library, the British Library, the Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, and the University of Chicago Library.

The Classical String Quartets collection from Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library provides access to collections of string quartets in parts, many of which are by composers whose works are not readily available in modern editions.

The purpose of the "Codices Electronici Sangallenses" (Digital Abbey Library of St. Gallen) is to create a virtual library of the manuscripts in the Abbey Library of St. Gall. The collection of 2100 manuscripts (650+ of which have been digitized) includes many examples of early music.

Coptic Orthodox Liturgical Chant & Hymnody presents a selection of digitized materials from the Library of Congress's Ragheb Moftah Collection. Materials include transcriptions, audio recordings, photographs, and other items from Moftah's research into Coptic Christian chant.

The Danish National Digital Sheet Music Archive is a collection of selected works from the Music and Theatre Collection of Denmark's Royal Library. Included are music scores of selected works by Carl Nielsen.

The Digital Scores and Libretti Collection at Harvard University's Loeb Music Library is an ongoing project to digitize rare and unique scores and libretti from their holdings. The collection includes first and early editions and manuscript copies from the 1700s through the early 20th century.

Antonin Dvorak: Souborne vydani dila provides online access to the complete works of Dvorak, digitized by the International Music Score Library Project. Some listings include multiple digitized public domain scores, digitized and audio files (MIDI or recorded performances). Note: this page is updated manually; if a score is not listed, try browsing or searching for it using the left sidebar.

The Elliott Carter Collection in the Library of Congress presents a brief biography of the composer as well as links to digitized music manuscripts from the Library of Congress's collections.

This site features nineteen early manuscript compositions by composer Ernest Bloch (1880-1959), spanning the period from 1896 to 1916, and comprising a portion of the Ernest Bloch Collection at the Library of Congress. 

Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier, by the Library of Congress, is an ethnographic field collection of traditional fiddle tunes performed by Henry Reed and recorded in 1966-67. The collection includes audio recordings, field notes, and music transcriptions.

Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections, 1937-1942, by the Library of Congress, is an ethnographic field collection that documents Florida's cultural and ethnic diversity through audio recordings made under the auspices of the Work Projects Administration in the 1930s and 1940s. The collection includes folk songs, dance music, religious music, and interviews.

The Glenn Gould Archive by Library and Archives Canada provides online access to materials related to the concert pianist Glenn Gould. Items include searchable databases of published and archival materials, full-text writings by or about the pianist, and digitized images, archival material, and audio tapes.

The complete works of Handel, originally published by the Deutsche Handel Gesellschaft from 1858-1902 and digitized by the Munich Digitization Center of the Bavarian State Library.

Joseph Haydns Werke is the early 20th-century edition of Joseph Haydn's complete works, originally published by Breitkopf & Hartel and digitized by the International Music Score Library Project. Some listings include other digitized public domain scores, digitized and audio files (MIDI or recorded performances). Note: this page is updated manually; if a score is not listed, try browsing or searching for it using the left sidebar.

Hispano Music & Culture from the Northern Rio Grande, by the Library of Congress, is an ethnographic field collection that documents the music of Spanish-speaking residents of rural northern New Mexico and southern Colorado in 1940. The collection consists of sound recordings of hymns, folk drama, wedding songs, and dance tunes, as well as related materials.

The University of Oregon Libraries' Historic Sheet Music Collection presents a selection of sheet music held in the Libraries' collections. Included are the Oregon Music Collection, which contains 55 pieces of music about Oregon or by Oregonians, and the Women Composers Collection, which will ultimately contain over 1,000 pieces of music by notable women composers.

Hit Songs Deconstructed provides unparalleled insight into the inner-workings of a current chart-topping hit. Each song report includes a combination of commentary, charts, graphs, and notation. Among the many areas covered are song structure, energy, genres and influences, instruments and accompaniment, harmony, vocal production and melody, lyrics, rhymes, narrative, Top 10 benchmarking and more. These reports also feature a companion downloadable Logic PRO X Project with the correct meter, tempo and song arrangement displayed as empty MIDI regions for each instrument.

The IN Harmony Project provides access to digitized sheet music from the Indian University Lilly Library, the Indiana State Library, the Indiana State Museum, and the Indiana Historical Society.

The Petrucci Music Library was begun in 2006 by IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project) in order to gathering all public domain music scores and the music scores of any contemporary composers who wish to release them to the public free of charge. IMSLP is governed primarily by Canadian copyright law and, therefore, some works may not be public domain in other countries.

Inventions of Note is a collection of popular songs and piano compositions that reflect American reactions to new and changing technologies such as the automobile, airplane, and telephone. The collection includes approximately 50 pieces as well as links to from other libraries that address new technologies.

The University of Missouri Digital Library's Kansas City Sheet Music Collection contains over 660 pieces of music published in Kansas City from the late 19th to the mid 20th century. The collection contains notable works such as Scott Joplin's "Original Rags," as well as compositions about Kansas City itself.

The American Memory project of the Library of Congress National Digital Library Program digitizes distinctive, historical Americana holdings at the Library of Congress, including photographs, full-text manuscripts and rare books, maps, recorded sound and moving pictures. To achieve its goal, this unique public-private program, also works in cooperation with members of the Digital Library Federation and other libraries and archives throughout the United States. For example, digital collections from the LC/Ameritech Digital Library Competition are included.

Franz Liszt: Klavierwerke is a collection of Franz Liszt's piano works, published by Edition Peters in 1913-1917 and digitized by the International Music Score Library Project. Some listings include other digitized public domain scores, digitized and audio files (MIDI or recorded performances).

The Lousiana State Museum Digital Library Jazz Collection provides online access to photographs and audio recordings related to New Orleans Jazz.

Songs and dance tunes from Newfoundland and Cape Breton, collected between 1949-51 by MacEdward Leach. Streaming audio and some notation available.

The world's leading classical music channel, medici.tv broadcasts more than 100 live events are each year, in partnership with the world's most prestigious venues, opera houses, festivals and competitions. Medici.tv's library features over 1,800 programs (3,000 original works), including: concerts and archived historical concerts; operas; ballets; documentaries, artist portraits and educational programs; and master classes.
 

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdys Werke is the late 19th-century edition of Mendelssohn's complete works, originally published by Breitkopf & Hartel and digitized by the International Music Score Library Project. Some listings include other digitized public domain scores, digitized and audio files (MIDI or recorded performances).

The Moldenhauer Archives: The Rosaleen Moldenhauer Memorial presents a selection of digitized items from the full Moldenhauer Archives, which document the history of Western music from the medieval period through the modern era. The online collection includes scores and manuscripts as well as an electronic version of the guidebook for the archive.

NMA Online is the digitized version of the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe, the complete works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart originally published by Barenreiter-Verlag and digitized in a cooperative effort of the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg and the Packard Humanities Institute. The site includes both music and critical commentaries.

The Munich Digitization Center (MDZ) digitizes the special collections of the Bavarian State Library and other German institutions, including fine arts and music, and currently comprises over 900,000 titles.

Music for the Nation, by the Library of Congress, contains thousands of pieces of historical sheet music registered for copyright from 1820-1860. The collection includes popular songs, operatic arias, choral music, solo instrumental music, and orchestral and band music.

This website presents fieldwork and publication materials from Mark Slobin's research in Afghanistan.... Still photography, moving picture clips, and sound clips accompany the written text.

A collection of music recordings from Americans of diverse origins, from Americas past and present. The songs are by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers, and cowboys. They touch topics as varied as Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests, and more. And the range of genres includes country, folk, bluegrass, Western, old time, American Indian, blues, gospel, shape note singing, doo-wop, Motown, R&B, soul, funk, and others.

Contains 400,000+ pages of the most important classical scores and manuscripts, allowing for the study and analysis of more than 8,000 scores.

The collection includes works spanning time periods from the Renaissance to the 21st century. Coverage of score types is comprehensive, with full scores, study scores, piano and vocal scores, and piano reductions. The database has been indexed to enable users to search on musically relevant fields, such as composer, work/opus number, key, genre, instrument, time period; as well as score-specific fields, such as score type, duration, editor, arranger, publisher.

Collection of jazz that's available onlinewith thousands of jazz artists, ensembles, albums, and genres. Jazz Music Library includes works licensed from record labels, including Audiophile, Concord Jazz, Contemporary Records, Fantasy, Jazzology, Milestone, Nessa Records, Original Jazz Classics, Pablo, and Prestige. Labels being added include Circle Records, GHB Records, Good Time Jazz, GRP Records, Impulse, Peak, Riverside, Solo Art Records, Stretch Records, Verve, and dozens more. Note that not all labels are available in all territories.

Collection of popular music that contains a wide range of music from around the world, including hundreds of thousands of tracks from major genres in pop music, including alternative, country, Christian, electronic, hip-hop, metal, punk, new age, R&B, reggae, rock, soundtracks and many more.

Music Database (aka International Index to Music Periodicals Full Text)  indexes journal literature in all areas of music. Provides indexing and abstracts for more than 425 international music periodicals, plus full text for around 140 journals.

Musical America is an international directory for the performing arts, used by concert facilities, classical performers, artists, managers and music festivals.

Entries include narrative reviews of the past year in music and dance, along with over 700 pages of listings and tables. Also offers a prestigious annual awards program for Musician of the Year, as well as awards for the year's top composer, conductor, instrumentalist and vocalist.

The Mutopia Project provides access to classical music for free download through digital sheet music editions based on editions in the public domain. The Project also hosts modern editions from composers, editors, and arrangers who have chosen to make their works freely available to the public. MIDI files of some works are also available.

Naxos Music Library has over 2 million tracks of music and is continually adding music from the Naxos label as well as other leading independent labels.

The Nazareth Project presents an official catalog of the works of Ernesto Nazareth. It includes digital transcriptions of the scores and audio files.

The 19th-Century American Sheet Music Collection contains descriptions and of approximately 3,500 popular and instrumental works from the latter 70 years of the 19th century. Created by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's music library.

Now What a Time, by the Library of Congress, is a collection consisting of sound recordings of primarly blues and gospel songs made from 1938-1943 in Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama.

Oscar Peterson: A Jazz Sensation, created by Library and Archives Canada, is devoted to the Canadian jazz artist Oscar Peterson. The site includes a biography and discography, photo gallery, links to digitized memorabilia, the full text of selected articles and essays written by Peterson, and an audio tour of selected recordings. Note: This is an archived site and is no longer being updated.

The Oxford History of Western Music online offers an account of the evolution of Western classical music by Richard Taruskin. The online version includes all 1.25 million words, 500 images, and 1,800 musical examples from the updated paperback edition with search and browse functionality.

A collection of over 1,000 pieces of public domain sheet music from and about Washington State and the Pacific Northwest, selected from the University of Washington Music Library's Ashford Sheet Music Collection.

The Performing Arts Encyclopedia is a guide to performing arts resources at the Library of Congress. The Encyclopedia provides access to digitized scores, sheet music, audio reordings, films, photographs, and other materials.

The resource allows users to study this exciting period using manuscript and rare printed material as well as photographs, ephemera and memorabilia. The interactive chronology, extensive visual resources and video footage provide valuable contextual background to the materials included in this collection.

Ragtime, by the Library of Congress, presents a selection of sheet music, audio and video recordings, and other materials related to this uniquely American musical phenomenon.

Princeton University's Renaissance Masses, 1440-1520 is an online catalog of polyphonic masses composed in Europe in the 15th-16th centuries. The catalog can be browsed by title, composer, manuscript, or print. The catalog is continuously being updated with the addition of audio recordings for each mass.

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature features content from the early 1800s through the present with some content coverage extending back as far as the late 18th century. Updated monthly, the database includes coverage of relevant articles from thousands of journals, many of which are not specifically devoted to music.

In addition to journal articles, RILM Abstracts of Music Literature covers a variety of publication and media types including essay collections, conference proceedings, critical editions of music, digital media, dissertations, monographs, online resources, reference materials, reviews, and technical drawings of instruments. Sound recordings and motion pictures that present the results of scholarly research or fieldwork are also included.

RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals is an international, annotated database with content analysis of writings on musical history and culture between 1800 and 1950 provided by scholars and editors. RIPM currently indexes the contents of music periodicals including articles, reviews, illustrations, music examples, advertisements, and press reviews. In addition, RIPM offers English-language translations of articles from journals in other languages.

Online database of rock music writing. Contains articles (reviews, interviews, features and more) from the early 1960s right up to the present day.

Franz Peter Schuberts Werke is the late 19th-century edition of Schubert's complete works, originally published by Breitkopf & Hartel and digitized by the International Music Score Library Project. Some listings include other digitized public domain scores, digitized and audio files (MIDI or recorded performances).

A selections of digitized sheet music from York University Libraries' Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections.

Sheet Music from Canada's Past, a project by Library and Archives Canada and published via Aurora, provides digital access to a selection of sheet music published in Canada before 1921. Selected titles also include audio examples.

The digitized collection of music scores from Eastman School of Music's Sibley Music Library includes over 14,000 digitized manuscripts and scores in the public domain, many of which are unique to Sibley's collection.

Southern Mosaic, by the Library of Congress, is an ethnographic field collection containing nearly 700 sound recordings and other materials documenting a 1939 trip through the southern United States. Recordings include ballas, blues, folk songs, spirituals, and work songs.

Themefinder allows for the searching of musical works by theme or incipit. Currently, Themefinder searches three databases: Classical Instrumental Music, European Folksongs, and 16th-century Latin Motets. Users may search by pitch, interval, scale degree, or contour of the musical line. Results are displayed as a list of works that match the search, along with the theme or incipit of each work.

MP3s of early wax cylinders recorded by Thomas Edison's recording engineer Theo Wangemann during a trip to Europe in 1889-1890.

The Digital Archive of Popular American Music consists of a selection of materials from UCLA Music Library's Archive of Popular American Music. The Digital Archive includes sheet music and performances of the songs now in the public domain.

A collection of manuscript musical scores dating from the 17th through 19th centuries, digitized from the University of Washington Music Library's Rare Book Collection.

The University of North Texas Music Library's Virtual Music Rare Book Room presents digitized materials from the Edna mae Sandborn Music Rare Book Room, as well as items that were borrowed from private collectors and scanned with permission. A primary focus of the collection is 18th-century French opera, including scores and libretti.

The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary source materials from countries and cultures around the world.