This guide covers search tools for finding music materials.
Find Digital Scores
- American Classical HymnsHymn tunes were one of European classical music’s chief conduits to American audiences through the mid-19th century. Hymnnodic adaptations of the work of Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and others appeared by the hundreds, all but a few forgotten today. 278 of these tunes—unearthed, identified, and edited for modern use—are gathered in this Anthology of scores and piano recordings.
AmericanClassicalHymns.com was developed in tandem with the book Gems of Exquisite Beauty: How Hymnody Carried Classical Music to America (Oxford University Press, 2020), the first in-depth historical exploration of this repertoire and its creators.
- A-R Online Music AnthologyA database of music scores of and exclusive peer-reviewed articles about vocal and instrumental compositions from antiquity through the nineteenth century. The database has been designed for customized use in music history classes. Searching criteria include composer, title, genre, language, historical period and language. All selections are available for printing.
- Contemporary Music Score Collection, UCLA Music LibraryPublished by the UCLA Music Library in eScholarship, the Contemporary Music Score Collection includes the digital, open access scores from the Contemporary Score Edition series, the first open access edition of new music published by a library, and scores from the Kaleidoscope 2020 Call for Scores, an open access collaboration with the UCLA Music Library.
- Digital Mozart EditionA Project of the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg and The Packard Humanities Institute, this database include high quality PDFs of the Neue Mozart Ausgabe.
- The English Heritage Music SeriesThe English Heritage Music Series has been created to ensure that previously unpublished pieces from the “renaissance” in English music (generally agreed to have started in the late Victorian period, beginning roughly in 1880) are preserved, are accessible for scholarly research and, most importantly, are available for performance by future generations. Its mission is to source non-engraved/out-of-print English composer compositions that are in the U.S. public domain; preserve these compositions through the preparation of performance scores using notation software; and provide open Internet access to the scores to facilitate study, performance and sharing of performance material (program notes, audio, reviews, etc.)
- HathiTrust Women Composers CollectionThe HathiTrust Women Composers Collection consists of digitized sheet music for approximately 3,000 musical works by more than 700 women composers. Most date from the 19th- and early 20th-centuries, with a few pieces from the 18th century. Some of the published scores include annotations by the composer, while there are also several hundred in manuscript form. The originals are from the University of Michigan Music Library, which purchased most of the collection in 1980 from a British antiquarian. Visitors can sort the materials by author name, date, or title using the drop-down "Sort by" feature above the listings. Most of the musical compositions featured in the collection are songs and solo piano pieces, although choral, orchestral, dramatic, and chamber music are also present in the collection. About 80 percent of the collection is available full-text through HathiTrust, which means that the music can be downloaded and printed. In addition to being of interest to musicians and music scholars, the covers of many of the pieces are illustrated and some include ornate text, providing examples of 19th- and 20th-century graphic design.
- Hymnary.orgA comprehensive index of over 1 million hymn texts, hymn tunes, and hymnals, with information on authors, composers, lyrics, and scores. Search or browse hymns by title, tune, meter, key, scripture reference, and more; find hymns that relate to a particular lectionary week, topic, or part of worship, and hymnals that have been published by particular denominations; and search, view, and visualize Hymnary data in creative ways.
- Music Online: Classical Scores LibraryMusic Online: Classical Scores Library is a series of four volumes with a mission to provide a reliable and authoritative source for scores of the classical canon, as well as a resource for the discovery of lesser-known contemporary works. The collections encompass all major classical musical genres and time periods from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. With full, study, piano, and vocal scores, this comprehensive collection will enhance the study of music history, performance, composition and theory for a variety of scholars.
- Sheet Music ConsortiumThe Sheet Music Consortium provides tools and services that promote access to and use of online sheet music collections by scholars, students, and the general public. The Sheet Music Consortium is a group of libraries working toward the goal of building an open collection of digitized sheet music using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. Harvested metadata about sheet music in participating collections is hosted by UCLA Digital Library Program, which provides an access service via this metadata to sheet music records at the host libraries. Data providers have chosen to catalog their sheet music in different ways, but a large proportion of the original sheets in participating collections has been digitized, allowing users direct access to the music itself and in many cases covers and advertisements that offer evidence of the cultural context in which the songs were published. This project has been generously supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Find Guides to Repertoire
- African-American Art Song AllianceFounded in 1997, this is the home of interchange between performers and scholars interested in art song by African-American composers. Here you will find information and links to assist with your discovery of our contribution to song. The mission of this resource is to promote and Uplift the contributions made by African-Americans to art song, be they composers, performers or scholars; serve the needs of scholars, teachers, and performers seeking information about African-American art song; share information and repertoire between teachers, scholars, and performers; and encourage performance and scholarship related to African-American art song.
- American Viola Society: Underrepresented Composer DatabaseThe American Viola Society presents a small volunteer research effort to document works by underrepresented composers that involve the viola as a significant voice. This project was inspired by a collective effort towards diversity, equity, and inclusion in the world of viola repertoire, and users can submit works for inclusion in the database.
- Art Song AugmentedFrom resource's "About" page: "Art Song Augmented is an online forum devoted to art songs by underrepresented composers whose music has been marginalized. The site aims to share this music with a wide audience by providing high-quality recordings, commentary, scores, and other resources for those interested in learning more about this repertoire. An equally important goal is to bring together scholars, performers, students, and lay listeners—to create a community committed to celebrating this extraordinary and understudied body of music."
- The Art Song ProjectFrom the resource's landing page: "Listen free-of-charge to a growing collection of rare and delightful art songs. Each composition has been lovingly resurrected from the depths of art song history, with most of them from previously unknown composers. The songs are performed in one take to give them a 'live' feeling - by soprano Hélène Lindqvist and pianist Philipp Vogler. All art work also by the duo.'
- Daniels' Orchestral Music OnlineYou can browse the classical repertoire from Karl Friedrich Abel to Ellen Taffee Zwilich and find basic information on composers and instrumentation plus inspiration for advanced programming.
- Index to Printed MusicSearch for individual pieces of music printed in the complete works of composers, in anthologies containing pieces from disparate historical periods, and in other scholarly editions. Searchable by composer, title, and series name and number. Limited to 1 user at a time.
- Institute for Composer DiversityThe Institute for Composer Diversity, winner of the 2018 ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Media/Internet Award and housed at the State University of New York at Fredonia, is dedicated to the celebration, education, and advocacy of music created by composers from historically underrepresented groups through database resources and programming analysis. Their award-winning Composer Diversity Database allows users to discover over 4000 composers of historically underrepresented genders, racial, ethnic, and cultural heritages, and sexual orientations. You can search by composer name, living or deceased, common large and small ensemble genres, racial, ethnic, or cultural demographics, and by location (city, state, and country).
- SongHelixMade available by the University fo Utah. From the resource's "About" page: "There has never been a simple way to search through the vast number of art songs by poet, date of composition, thematic links, keywords, or utility. SongHelix brings this ever-evolving information available into one searchable location. It is an online tool that enables users to search through the vast repertoire of art songs in order to find just the right piece. The website’s immediate purpose is to give singers and teachers the primary online tool for finding related repertoire. A secondary, and broader purpose will be to help to revitalize the form of voice recital by allowing for creative programming through novel associations. The website makes it possible for the user to search song repertoire by terms customarily found in print reference, but SongHelix’s real power is the ability to search by “Feature” as well. When searching within the “Feature” category the user will be able to discover aspects of the songs such as: dreams, stages of life, moving water, Greek mythology, particular metaphors, etc."
- Vocal Music Instrumentation IndexA developing project, the Vocal Music Instrumentation Index currently includes 1,699 movements from J. S. Bach cantatas and allows users browse by instrumentation and text. This database includes multi-lingual full-text search so users can search by text in English, French, German, and Italian. Coming soon are more works by J.S. Bach, and pieces by Mozart, Handel, Telemann, Rossini, and more.
- Wind Repertory ProjectThis online database of wind literature includes contributions and information from band directors/conductors, students, and wind band enthusiasts. This resource could be helpful for searching for new repertoire!
Tips for using A-R Music Anthology
The A-R Music Anthology is a great place to look for scores AND peer-reviewed articles on individual composers, styles, and pieces!
The search interface gives users the option to limit by period (antiquity through 20th century), genre (looking for opera? Motets? Jazz? Use the options in this list to browse the Anthology's holdings), and even to browse by form and texture (this is especially helpful if you have a set ensemble and are looking for rep!):
This is a new and growing resource, so browsing by composer name is also a helpful way to search its contents. Use the "Quick Search By Composer" option at the bottom of the search interface to see what's included.
All of the A-R Music Anthology scores are newly-engraved, and users can print directly from the interface:
The inclusion of peer-reviewed articles on composers, pieces, genres, and styles is also extremely helpful! By choosing a period from the A-R Music Anthology search interface, you can see a list of all of the articles included in the resource:
The A-R Music Anthology is continuously growing, so check back often for new articles and scores.
Tips for using Classical Scores Library
Classical Scores Library is a great resource for finding thousands of digital scores, from medieval music through compositions from the 21st century. The search interface offers a number of ways to find content: you can browse by genre, time period, composer, and more, or you can search for a known item. Just remember to use the search box in the MIDDLE of the page (not the one at the top!):
After searching in Classical Scores Library, you'll see a list of results - click the link under a piece's title to see the score for that piece:
The scores interface in Classical Scores Library offers the option to print, but the score will include an Alexander Street Press watermark. Classical Scores Library also provides helpful information for citing the score:
Questions? Need help?
Please contact Music Librarian Jessica Abbazio (jabbazio@umn.edu) or the Music Library staff (musiclib@umn.edu) for help!
Last Updated: Oct 2, 2024 4:54 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/finding-music-materials