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Introductory notes

Printed music can be difficult to locate for several reasons.

  • Printed music comes in a variety of formats: full conductor's scores, miniature study scores, arrangements, transcriptions, piano-vocal reductions, instrumental parts, popular sheet music compilations, "fake book" lead sheets, to name some examples. The same musical work can exist in numerous formats.
  • A single work may be published in several languages and editions, resulting in multiple unique catalog entries.
  • Works may be published in compilations or in series, and smaller works may be components of larger works, such as individual songs within song cycles.

Uniform titles, unique titles assigned to all manifestations of a musical work, help to identify works with generic title information, and ensure that all editions of a work (in their various languages) can be found together when searching in library catalogs. "Name/title" uniform titles further help to identify works by linking a specific composer with the title of a specific work. The "About Titles" page has more information, including a link to a tutorial.

At Stanford, most printed music is housed in the Music Library, although a small amount may be found in the Green Library stacks. Music in manuscript form is housed both in the Music Library and in the Special Collections Department in Green Library.

Music in the stacks is organized under the Library of Congress Classification System for Music (pdf). A complete print copy of this outline is shelved in the stacks at M1.A1, for your browsing convenience.

About titles of musical works

Identifying title information: The New Grove Dictionary is an excellent source for identifying the proper title of a work. At the end of most individual composer biographies are lists of works by that composer, often including title information, key, opus number, and date of composition. Other reference sources can help correctly identify musical works as well, particularly the research guides and thematic catalogs of individual composers, shelved in the Reference Room at ML134.


Uniform titles are unique titles assigned to all manifestations of a musical work. They serve several purposes, including to:

1. Group together under a composer's name all variants of a work under a title unique to that work

Variants of Bizet's Carmen:

Carmen. (this is the complete opera)
Carmen. Selections ("highlights" on a CD)
Carmen. German & French (a printed score with the sung text in two languages)
Carmen. Libretto. German & English (text only in two languages, no musical notation)
Carmen. Danse boheme; arr. (in this case, one aria arranged for trumpet solo)



2. Identify specifically a work that has one or more common or generic names

Some title pages for a Beethoven violin sonata:

Violin Sonata opus 24
Sonata no. 5 : for piano and violin
Sonata in F major
"Spring" Sonata

use: Sonatas, violin, piano, no. 5, op. 24, F major



3. Identify specifically a work when the title may be published in multiple languages

The Rite of Spring
Le Sacre du Printemps
Frühlingsopfer

use: Vesna sviashchennaia (the title in Stravinsky's original Russian is preferred)


Composer/uniform title combinations display as (blue) hot links in Socrates. Use these links to find other manifestations of the work.


uts


Learn more with this tutorial from Indiana University.

Read more in M. Koth's Uniform Titles for Music (Music Stacks: ML1 .M9876 no. 31)

View a list of popular titles & corresponding uniform titles used in Socrates.

Socrates search examples for printed music

Use the Combined Search option, and choose:

    FORMAT = SCORES

    You may also choose a language (for vocal music):

    LANGUAGE = GERMAN

Use a few unique words and/or numbers, particularly in the TITLE and EVERYTHING fields.

Truncate generic words with the $ sign.

  • Sonat$ = sonata, sonatas, sonate, sonaten, sonatina


Some Examples:


Find the printed score of Bach’s Goldberg Variations:
goldberg




Find the printed score of Beethoven’s piano sonata in E major, no. 30, op. 109:
op. 109



Find the sonatas published by Peters:

(You may enter "piano sonatas" as a SUBJECT)

peters score



Because terms are searched as individual words, the above search will also bring up sonatas for piano and violin or violoncello as well as other instruments.


You can further narrow the results by choosing “NOT” from the right-hand box to weed out the works with violin and violoncello:

everything search

E-scores

Stanford links

Classical Scores Library : over 13,000 printable scores
LibraryMusicSource includes printable solo, chamber, and orchestral parts
Byron Hoyt Sheet Music : printable scores of standard vocal, piano, and chamber music
MuseData : an electronic library of classical music scores, sponsored by CCARH
Scores and parts for Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Vivaldi, also from CCARH
Stanford songs (pdf)

Indexes:

Index to Printed Music (IPM)
Music-In-Print Online



Printed and manuscript scores on the web

The Mutopia Project
International Music Score Library Project
Sibley Music Library Scores (Eastman)
Digitized Score Collection (Bavarian State Library)
Loeb Music Library Digital Scores Collection (Harvard)
Juilliard Manuscript Collection
Choral Public Domain Library
Hofmeister XIX (digitized 19th c. catalog of printed music)
The Classical String Quartet, 1770-1840 (Duke University)


Single-composer collections:

Beethoven-Haus Bonn Digital Archives
Brahms-Institut an der Musikhochschule Lübeck
Chopin Early Editions (University of Chicago)
Fryderyk Chopin Digital Collection (Polish National Library, Warsaw)
Georg Friedrich Handel Werke (Chrysander Edition ; Bavarian State Library)
Franz Liszt Werke (Carl-Alexander-Ausgabe ; Bavarian State Library)
Jean-Baptiste Lully Collection (University of North Texas)
Mendelssohn-Edition (Bavarian State Library)
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
Ignaz Pleyel Early Editions Digital Collection (University of Iowa)
Schubert Autographs project
Robert Schumann Werke (Bavarian State Library)


Sheet music on the web

Sheet Music Consortium
19th-Century California Sheet Music (UC Berkeley)
Digital Archive of American Popular Music (UCLA)
Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music (Johns Hopkins University)
Historic American Sheet Music (Duke University)
Digital Sheet Music (University of Colorado)
Sheldon Harris Sheet Music Collection (University of Mississippi)


The American Memory Project at the Library of Congress includes the following collections:
African American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
"We'll Sing to Abe our Song": Sheet Music about Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Civil War
Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1820-1860 & 1870-1885
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
America Singing: 19th-Century Song Sheets

Microform sets

The sets below include printed and manuscript scores; books on music; and technical drawings.

Each title listed below may be searched in Socrates for detailed bibliographical and holdings information.
Some sets also include links to electronic guides.

M/F = film
M/F 1: = fiche
MCDI = CD-ROM
MUSRR = printed guide in Reference Room

Sets:

Bibliothèque nationale, catalogues du Départment de la musique, Bibiothèque nationale, catalogue du Départment de la musique, fonds du Conservatoire. 1838 microfiche.
(Shelved next to microfilm/fiche reader)

The Broadwood Archive: the business records of John Broadwood & Sons, piano makers, 1794-1901. 95 microfilm reels.
M/F 2284

The Early Printed and Manuscript Music in the Westminster Abbey Library. 200 items on 32 microfilm reels.
M/F 1924
MUSRR ML136 .L8 S77 1903a

[Keyboard music in selected Dutch libraries]. 1457 fiche.
M/F 1:291
MUSRR ML136 .H14 G36 v.4;
MUSRR ML136 .H14 G38 1987

Lincoln Cathedral Library Music Collection: 17th-19th centuries. 34 microfilm reels.
M/F 2222

Music from Dutch Libraries, Part V: Historical Organ Collection. 107 microfiche.
M/F 1:344
MUSRR ML136 .M86 PT.5 1995

Musikhandschriften der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz:
Die Bach-Sammlung. 1119 microfiche, 8 CD-ROMs.
M/F 1:341, MCDI 52
MUSRR ML136 .B4 D52 1997
Die Georg Philipp Telemann-Sammlung. 356 microfiche.
M/F 1:351
MUSRR ML136 .B4 D53 2001
Die Beethoven-Sammlung. [271] microfiche.
M/F 1:356
MUSRR ML136 .B4 D54
Die Mozart-Sammlung. 1163 microfiche.
M/F 1:369
MUSRR ML136 .B4 S76 2005
Sammlung die Sing-Akademie zu Berlin.
T.1: Oratorien, Messen, Kantaten, und andere geistliche Werke. T.2: Opern. T.3: Sinfonien, Konzerte, und Ouverturen. T. 4: Kammermusik und Klaviermusik.
M/F 1:368
MUSRR ML136 .B4 S77 2005

The Oster Collection: Papers of Heinrich Schenker. 47 microfilm reels.
M/F 2423

The Pembroke choir books and other music manuscripts from Pembroke College, Cambridge. 3 microfilm reels.
M/F 2455
MUSRR ML136 .C21 P46 1996

Pre-1801 Books about Music and Related Topics in the Library of Congress Collections as listed in RISM. 220 microfilm reels.
M/F 1923

Technical drawings of musical instruments in public collections of the world. 544 microfiche.
M/F 1:339

Thomas A. Edison Collection of American Sheet Music, from the Music Library, University of Michigan. 119 microfilm reels.
M/F 2457
MUSRR ML136 .A56 U5 2000
electronic guide

Unpublished Music Manuscripts from the Great English Collections:
*The Music collection of Christ Church, Oxford: Part 1-3, Unpublished music of the 16th and 17th centuries. 60 microfilm reels.
M/F 1674
MUSRR ML135 .O98 B82
electronic guide

*The Music collection of St. Michael’s College, Tenbury, Parts 1-3, Unpublished music manuscripts of the 16th and 17th centuries. 24 microfilm reels.
M/F 1692
MUSRR ML136 .T4 S14
electronic guide

*The British Library Music Manuscript Collection: Part 1, Section A, Polyphonic music before c. 1640. 15 microfilm reels.
M/F 1718
MUSRR ML136 .L8 B72
electronic guide

Venetian Opera Libretti. 1286 libretti on 41 microfilm reels.
M/F 2439
MUSRR ML136 .L842 U682 1993
electronic guide

The Women Composers Collection, from the Holdings of the Women Composers Collection, the Music Library, University of Michigan. 28 microfilm reels.
M/F 2424
MUSRR ML128 .W7 W664 1998
electronic guide

Music special collections

Please contact the Music Library to arrange for use of these collections.

Lully Lully Archive

[view the inventory list]

The Lully Archive is a repository of primary sources on microfilm originally gathered in support of publication of the complete works of Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687). The acquisition of the materials was funded by two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grants also supported the cataloging of sources, although this was not fully completed.



scores Women's Philharmonic Collection

The Women's Philharmonic was a professional orchestra from 1981 to 2004 based in San Francisco for the promotion of women composers, conductors, and performers. It has presented works by more than 160 women composers, including 134 premieres and 47 commissioned works. This incomparable collection includes over 25 linear feet of music scores to orchestral works, many of which were performed by The Women's Philharmonic at concerts and at the New Music Reading Sessions, and music scores to chamber works. Among the 500 composers represented in the collection are Wilhelmina von Bayreuth, Francesca Caccini, Lili Boulanger, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Florence Price, Camilla de Rossi, Germaine Tailleferre, Libby Larsen, Ellen Taafe Zwillich, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Amy Beach, Gwyneth Walker, and Joan Tower. The collection contains 1250 cassette and DAT recordings, over 40 reel-to-reel tapes, 95 video recordings, and CDs of The Women's Philharmonic concerts, New Music Reading Sessions and pre-concert talks, along with approximately 30 LP recordings of works by women. Materials may be found in Socrates by doing a subject search for "women's philharmonic collection." Approximately 100 linear feet of archival materials related to the planning, promotion, production and press coverage of The Women's Philharmonic concerts and other events from throughout the organization's history, including correspondence with composers, publishers, conductors and others, program notes about the works performed, documentation of Board meetings, press clippings, newsletters, photographs, posters, awards, and etc. will be available for study at Stanford's Department of Special Collections.


kronos Kronos Quartet Collection

[search the database]

The Kronos Quartet has donated part of their collection of chamber music to the Music Library. Some of the scores are integrated into the collection but can be identified in Socrates by doing a subject search, “kronos quartet collection.” A large part of the collection has been inventoried and is stored offsite.



cowell
Henry Cowell Collection

[view the inventory list]

Mrs. Sydney Cowell donated published scores and recordings of her husband’s music to the Music Library. Cowell lived in nearby Menlo Park for many years. The scores are integrated into the collection and can be found in Socrates by doing a subject search, “henry cowell collection.” A small collection of print materials is housed in the Locked Stacks.

The portrait at left hangs in the Music Library Reference Room:

Anne Parker Wigglesworth. Portrait of Henry Cowell. 1964. Oil on canvas, 92 x 60 cm. Gift of Henry Cowell Coolidge Wigglesworth.



lute Ben Schmidt Collection of Music for Lute

[view the inventory list]

The Schmidt Collection contains primarily photocopies of original and transcribed music for lute from a variety of libraries and archival repositories. These materials are not represented in Socrates, and are available for in-house use only.



placeholder George Antheil Correspondence

[view the finding aid]

Dates range from 1920 to 1959. All but one of the letters are photocopies.



placeholder Julio de Osma Collection

[view the finding aid]

The collection includes over one hundred music manuscripts by Spanish composer Julio de Osma, three publications of his songs, and several dozen photocopied documents dealing with his family history and professional life.



harris plate Lucie King Harris Collection of Sheet Music

[view the inventory list]

Lucie King Harris, born in Sonoma in 1883, was an arts patron, a philanthropist, and an ardent horsewoman. She helped found the San Francisco Opera Association in 1922 and was a governor of the San Francisco Symphony Association, as well as a founder of the San Francisco Choral Society. After her death in 1974, her son Lawrence W. Harris, Jr. and his wife Jane chose to honor her through a book fund for music materials. The Lucie King Harris Books for Music Fund was the first endowed fund in Music at Stanford.

This collection of piano/vocal and solo piano music belonging to Lucie King Harris is held in the Music Library Locked Stacks.


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