Music

The Claremont Colleges Library has a large collection of music scores.   To find these sources search the library catalog:

• By name of the composer as AUTHOR, i.e., Ives, Charles, or
• By TITLE of the work, i. e., Appalachian Spring or
• By SUBJECT for works of particular genres, i. e. Concertos (Harpsichord with string orchestra)

THEN limit FORMAT to Musical Score and LOCATION to The Claremont Colleges. This will limit your search to only Claremont owned scores.

OTHER TIPS

If looking for a non-distinct title like Sonata, Symphony, Mass, etc.

• Try using a thematic or opus number (in quotation marks) plus the Author (composer), i. e. "op. 123" Beethoven

If looking for one song or movement from a work:

• If the title not cataloged separately look for the entire work, i. e. name of song cycle that contains particular song you are seeking or name of opera or musical that contains the song
• For movements from a work if not available separately, search for the entire work, i. e. Mahler's "Adagietto" search for work excerpted - Mahler Symphony no. 5
• If you're looking for a non-distinct title such as a sonata, try searching for the work among scores containing groups of similar forms by the composer, i. e. Chopin Preludes.
• If you are unsuccessful remove "Group Related Editions" from the left filter listing.

Remember to limit FORMAT to Musical Score and LOCATION to The Claremont Colleges to find our scores.

Claremont College users can request scores that the library does not own from other libraries through Resource Sharing and by clicking on the "Get this item" button.

RESOURCES FOR IDENTIFYING MUSICAL THEMES:

• Themefinder
• Dictionary of Musical Themes
• Dictionary of Opera and Song Themes

Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music

• Information about and images of worldwide collections of medieval polyphonic music manuscripts (does not include plainchant)
• Collection dates from 800-1550

Gallica

• Manuscripts and early published editions of music from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris.

Julliard Manuscript Collection

• 140 manuscripts donated in 2006 by Bruce Kovner
• Includes engraver's proof of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, last scence of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro,and piano, 4 hand arrangement in holograph of Beethoven's Grosse Fugue.

Loeb Music Library - Digital Scores and Libretti - Harvard University

• Collection includes first and early editions and manuscript copies of music from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by J.S. Bach and Bach family members, Mozart, Schubert and other composers, as well as multiple versions of nineteenth century opera scores, seminal works of musical modernism, and music of the Second Viennese School.

Music manuscripts of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

• Music manuscripts from the 15th century
• Features Choirbooks of the Bavarian court
• Digital access to the complete 309 volume Breitkopf & Hartel edition of Beethovens Werke ( 1862-1865,-1888)

Music Treasures Collection

• Collaborative effort by the LIbrary of Congress, British Library, Harvard University, Juillard School, Morgan Library & Museum, and New York Public Library to provide access to their music manuscript collections via a central search engine.

Bach Digital

• Digital library of Johann Sebastian Bach's autographs and original parts, the J. S. Bach source catalogue and the J. S. Bach works catalogue

Beethoven-Haus

• Music manuscripts, sketches and printed music by Beethoven and other composers.

Brahms-Institut

• Digital access to the archive of the Brahms-Institute

Chopin Early Editions

• Collection of over 400 first and early printed editions of Frederic Chopin's music held by the University of Chicago Library.

Neue Mozart-Ausgabe

• Offers the complete digitized musical text and the critical commentaries of the entire Neue Mozart-Ausgabe, edited by the Internationale Stiftung Mozart in cooperation with the Mozart cities of Augsburg, Salzburg, and Vienna.

IMSLP Petrucci:  International Music Score Library Project

• Public domain music scores and recordings
• Over 130,000 scores

Sibley Music Library - Eastman School of Music

• Scores and books in the public domain from the Sibley Music Library collection.

ChoralWiki

• Choral/vocal scores, texts, and translations.

Variations Project - Indiana University

• Prototypes of the ways in which musical scores and recording liner notes might be used in conjunction with sound recordings.

Musopen

• Free access to music and educational materials

Public Domain Song Anthology

• Leadsheets to 400 popular songs set in two harmonizations - traditional and contemporary

Boston Symphony Archive

• "HENRY" is the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Performance History Search module, which contains all-documented concerts of the orchestra beginning with October 21, 1881 through the current season.

New York Philharmonic Digital Archives 

• Includes scores and parts marked by New York Philharmonic conductors and musicians; printed programs, 1943-1970; photographs; and business papers.