LibGuides: Music Research: Scores

Find Scores in the MSU Music Library

Library of Congress Call Numbers for Music Scores
A list of Library of Congress Call Numbers to help you browse scores by composition type and instrumentation.
Search MSU Libraries for Scores

Find Scores Online: Databases

BabelScores
Contains thousands of recent music scores and audio of their recordings.
Music Online: Classical Scores Library
Music Online: Classical Scores Library is the largest and most authoritative resource of in-copyright scores to support teaching and research in classical music. This multivolume series contains more than 53,000 titles and 1.3 million printable pages of the most important scores in classical music, ranging from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. More than 4,600 composers are included, from traditionally studied composers such as Mozart and Tchaikovsky to contemporary artists including Kaija Saariaho, Peter Maxwell-Davies, and John Tavener. Includes parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Recent Researches in Music Online
Online access to scores of the Recent Research series from A-R Editions: Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries, American Music, Oral Traditions, and Yale University’s Collegium Musicum.

Find Scores Online: Selected Open Sources

Art Song Central
Art Song Central is principally an archive and directory of free, printable public domain sheet music for singers and voice teachers. An emphasis is placed on standard classical and traditional repertoire.
Band Music PDF Library
Public domain band music from 1870s-1922
Choral Public Domain Library
Contemporary Music Score Collection (UCLA Music Library)
The Contemporary Music Score Collection is published by the UCLA Music Library. The 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. The Contemporary Score Edition is made possible because of the Hugo and Christine Davise Fund for Contemporary Music.
Digital Resources for Musicology
This website provides links to substantial open-access projects of use to musicians and musicologists.
Electronic and Virtual Editions
EVE is a list of annotated links to digitized and scanned musical scores as well as projects focused on digital scores. It includes open-access projects from which music may be downloaded and in some cases searched, analyzed, listened to, visualized, and re-edited.
IMSLP
The largest collection of public domain music scores available online
Mutopia
2124 pieces of music – free to download, modify, print, copy, distribute, perform, and record – all in the Public Domain or under Creative Commons licenses, in PDF, MIDI, and editable LilyPond file formats.
Public Domain Song Anthology
The Public Domain Song Anthology by David Berger and Chuck Israels is a collection of 348 popular songs with modern and traditional harmonization for both study and performance. This open educational resource was curated by two leading jazz repertory experts and consists of songs in the US public domain. This anthology is the first of its kind and is free for students and performers to use, adapt, remix, and share. The songs, many of which are at risk of being forgotten, are free of copyright restrictions and are available in multiple formats to promote greater usage and dissemination.

Primary Sources

Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music
DIAMM (the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music) is a leading resource for the study of medieval manuscripts. DIAMM presents images and metadata for thousands of manuscripts.
Digital Resources for Musicology
This website provides links to substantial open-access projects of use to musicians and musicologists.
RISM Online
RISM Online (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales), a service from the RISM Digital Center, is a database that provides access to music manuscripts, printed music editions, writings on music theory, and libretti that are found in libraries, archives, churches, schools, and private collections worldwide. Multiple entry points, with extensive Source, Person, and Institution search interfaces, provide users with the ability to quickly narrow down relevant results using several different approaches, including keyword searches, filters, and relationship information.

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Interlibrary Loan
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