Library Guides: Music: Primary Sources

Full-text Collections

Full-text collections include complete texts from a particular literary genre, time period, or covering a particular subject. In most of these collections, individual texts or bodies of texts are searchable, enabling you to trace ideas, subjects, words, and phrases to particular works or authors, as well as throughout types and genres of texts.

HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A digital repository for the nation's great research libraries that brings together the immense collections of its partner institutions. It was initially conceived as a collaboration of the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the University of California system, and the University of Virginia to establish a repository for those universities to archive and share their digitized collections, and quickly expanded to include additional partners with fast growing treasure of digitized collections.
RIPM online archive of music periodicals (Full Text) This link opens in a new window
"RIPM Online Archive of Music Periodicals (FullTEXT) is a unique collection of primary source material ... for the study of music and musical life from approximately 1800 to 1950. It is also the only extensive collection available online for music periodicals dating from the Early Romantic to the Modern period, from Beethoven to Bartók and from Schubert to Stravinsky. With a growing collection of ... rarely available journals selected by international specialists, the RIPM Online Archive offers an almost daily chronicle of musical activities, and immense possibilities for original research. RIPM Online Archive is a full-text version of journals indexed in RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals."

Manuscript Resources

These resources can help you locate the physical location of manuscripts or early printings as well as some digitized versions that are available online.

RISM-Opac This link opens in a new window
Content includes : Over 1,010,000 records of historic music materials, indexed and bibliographically described by specialists (as of May 2015) ; A resource that is continuously growing (approximately 30,000 new records per year) ; Significant collections from libraries and archives worldwide ; Documentation primarily of music manuscripts Emphasis: originating between 1600-1800 (previously series A/II) ; An estimated 1/3 of extant music manuscripts worldwide to 1800 ; Documentation of printed music as well ; Emphasis: individual prints issued between 1600-1800 (previously series A/I) and anthologies issued between 1500 and 1550 (previously series B/I) ; Approximately 60% of all extant prints worldwide to 1800.

IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
A great resource for works and scores currently in public domain and includes early editions and manuscripts that have been uploaded by various libraries as well as user contributed content. However, not all music uploaded here is public domain within the United States. Be sure you are familiar with copyright law before performing from these editions. Also note that older editions that are uploaded to this site often contain numerous errors and unclear editorial markings. Carefully consider the edition you use for research or performance.;

Digital Resources for Musicology
A compilation of many websites with digitized manuscripts, letters, helpful databases, and other digital resources that can assist in music research. Each project has a brief introduction to help sift through the many tools available to see if there is one right for you.