Music Scores and Sheet Music: Manuscript Format

Mozart, God is our Refuge, K. 20

Read about Mozart depositing a copy of his first sacred composition to the British Museum during his family's visit in July 1765.

Read about other music manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries in the British Library.

Music manuscript scores and sheet music are handwritten sources of music that are considered primary sources. Generally speaking, they can be written on paper or parchment. If the manuscript contains the original composer's handwriting, it may be called an autograph. Music manuscripts can contain musical notation as well as texts and images.

The article "Sources. Ms."  from Oxford Music Online includes a detailed description and a list of music manuscripts from the 9th century until the Renaissance, arranged by chronological periods and then alphabetically by cities.

The "Scores Available Online" and "Sheet Music Available" online tabs above contain links to many digitized archival collections of scores and sheet music.

APSU does not hold a large collection of manuscripts and most libraries do not lend them for Interlibrary loan.  Most of the items items in our collection are considered facsimile editions that serve as a close replica of the original.  You can browse a list of Woodward Library's manuscript music items by searching in PeaySearch for:

Music -- Manuscripts in the subject field

The resources below will help with finding digitized versions of manuscript scores (or manuscript facsimiles) in nearby libraries and other libraries across the world.

• RISM-OPAC: International Inventory of Musical Sources

  Open-access database of over 700,000 mainly manuscript sources, most written before 1800, from hundreds of libraries and archives around the world. This catalog gives public access to the RISM A/II series: Music Manuscripts after 1600. Search by composer, title, thematic catalog number, music incipit, library, etc.; some catalog entries include links to digitized sources.

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