LibGuides: Music: Primary & Historical Sources

Finding Primary Sources

Shapell.org
Hundreds of Historic Manuscripts. Thousands More Being Digitized.
National Archives
LOC getting started with Primary Sources
Sources of Primary Documents

Reed Special Collections & Archives

Reed’s Special Collections and Archives provides access to rare books, manuscripts, college archives, and other primary source materials with enduring historical value, including a variety of materials related to the performing arts. Select resources are available online via Reed Digital Collections.

Sound & Multi-Format Collections

American Music This link opens in a new window
Music Online: American Music is a history database that allows people to hear and feel the music from America's past. The database includes songs by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers and cowboys. Included in the database are the songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests and more.

NOLA hiphop archive
From Tulane University. Photographs and audio interviews with individuals involved in New Orlean's hiphop and bounce scene from the late 1980s through Hurricane Katrina.
Hogan Jazz Archive
Oral history interviews with musicians, family members, and observers that document the stories surrounding the emergence of jazz in New Orleans from the late 19th century forward.
Archives of African American Music and Culture
Select digitized materials covering African American musical idioms and cultural expressions, including popular, religious, and classical music, with genres ranging from blues and gospel to R&B and contemporary hip hop.
Indigenous Music and Dance Research Guide
This comprehensive guide from the Xwi7xwa Library at the University of British Columbia includes strategies and information for researchers searching for Indigenous artists, dance and music performances.
Plateau Peoples’ Web Portal
A gateway to Plateau peoples’ cultural materials at a variety of institutions, curated by representatives from several sovereign tribal nations. Dance and music traditions are represented.

Ethnographic Sound Archives Online This link opens in a new window
Over 2,000 hours of previously unpublished historic field recordings from around the world, alongside their supporting field notes and ethnographers’ metadata, opening new paths for the study of music in its cultural context.

University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives
50,000+ items include films and field recordings documenting international, national, and regional music traditions.
Alan Lomax Archive
Online access to materials from the archives of folklorist and ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, including rare and unique sound recordings, videos, and photographs.
Global Music Archive
Multimedia reference archive and resource center for traditional and popular song, music, and dance of Africa and the Americas.
Discography of American Historical Recordings
Database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era produced before 1925.
Archives of Traditional Music
An ethnographic sound archive (select files available online) covering a wide range of cultural and geographical areas, vocal and instrumental music, linguistic materials, folktales, interviews, and oral history, as well as videotapes, photographs, and manuscripts.
BAM Hamm Archives
Materials and documents, including images, text, video, and audio recordings, that chronicle the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s ongoing history, programs, and people.

Score & Manuscript Collections

Be sure to also check out the resources on the Scores page for additional open access and historical materials.

Music Treasures Consortium
Search and access music manuscript collections from the Library of Congress, British Library, Harvard University, Juilliard School, Morgan Library & Museum, and New York Public Library.
Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music (DIAMM)
Information about and/or images of medieval polyphonic music manuscripts from a variety of collections worldwide, covering ca. 800 to ca. 1600.
Music manuscripts of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Digital images of autographs and copies of Bavarian court music and composer collections from the 15th century to the present.
Gallica
Manuscripts and early published editions of music from Bibliothèque Nationale de France collections.
Ernestine Schumann-Heink Collection
Digitized music manuscripts (including art songs composed by Amy Beach and Gustav Mahler, songs associated with World War I, lullabies, patriotic songs, and popular tunes) as well as select concert programs, photographs, and more.
New York Philharmonic Digital Archive
Access scores and parts marked by NY Philharmonic conductors and musicians, along with related archival materials.
Bach Digital
Includes digital images of J.S. Bach's autographs and original parts, as well as the Bach source and works catalogues.
Beethoven-Haus
Nearly 40,000 images of facsimiles of music manuscripts, written documents, music prints, pictures and objects, sound examples, and audio letters related to Beethoven and other composers.
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
Digitized musical text and the critical commentaries of the entire Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (Mozart Complete Works, new edition).
Digital Resources for Musicology
Links to open-access projects in music: primary source collections of music manuscripts and more.
Repertoire International de Sources Musicales (RISM)
Locate historical music manuscripts (primarily 1600-1800) held in libraries worldwide.

Written Sources & Historical Reviews

Music Periodicals of the 19th Century This link opens in a new window
Music Online: Music Periodicals of the 19th Century is a collection of full-text periodicals depicting American musical life from 1838 to the early 1900s through local and international news, reviews, editorials, sheet music, and advertisements.
RIPM: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals (1800 - 1950) This link opens in a new window
Music periodicals, primarily from the nineteenth-century. No full text.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full text archive of selected core scholarly journals in various disciplines. All parts of the journals are scanned, including any images.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full text of historical newspapers, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Boston Globe. Also includes historical black newspapers including the Chicago Defender, the Los Angeles Sentinel, the New York Amsterdam News, and the Pittsburgh Courier. Coverage varies but generally starts in the 1800s. Issues include the complete paper, cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in easily downloadable PDF format.
ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Search just the "Historical Black Newspapers" portion of the Proquest Historical Newspapers collection. This includes the Chicago Defender, the Los Angeles Sentinel, the New York Amsterdam News, and the Pittsburgh Courier.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Magazines in the film, entertainment, and music industries. Titles include Billboard, Variety, Spin, Back Stage, etc. Full text.