Music Scores & Sheet Music: Browsing

Browsing the physical collection can sometimes be a valuable search technique - especially when you are searching for music scores. The Library of Congress Classification Scheme brings together the literature of music quite nicely. For example, M 3 is the Library of Congress number for collected and complete editions of individual composers. Following is a list of those editions in our MAIN and OVERSIZE collections, in call number order. Scores are shelved in one or the other collection depending on the physical dimensions of the score. Note how the works of individual composers are gathered together under the same letter.

MAIN COLLECTION

• M 3 B8 1965 (Brahms, Johannes)
• M 3 C34(Caron, Philippe)
• M 3 C54 C6 1949(Chopin, Fredric)
• M 3 F37 1960(Faugues, Guillaume)
• M 3 F9 1889a (Frederick II, King of Prussia)
• M 3 G85 (Guillaume, de Machaut)
• M 3 H26 (Handel, George Frederic)
• M3 J66 L42 1981 (Joplin, Scott)
• M 3 J6 1969 (Josquin, des Prez)
• M 3 L772 (Liszt, Franz)
• M 3 M66 T8(Monteverdi, Claudio)
• M 3 M896 (Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus)
• M 3 M896k (Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus)
• M 3 R45 (Rener, Adam)
• M 3 S36 (Schoenberg, Arnold)
• M 3 W7 (Wolf, Hugo)

OVERSIZE

• M 3 B1133 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)
• M 3 B4 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)
• M 3 C32 1967 (Cabezon, Antonio de)
• M 3 H46 (Haydn, Joseph)
• M 3 M5 1967 (Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix)
• M 3 O27 C6 (Obrecht, Jacob)
• M 3 R25 (Radomski, Mikolaj)
• M 3 S3 1884a (Schubert, Franz)
• M 3 V48 (Verdi, Giuseppe)

You can also use the library catalogue to 'browse' our collection of scores.  For example, in this search I am looking for sonata scores using a basic keyword search. You may try any combination of keywords with the term scores to produce similar results.  For example, scores and:

• canons
• choruses
• quintets
• sacred
• mixed voices
• operas
• sonatas
• string quintets
• symphonies
• vocal

If you are interested in particular instruments try scores and:

• flute
• marimba
• piano
• viola
• violin