Primary sources reveal information about the production and performance of music, aural traditions, histories of musical composition, notation, and technique, information about music theory and about individuals' and cultures' technological advancement, economy, education, cognition, and more.
Danielle Loftus (2012)
Types of primary sources include:
British Library Sounds: Classical Music
Brahms Digital from the Brahms Institute: manuscripts, photos letters of the Brahms as well as early prints from Robert
Schumann and letters from Joseph Joachim.
Digital Scores and Libretti from the Loeb Library at Harvard: includes manuscripts, first editions, and early editions of music
from the17th to the early 20th century.
Digital Mozart Edition: Is making all of Mozart's work available.
Early English Books Online: Contains all works published in England from 1453 until 1800. Search the composer by author
to find scores in the notation of the time they were published (library database limited to Burman).
Juiliiard Manuscript Collection: Autograph manuscripts, first editions and engravings.
Library of Congress: Extensive collection of digitized manuscripts, recordings and early printed scores.
Music Library Digital Scores Collection from the University of Washington: manuscript musical scores dating from the
17th through 19th centuries, primarily 17th and 18th century operas, opera excerpts, and other vocal music
Music manuscripts and archives from the British Library: spans ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary periods.
Music Manuscripts Online: Over 700 manuscripts of composers such as Bach, Wagner, Liszt, Mahler, Mozart, Hayden and more.
RISM is an international, non-profit organization with the goal of comprehensively documenting extant musical sources