Ask a Librarian: Performing Arts

The Performing Arts Reading Room provides access to music scores. Contact the Recorded Sound Research Center if you are looking for music recordings.

Search for published music and music manuscripts in several places:

• Search the Library of Congress Online Catalog for music, both manuscripts and published scores
• Search the Library's Finding Aids Tool to find music scores that may be part of a Special Collection
• Search the Library's Digital Collections for scores that have been digitized

Not all music scores are in the Online Catalog. Contact us through Ask A Librarian if you have trouble locating a specific score.

There are over 50 different digital collections specific to music and the performing arts. Find them through the Library's Digital Collections website and select "Music Division."

These digital collections include thousands of pieces of sheet music on innumerable topics, liturgical chants that are nearly 1,000 years old, books about music from before 1800, and many other manuscript and printed scores.

Many of the Music Division's holograph music manuscripts (written in the composer's own hand) have also been scanned and made available to view and download on the Library's website. Composers with several manuscripts available online include Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoenberg, and Igor Stravinsky. Find them by searching the composer's name and limiting results to "Notated Music" or by searching the Music Treasures Consortium digital collection.

The Performing Arts Reading Room provides access to the Music Division's collections, but the Copyright Office handles the process of copyright registration. The website for the U.S. Copyright Office offers a wealth of information on copyright, including a page of frequently asked questions.

Consult the Copyright Office Circulars specific to performing arts or contact the Copyright Office for questions on copyrighting your music.

Researchers may order reproductions of collection items through the Library’s Duplication Services. Consult their website for ordering instructions, pricing, and available formats. 

The Music Division reviews and approves all duplication requests for materials held in the Performing Arts Reading Room. An order may be denied if an item is in poor physical condition, has donor restrictions, or requires permission from the copyright claimant. 

Researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the Performing Arts Reading Room in advance of placing an order. Staff will locate the item and make sure the identifying information (call number, box and/or folder number, etc.) is accurate. Staff will also assess any rights’ issues and, in many cases, can provide contact information for rights’ holders when written permission is required.

In all cases, it is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.