Guide to Finding Classical Music Scores
Find classical music scores
Catalogue search
To find a classical score, use the catalogue or browse the shelves. The scores are organised in British Catalogue of Music (BCM) order which groups the music by instrument type e.g. piano, flute, guitar etc.
Composer Search
At the State library homepage
• Click on Our Catalogue in the top right hand corner or use the Quicklinks option
• Change the keyword option to Author using the drop down menu
• Change Entire State Library of WA Collection to State Library Printed Music
• In the search box, type the composer’s surname and the initial if known e.g. beethoven l
• Click Submit
• Click the Limit/Sort Search button at the top of the page
• Continue your search by using the Words in the TITLE box at the bottom of the page
• If you are looking for specific title, type some keywords e.g. phantom opera
• If you know the opus number or any other identifying number, type that e.g. 27. Do not type op. or opus.
• Click Submit
• If there is more than one entry, select a record by clicking on the underlined title
• In the LOCATION field is the floor number of the State Library - 2nd Floor
• In the CALL NO field is the call number or in this case letters (British Catalogue of Music) that indicate where the item is located e.g. QPE
• If you see REQUEST ITEM in the MESSAGE field, click REQUEST in the top left hand corner. Your request will be fetched for you and left at the service desk on the 2nd Floor within half an hour. A date e.g. DUE 29-12-2010 in the STATUS field means that it is out on loan.
• If you are a member of the library, the item can be reserved for you. You must see a staff member to do this.
• If there is no date in the STATUS box and no REQUEST ITEM message, the score will be on the shelf.
Subject search
• If you are not searching for a specific piece but are looking for works of a similar nature, use the Subject search option. Each catalogue entry has at least one subject heading e.g. Piano music. These headings allow works of a similar character to be grouped together.• Type subject headings in English e.g. waltzes, not valses; or symphonies not sinfonias
• Many music pieces are written in standard forms such as sonatas, suites, concertos etc. Type “form” subject headings in plural e.g. mazurkas not mazurka, sonatas not sonata
• Enter instruments with the word ‘music’ attached e.g. piano music, trumpet music, flute and guitar music
• For a duet, type in the name of the featured instrument followed by the accompanying instrument e.g. clarinet and guitar music
• If the duet is in standard classical form, type the form name and then the instruments e.g. sonatas violin and piano
• For ensembles of three or more, specify trios, quartets, quintets etc first, followed by the instruments in alphabetical order (with the exception of keyboard parts which must be listed first) e.g. quartets piano viola violins 2 or woodwind trios clarinet flute oboe.
Keyword search
If you are unsuccessful with the above search techniques, then try a keyword search as these searches include title, contents and subject.Extra tips
• Verify the title of the music, if necessary
• Check the title of the work as named by the composer e.g. die zauberflöte, not magic flute
• Find its identifying number. e.g. opus 27, no. 2, for Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata by using the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians or asking a staff member to help you
• If you cannot find what you are looking for, you may need to broaden your search e.g. if an individual piano sonata is not in the catalogue then broaden your search and look for piano sonatas.
• When searching for music pieces written in standard form e.g. sonatas, suites, concertos, as titles (after first searching for the composer’s name) type them in English and in plural.
• Use an asterisk to truncate words in the title e.g. sonat* will retrieve sonata, sonatas, sonaten and sonatinen
• Use the word violoncello rather than the commonly used cello
• Use horn instead of French horn
• If we do not have what you are looking for, it may be possible to organise an inter-library loan from another music library in Australia. Search Trove, a national database of library collections, including music libraries.
Page last updated: Wednesday 20 April 2011
