# Open Music Library, a new index of free scores



## avorio (May 10, 2016)

The Open Music Library was just launched with over 200,000 free music scores from over six national libraries. They include original manuscripts from canonical composers as well as contemporary works.

Some examples:


Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Ólafur Arnalds (1986-)

We are now working on expanding that index.

Thoughts on what composers or works to include?

Or perhaps a specific way to search them?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Go for all the great composers


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Donizetti. IMSLP's Donizetti scores are the MSS., not printed vocal scores.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Looks like a great idea. I didn't like the fact that you have to sign up to see the scores, unlike IMSLP.

I notice that it's a little weak on Scotland - no Marshall or McGibbon or Scott Skinner. Niel Gow is there but in the original.

The indexing is problematic. The Earl of Kellie gets 4 results but call him plain Thomas Erskine and you only get one.


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## avorio (May 10, 2016)

Taggart said:


> The indexing is problematic. The Earl of Kellie gets 4 results but call him plain Thomas Erskine and you only get one.


You're right! We had two different records for Sir Thomas Erskine.

I just merged them into one, which you can find here:

http://openmusiclibrary.org/person/80749/

In doing so, I discovered that he was the dedicatee of a work by Johann Georg Christoph Schetky, which now appears in his composer page as well. The work is called Six Trios For Two Violins And A Violoncello, Opera 1.

Thank you for pointing this out!


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## avorio (May 10, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Go for all the great composers


Hi Pugg! Thanks for your message. We currently have over 70,000 people in our index, and that includes composers, librettists, arrangers, musicologists, editors, etc. We've got the canonical composers fairly well covered, as the OML includes over 200,000 scores curated by six national libraries around the world and the largest publisher of digital classical scores, Alexander Street.

I'm keen to hear about composers that are not covered in that index - contemporary, obscure, and the hard-to-find ones. Take, for example, Ólafur Arnalds (1986-)


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## avorio (May 10, 2016)

SimonTemplar said:


> Donizetti. IMSLP's Donizetti scores are the MSS., not printed vocal scores.


Hi SimonTemplar! Thanks for your suggestion.

We currently have 638 scores by Gaetano Donizetti, and they include original manuscripts that have been scanned and preserved by national libraries, as well as recent print versions.

Were you looking for something in particular you could not find?


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## avorio (May 10, 2016)

Taggart said:


> Looks like a great idea. I didn't like the fact that you have to sign up to see the scores, unlike IMSLP.


We have recently made some changes to the score page which inadvertently impacted that aspect of the website. The login is necessary only for the for-fee scores (which require a subscription). All other openly accessible scores remain openly accessible in the OML.

Thank you for reporting that! It has now been fixed


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