The British Library has a world-famous collection of printed and manuscript music, music recordings, concert programmes and books and periodicals on music.

Collection guides

  • John Taverner, Mass 'The western wynde'Add. 17803, ff. 23v-24r

    Music manuscripts and archives

    Sources for vocal and instrumental works from the Middle Ages to the present
  • Afton Water part 04

    Printed music

    Material published in every European country, from the beginnings of music printing to the present day
  • Hirsch Music Library stamp

    Hirsch Collection

    Ca. 18,000 items of printed music and music literature and 76 manuscripts collected by Paul Hirsch and dating from the late-12th to the mid-20th centuries
  • Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah

    Royal Music Library

    Printed and manuscript music scores collected by several generations of the royal household
  • Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

    Royal Philharmonic Society Archive

    Over 270 manuscript scores and an astonishing collection of correspondence files, working papers and minute books
  • pop record

    Music recordings

    Our vast collection includes commercial discs, tapes of radio broadcasts, and rare or unpublished recordings
View all related guides

Help

Desks and Readers in the Rare Books and Music Reading Room at the British Library

Rare Books and Music

  • Find information on the shelves
  • Access online databases and electronic books and journals
  • Order collection items to the Reading Room via our catalogues

If you need help, please ask our Reference Specialists at the enquiry desk, or contact the Rare Books Reference Team or Music Reference Team.

We offer a range of free Reader sessions and 1-2-1 consultations to help you make the best use of the Library's collections.

You’ll need a Reader Pass

Mon 10.00 – 20.00
Tue – Thu 09.30 – 20.00
Fri – Sat 09.30 – 17.00
Sun & English Public Holidays closed

Opening hours for all Reading Rooms

Blog posts

Two Rachmaninoff Discoveries - Two Knights in 1937

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Sergei Rachmaninoff (Bain News Service, publisher - Library of Congress) By Jonathan Summers, Curator of Classical Music I recently acquired for the British Library Sound Archive an important collection of discs professionally recorded from radio broadcasts during the 1930s. The...

The revolutionary career of a student drinking song

Monday, March 13, 2023

The outbreak of revolution in Vienna in March 1848 was inevitably accompanied by a wave of revolutionary poems and songs. The lifting of press censorship made the publishing and circulation of such material easy, and some pieces enjoyed great success....

Recording of the week: August Wilhelmj performing Paganini's Concerto No. 1, Op. 6

Monday, March 6, 2023

This week’s post comes from Tom Miles, Metadata Coordinator for Europeana Sounds. August Wilhelmj (1845-1908) was a violinist and teacher. He was born in Usingen, Germany. Referred to by Liszt as ‘the future Paganini’, he gained a reputation as a...

Jelly d’Arányi - The recorded legacy and career of a virtuoso violinist in the roaring twenties

Friday, February 24, 2023

Jelly d'Aranyi in 1926 (The Strad 37: no.437, 1926 supplement. BL collections) Guest blog by Edison Fellow Victoria Bernath, PhD, professional violist, composer, and researcher Overture Jelly d’Arányi (1893-1966) was a British-Hungarian violinist, celebrated as a leading artist in 1920s...

More blog posts

Projects

Painted portrait of Frederick Delius

Delius, Modernism, and the Sound of Place

Using manuscripts and digital technologies to understand the composer Frederick Delius

All projects

Highlights from our music collections

Henry Purcell's Autograph Score, f.55v-56

Henry Purcell's 'My Heart is Inditing'

1685

The last page of the ‘Amen’ chorus from Handel's Messiah

Handel's Messiah

1741

Two pages from Mozart's thematic catalogue with the works listed on the left and the music on the right

Mozart's thematic catalogue

1784 - 1791

Image from Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony sketchbook, Add MS 31766

Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony sketchbook

1808

Franz Schubert, manuscript of An die Musik and portrait. Zweig MS 81, A, B.

An die Musik by Schubert

Manuscript for Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations on an Original Theme, f.1v

Enigma Variations by Elgar

1898-99

Benjamin Britten's manuscript score for A Midsummer Night's Dream

Benjamin Britten's manuscript score for A Midsummer Night's Dream

1960–1978

Case studies

More Case studies
Photograph of Dominic Bridge
…Book historical research has transformed the way we look at books and their role in society.…

Researching the social and political impact of printed music in the long eighteenth century.

Sacha Millwood
…There is a wealth of primary source material…

Sasha is doing collaborative PhD research on the music of Scottish-American composer, Thea Musgrave.

Picture of Evgeniya Kondrashina
…Attending the Music Open Day has really broadened my understanding of what can be done in my field using the British Library’s resources and collections.…

Exploring images of the USSR through British Library music collections