15 Music Scores
You can find music scores in a variety of different formats:
- printed scores
- collected editions
- online and digital score collections.
Tips when Searching for Scores
Uniform Titles
Often a single piece of music will have numerous titles. To make them easier to search, music scores are catalogued using uniform titles. Uniform titles are standardised titles that group similar forms of a composer’s music together.
For example:
Mozart’s Concerto in A major for piano and orchestra, K.488 can also be referred to as:
- Konzert A Dur, K.488 fur Klavier
- Piano concerto in A Major, K.488
The uniform title for this work is:
- Concertos, piano, orchestra, K.488, A major
Use the uniform title to find the work in Library Search. When searching for work of a particular genre place an asterisk at the end of the word to find the plural form in case the composer wrote more than one work in that category (e.g.: concerto*, sonata* etude*).
Original Language Title
Many music scores are identified in the original language of the composer and, therefore, have a foreign language title.
For example:
The original language title for Bizet’s opera Pearl Fishers is Les Pecheurs de perles.
To check if a score has an original language title:
- Go to Oxford Music Online (Grove online) (UQ students & staff).
- Type the composer’s surname and words from the title in the search box.
Once you have located the original language title, search for this in Library Search.
Printed Scores
Find printed scores through Library Search.
When searching include:
- the composer’s surname
- the instrument (piano, violoncello, violin)
- an asterisk to also search the plural of music genres (sonata*, suite*, concerto*)
- unique numbers (if the score is opus 101, only enter 101).
Once you’ve done your search restrict your results to the content type scores.
Finding Music Scores in ARMUS by Call Number
Collected Editions
Collected editions are the complete works of a particular composer. These may also be known as collected works, Gesamtausgabe, oeuvres completes, opere complete, tutte le opera, or opera omina. These editions are created by scholars who examine all available primary and secondary source material to determine the composer’s original intention in creating a work. They are generally used for academic research, however, they can be used for performance if a particular score is unavailable.
Finding Collected Editions
Collected editions are located at M3 in ARMUS. Please note they cannot be borrowed.
To determine whether a work is in a collected edition:
- Go to Oxford Music Online (Grove Online). (UQ students & staff)
- Search by the composer’s surname.
- Select the composer’s main (biographical) entry from the list of results.
- Select the Works tab, which lists the composer’s complete works.
- Beside each work in the table is a section listing which volume of the collected edition that particular piece is in. In some cases, there will be more than one. For example, Bach’s works are listed as BG (Bach-Gesellschaft) and NBA (Neue Bach-Ausgabe).
Look up the collected edition in Library Search to determine whether it is available in ARMUS.
A note on collected editions
While the original material in collected editions such as scores, manuscripts and composer’s papers are primary sources, any essays, discussions, or analyses of the original material written by the editor are secondary sources.
Online and Digital Score Collections
If a score you need is not available in hard copy, you may be able to find it in an online collection.
Music Online: Classical Scores Library (UQ students & staff)
