One of the biggest problems in searching for pieces of music is that the titles are tricky. A distinctive title such as Lincoln Portrait is easy enough—but how many works are called Symphony? Thousands! How about variations such as Sinfonia, Symphonie, Sinfonie? What about arrangements of that work for piano four-hands or for wind band?
The uniform title was developed to help with this problem. If you want to know more, please see this tutorial on using preferred titles:
"Sheet music" and "music score" are often used interchangeably, although "scores" can also be used to refer to sheet music that is bound together and contains multiple parts on one page (e.g., vocals and instrumentals all printed together). This guide refers to "sheet music" as the more generic form.
The sheet music collections are housed at Columbia's Gabe M. Wiener Music and Arts Library.
Offering over 40,000 sheet music titles, Naxos Sheet Music delivers digital sheet music in all classical genres, spanning music from Medieval to the 21st century and composers from Bach to Arvo Pärt. Music can be downloaded and printed, and many works can also be transposed into any key or clef.
NOTE: Use the "Search" tab to find scores and articles. A database of music scores and commentary containing representative vocal and instrumental compositions from antiquity through the nineteenth century. The database has been designed for customized use in music history classes. Searching criteria include composer, title, genre, language, historical period and language. All selections are available for printing.
BabelScores is a French-based structure arising from the need to diffuse and promote contemporary music from the last 40 years, rendering information more easily available to everyone worldwide. Looks into and selects the works of the most creative, original and innovative composers of the past few decades offering a wide catalogue and setting up a powerful circulation platform without any restrictions and especially addressed to instrumentalists, ensembles, orchestras, composers, musicologists, conservatories, universities and festivals throughout the world
These databases also contain some digital sheet music/scores, but in addition to other document types.
African American Music Reference is bringing togther text reference, biographies, chronologies, sheet music, images, lyrics, liner notes, and discographies which chronicle the diverse history and culture of the African American experience through music. The database is constantly expanding to include comprehensive coverage of blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrelsy, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other forms of black American musical expression.