The Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) - International Inventory of Musical Sources - is an international, non-profit organization that aims to comprehensively document extant musical sources worldwide: manuscripts, printed music editions, writings on music theory, and libretti that are found in libraries, archives, churches, schools, and private collections. RISM’s over 1.4 million records can be searched at no cost through the RISM Catalog and RISM Online. RISM was founded in Paris in 1952 and is the largest and only global organization that documents written musical sources. RISM records what exists and where it can be found.

Library Sigla

Search RISM’s abbreviations for libraries, archives and collections with historical music holdings

RISM for Libraries

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Muscat

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News

Commemorating Archangel Michael

Whereas the Eastern Orthodox churches commemorate Archangel Michael on November 8, in the West his feast is celebrated on 29 September. St. Michael has a prominent position among the angels in heaven. The prefix “arch” is derived from the Greek ἀρχή (archē) and means as much as beginning or leadership,...

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The 'Master Muñoz Pedrera' collection in RISM

We have received the following from Juan Francisco Murcia Galián (Conservatorio Superior de Música “Manuel Massotti Littel” de Murcia, Spain) (Spanish follows): Pedro Muñoz Pedrera (1865-1925) was a musician born in Murcia, Spain. He began his musical education with Julian Calvo, composer and organist of the cathedral of Murcia. Later...

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New on our Bookshelves: AbelWV

A new catalog of works for Carl Friedrich Abel (cited in RISM as AbelWV) by Günter von Zadow has inspired us to revise the composer’s records in RISM RISM Catalog | RISM Online. We’ve gotten this started and the rest will follow. Günter von Zadow, Catalogue of Works of Carl...

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Finding Unica in the RISM Database

At the recent IAML Congress in Cambridge the issue of unica was addressed in diverse contexts. The British Library, for example, expressed an interest in coordinating its digitization projects with other institutions, including internationally, in the hope that new additions to their digital collections could be unique contributions. When speaking...

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New Bibliography of Music Anthologies from the Library of Congress

We have received the following from Susan Clermont and Paul Sommerfeld (Music Division, Library of Congress): Among the various early music imprints and manuscripts held among the Library of Congress Music Division’s rare general collections are 306 music anthologies dating from the late 15th through 17th centuries. These materials represent...

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All the news

Library Sigla

Search RISM’s abbreviations for libraries, archives and collections with historical music holdings

RISM for Libraries

Librarians, see here what RISM has to offer you

Muscat

All about Muscat, RISM’s specialized program for cataloging musical sources