Private collections and libraries

The following contribution presents the first part of a two-part news item meant as a first introduction to private collections and libraries. RISM currently (as of 13 May 2025) lists 9,122 library sigla. Of these, 637 refer to private collections or libraries, i.e. just over 7 % of all our...

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Antonio Salieri 1825-2025

The following is a guest post from Elena Biggi Parodi (professor of music history and historiography at the Conservatorio “A. Boito” in Parma) May 7, 2025 marks the bicentenary of the death of Antonio Salieri, the last royal imperial Kapellmeister of the Habsburg court in Vienna. Thanks to his prestigious...

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Finding Unica in the RISM Database

The ability to trace the distribution of musical sources is one of the strengths of the RISM database. Music manuscripts are by their very nature unique, while any given printed edition potentially exists in multiple copies. Finding those printed editions that have only survived in a single known copy has...

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How to Cite RISM

Many publications, whether online or in print, use their own style guides. However, citation styles frequently do not capture the nuances of historic music manuscripts and printed editions, making it difficult to identify the item with absolute clarity. RISM has recommendations for researchers and librarians when citing musical sources, including...

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The Paul Hirsch Music Collection

The following was originally published on the Music Blog of the British Library (Creative Commons Attribution Licence): The Paul Hirsch Music Collection at the British Library is one of the most outstanding discrete collections of printed music held within the Library.[1] It is accompanied by the Paul Hirsch Papers, which...

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