Historic Sheet Music Collection
The Historic Sheet Music Collection (HSMC) consists primarily of popular music of the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Although most of the music is composed or arranged for voice with piano accompaniment, some pieces incorporate other instruments such as guitar, and some are for instrumental solo (primarily piano or guitar). A few classical works are also included in the collection.
Sheet music can offer an interesting interdisciplinary research opportunity. The lyrics, cover art, and advertisements open a window on the society and culture of the time. Subjects range from popular love songs to laments to humorous ditties - and everything else in between. Many songs reflect on the U.S. Civil War, World War I, and World War II. There is even a song about Wheaties in the collection.
Submissions from 1840
Fra Diavolo Opéra Comique en Trois Actes [Barcarolle], Daniel François Esprit Auber and Eugène Scribe
Gastibelza : le fou de Tolède, Hippolyte Monpou, Victor Hugo, and Matteo Carcassi
Gen. Harrison's Quick Step: Subject from Herz, Charles Zeuner
Gitana, Charles Willliam Clover
Go Forget Me Why Should Sorrow, William Clifton
Huit ans, ou La prière sur le rivage, F Masini, Hippolyte Guérin, Joseph Vimeux, and Adolphe Mouilleron
I Caught Her Tear at Parting, Ernest Kollmann
I Have Riches, Thou Hast Beauty, Gaetano Donizetti
Ivy Green, Henry Russell
Jim Along Josey, Edward Harper and John N. Smith
Jubelklänge aus Albion, Joseph Labitzky
Jullien's Celebrated Polkas No. 1 The Original Polka, Louis Antoine Jullien
La'bayadere Quick Step, Chales Zeuner
Lament of the Irish Emigrant, William R. Dempster
Lament Of The Irish Emigrant, William Richardson Dempster
L'amour de la patrie, ou Le toit paternel, Loïsa Puget and Gustave Lemoine
L'amour de l'or : pour voix de basse, Théodore Labarre, Marc Constantin, Joseph Vimeaux, and Célestin Nanteuil
L'ange des petits enfants, Quatrelles, Eugène Lonlay, and Joseph Vimeaux
La voile bénie, Loïsa Puget, Gustave Lemoine, and Joseph Vimeaux
Le nom de ma soeur, Loïsa Puget and Pierre Dupont
Le pain de l'enfant : romance, F. Masini, Hippolyte Guérin, and Joseph Vimeaux
Le petit batelier, ou À qui perd gagne : fabliau, Loïsa Puget and Gustave Lemoine
Le sourire de mon enfant : romance, Hippolyte Loüel, Alfred Nettement, and Joseph Vimeaux
Le touriste et la bergère : couplets à une et deux voix, Joseph Vimeux and Eugène-Hippolyte Forest
Madelinette, Alphonse Thys, Marc Constantin, Joseph Vimeux, and Adolphe Mouilleron
Mazurka, Charles William Glover
Melodies of Many Lands, Charles Jeffries and Charles W. Clover
Merrily O'er the Waves, Austin Philips
Mignonne : romance, Mr. Maillot, Adolphe Catelin, and Joseph Vimeaux
Mrs. Smith, My Dear!, J. S. Du Solle Esqr. and John Watson
My Dream of Love is Over, Samuel Parkman Tuckerman
Nancy Lee, Stephan Adams and Fred E. Weatherly
New Year's Come, Joseph Philip Knight
Nina la glaneuse, Théodore Labarre, Marc Constantin, and Joseph Vimeaux
Oh the Merry Days When We Were Young, Mary Ann Paton
Old Arm Chair, Eliza Cook and Henry Russell
Old Church Clock, J. Long
Old Pear Tree (Washington's Head Quarters), George Blake King and Charles M. King
Outward Bound, Caroline Sheridan Norton
Peace Troubled Soul, Joseph Mazzinghi
Postillion of Lonjomeau: Introduction, John Lo Bianco and Adolphe Adams
Pot pourri, Adolphe Adam
Prince Albert's Waltzes, Frances Isabella King
Rapture Dwelling, Michael William Balfe
Rends-moi ton amour, Loïsa Puget and Gustave Lemoine
Rockaway, Henry Russell and Henry John Sharpe
Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep, Joseph Philip Knight
Rondo Brillante per il piano forte Op. 24, Carl Maria von Weber
Rondo Facile Sur Un Air Anglais, "Away! away! to the mountain's brow", Charles Heidelberg
Rose Atherton, Charles Jefferys
Rose Of Allandale, Sydney Nelson
Round Hill Quick Step, Francis H. Brown
Serenaders, a comic Terzetto, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Si loin!, Paul Henrion, Émile Barateau, and Matteo Carcassi
Six Brilliant Rondos, Carl Czerny
Soldiers Grave, Thomas Williams and Charles Bradlee
Sonata for the Piano Forte, Louis van Beethoven
St. Patrick's Day, Philip Klitz
Teach, Oh Teach Me to Forget: A Favorite German Melody, Henry R. Bishop
The Cottager's Joy, Ignace Pleyel
The Hour of Prayer, Sidney Nelson and Mrs. Hemans
The Lord's Prayer, William Richard Bristow
The Meeting, Ernest Kollmann
There's Rest for Thee in Heav'n, Robert George Paige
Thou Wilt go and Forget Me, Alexander Lee
Total S'iety, Henry Russell
Turkish March, J B. Cramer
Veteran: A Ballad, Joseph Philip Knight and Thomas Haynes Bayly Esqr.
Warrior's Home, Thomas German Reed
When the Morning First Dawns, C. W. Beames
Who Has Not Marked When The Sun Was High, William Michael Rooke and John Thomas Haines
Wrecker's Daughter, Conrad Fay
Submissions from 1839
Awake, Awake Love, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Away Then to the Mountains, William Michael Rooke and John H. Hewitt
Bavarian March, S. Ehrlich
Come Gang Awa' Wi' Me, Edwin Ransford
Flirtation: Answer to Fanny Grey, Flirtation: Answer to Fanny Grey
Here's a Health to Thee Mary, George Herbert Rodwell
Le cavalier Hadjoute, Joseph Vimeux and Auguste Bressier
Mountain Bugle, John H. Hewitt
Mountain Bugle, John Hill Hewitt
Near the Lake Where Drooped the Willow, Charles E. Horn
Near The Lake Where Drooped The Willow, Charles Edward Horn and George Pope Morris
Sensible Man: Companion to the Charming Woman & Fanny Grey, Sensible Man: Companion to the Charming Woman & Fanny Grey
Sister's Call, U. C. Hill
Stevens Quick Step, Zaleucus
Sweet Memories of Thee, W. C. Peters
The Dream is Past, Stephen Glover and Edward Fitz Auburn
Zeffiretto = A Sigh and a Tear, Giovanni Paggi
Submissions from 1838
A la grace de dieu : romance, Loïsa Puget, Gustave Lemoine, and Joseph Vimeux
Far O'er The Deep Blue Sea, Richard Horace Pratt Esq. and John H. Hewitt
Fort Severn Quick Step, H. A. R. Koch and John Baptiste de Barth Walbach
Happy Land, Edward Francis Rimbault and J. Bruton Esq.
I Will Return to Thee, Henri Herz
Life on the Ocean Wave, Henry Russell
Pirate's Serenade, John Thomson
Pirate's Serenade, John Thomson
Star Spirit, Sydney Nelson
Three Musical Sketches for the piano forte, entitled The Lake, The Mill-stream, and The Fountain, William Sterndale Bennett
'Twere Vain to Tell Thee All I Feel, F. Stockhausen