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 1850
Priere Excaucee, Thecla Badarzewska
Sailor Prince Polka, Charles D'Albert
Storm March Gallop, Benjamin Bilse
Sylphide Parisienne, Charles Voss
Tremolo, Henri Rosellen
Victoria Quick Step, John Willis
Virginia Rose Bud, F. H. Kavanaugh
Wanted a Governess, John Parry and George Dubourg
Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea, A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea
When E'er I See Those Smiling Eyes, Mathias Keller
Submissions from 1849
Air Tyrolien, Franz Hünten
Bolero sur un Motif Favori de l'Opera le Domino Noir, Fred Burgmuller
Celebrated Storm Rondo, Daniel Steibelt
Deserted Wife, I. B. Woodbury
Hommage à Jenny Lind, D. Krug
Hungarian National March, F. B. Helmsmuller
Minuet aus Mozart's Sinfonie in Es, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
My Southern Home, John Turner Sargent Sullivan, J. W. Watson, James Bellak, and L. H. Gimber
Sad and Alone, John C. Baker
Sam Brown, S A. Wells and J P. Ordway
Who Would be a Bachelors Wife, Leonard Marshall
Submissions from 1848
Ah! que j'sis content : chansonnette, Paul Henrion, Adolphe Porte, and Matteo Carcassi
À toi, toujours: romance, Paul Henrion, Émile Barateau, and Matteo Carcassi
Belle of the Forest, Wm. C. Wright
Child of the Regiment, Gaetano Donizetti
Domino Polka, Francis Rziha
Fanfare-le-trompette : chansonnette, Paul Henrion, Émile Barateau, and Matteo Carcassi
Give Me Three Grains of Corn, Mother, O. R. Gross
Hennrietta Waltzes, Henri Meyer
Last Rose of Summer, Henri Herz
Les vingt sous de Perinette: bluette, Paul Henrion, Hippolite Guérin, and Matteo Carcassi
Le village incendié : romance, Henry Michal, Honoré Bonhomme, and Adolphe Mouilleron
Magic Bell, Maurice Strakosch
Mary Polka, F. W. Muller
Noble dame si belle : romance, Auguste Placet and Edmond Rupalley
Oh! Susanna, Stephen Collins Foster
Pauvres, mais heureux : romance, Armand Saintis and Joseph Vimeux
Smith's March, J. T. Martin
Teresa Truffi, Teresa Truffi
Though the Day of My Destiny's Over, Alexander Lee
Submissions from 1847
Be Kind to the Loved Ones at Home, I. B. Woodbury
Bowl'd Sojer Boy, Samuel Lover
Come to This Heart So Lonely, Giuseppe Sarti and Francis Weiland
Dearest Mae, James Power, Francis Lynch, and L.V.H. Crosby
History ob de World, Augustus Clapp
Jenny Lind's Favorite Polka, A. Wallerstein
Je suis enrhumé du cerveau : scène comique, Victor Parizot, E. Labrousse, and Eugène-Hippolyte Forest
Lou'siana Belle, Joseph Murphy and Sable Harmonists
Love Launched a Fairy Boat, J. H. Tully
Ne me maudissez pas : mélodie prière, Armand Saintis
Old Uncle Ned, Stephen Collins Foster, Anthony F. Winnemore, and Augustus Clapp
Parisienne, Henry Herz
Queen of My Soul, Miss Wollaston
Rosa Lee, or, Don't be Foolish Joe, Rosa Lee
Second March: From Bellini's Opera Norma, Ferdinand Beyer
Ten Years Ago, Edward J. Loder and Thomas Haynes Bayly
The Mother Who Hath a child at Sea, Henry Russell
The Mountaineer's Farewell, John C. Baker
Variations Brillantes à Quatre Mains pour le Piano, N. Louis
Viv' le roi : chansonnette, Paul Henrion, M.E. Bourget, and Matteo Carcassi
Widow Machree, Samuel Lover
Submissions from 1846
Amarante, Geo. W. Hewitt
Erin is My Home, Edward L. White
Fairies' Galop, Francis H. Brown
Gulnare Polka, Gulnare Polka
Gypsey's Wild Chaunt, Alexander Lee
Hymne national : en l'honneur de Pie IX, Gaetano Magazzari and Etienne Tréfeu
I'd Offer Thee This Hand of Mine, L. Thayer Chadwick and Henry Chadwick
Jenny Lind Polka, Allen Dodworth
L'echo menteur : chansonnette, Aristide de Latour, Francis Tourte, Joseph Vimeux, and Célestin Nanteuil
L'hirondelle et le prisonnier : ballade, Paul Scudo
Low Back'd Car, Samuel Lover
Salut a la France, Gaetano Donizetti
Selections from the New Grand Opera of The Crusaders, Jules Benedict
Une fleur pour réponse : romance, F. Masini, Émile Barateau, and Maurice Baoulx
Would'st Thou Inherit Paradise, John R. Ling
Submissions from 1845
Battle Prayer, Friedrich Heinrich Himmel
Christ Stilling the Tempest, Sydney Nelson and Felecia DB Hemans
Gestörte Glück, or The Disconsolate, M. Richter
I'd Offer thee this Heart, Valentine Dister
Long Long Ago!, Thomas Haynes Bayly
Moonlight is Sleeping, George Linley and Austin Phillips
Music of the Ethiopian Serenaders, Music of the Ethiopian Serenaders
Overture to the Occasional Oratorio, George Frideric Handel
Quadrilles on Favorite Airs from Balfe's New Opera of the Bohemian Girl, Wm. Scharfenberg
Spirit Waltz, L. V. Beethoven
We are the Wandering Breezes, Caroline Sheridan Norton
Submissions from 1844
Agawam Quick Step, D. H. Hashell
All is Over, Carl Maria von Weber
Celebrated Woronzow Waltzes, Joseph Labitzky
Chant national : de l'opéra Charles VI, F. Halévy and Casimir Delavigne
Dear Native Home, William Ball
Down Among the Dead Men, Henry Phililips
Dreams of Heaven, Mrs. Hemans and T. Bissell
Es-tu la soeur des anges? : romance, F. Masini, Aricie Carrie, and Joseph Vimeux
Favorite Airs in 3 Books Selected from Donizetti's Opera Buffa Don Pasquale, Gaetano Donizetti
Favorite Airs in Benedict's Opera The Brides of Venice, Julius Benedict
Good Bye, J. C. Engelbrecht
Good Bye, J. G. Engelbrecht
He Tells Me He Loves Me, John Charles Andrews