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 1922
Red Moon, John Traver, Henri de Martini, and Max Kortlander
Rigaudon, Edward A. MacDowell
Rose of Stamboul, Harold Atteridge, Leo Fall, and Sigmund Romberg
Some Sunny Day, Irving Berlin
Spoon River, Percy Grainger
Stumbling, "Zez" Confrey
Sunset Trail of Gold, Allie Toland Criss and James G. MacDermid
Sur le Bosphore, Jean Rodor and Vincent Scotto
Sweet Indiana Home, Walter Donaldson
The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, Leon Jessel
To Have and to Hold, Menlo Mayfield, Arthur Glendale, and George Fitzmaurice
Toot, Toot, Tootsie! (Goo' Bye), Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman, and Dan Russo
Trees, Joyce Kilmer and Oscar Resbach
Yankee Doodle Blues, Irving Caesar, B. G. De Sylva, and George Gershwin
You Remind Me of My Mother, George M. Cohan
You Won't Be Sorry, Harry D. Kerr, Earl Burtnett, and Louis Marcaise
Submissions from 1921
April Showers, Buddy Gard DeSylva and Louis Silvers
Baby In Love, Alfred Goodman, Harold Richard Atteridge, and Ralph Benatzky
By the Waters of Minnetonka, Thurlow Lieurance
Cry-Baby Blues, Joe Young, Sam M. Lewis, and George W. Meyer
Dolly, Arthur Francis, Paul Lannin, Vincent Youmans, and Fred Jackson
He's the Cat's Meow, Ballard Macdonald, Al Piantadosi, and Billy Abbott
Hortense, Joe Young, Sam M. Lewis, and Walter Donaldson
If You Like Me Like I Like You, L. Wolfe Gilbert and Dave Kaplan
I'll Forget You, Ernest R. Ball and Annelu Burns
I'm Just a Happy Go Lucky Guy, K. Louis Irwin
Italian Street Song, Victor Herbert and Rida Johnson Young
Ka-lu-a, Anne Caldwell and Jerome Kern
Leave Me With a Smile, Earl Burtnett and Chas. Koehler
Let Us Be Sweethearts Again, Ernie Erdman and Anton Lada
Make Believe, Benny Davis and Jack Shilkret
Moxie, Norman Leigh and Dennis J. Shea
My Hawaiian Melody, Dave Ringle and J. Fred Coots
My Sunny Tennessee, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Herman Ruby
Oh Me! Oh My!, Arthur Francis and Vincent Youmans
Over the Hill, Lou Klein, Edgar Allen, and Maurie Rubens
Parade of the Wooden Soliders, Leon Jessel
Play That Song of India Again, Leo Wood and Irving Bibo
Pucker Up and Whistle, Blanche Franklyn and Nat Vincent
Sleepy Head, Maurice Gunsky, Jack Brown, and Billy Hill
Song of Love, Dorothy Donnelly, Franz Schubert, Heinrich Berté, and Sigmund Romburg
The Last Waltz, Oscar Strauss, Julius Brammer, Alfred Grünwald, Edward D. Dunn, Harold Richard Atteridge, and Geo. F. Bauer
Time After Time, Edward R. Ball and J. Keirn Brennan
Weep No More My Mammy, Lew Pollack
When Grand Circus Park Was Uptown, Richard A. Whiting
When Shall We Meet Again, Raymond B. Egan and Richard A. `Whiting
Who's Who With You, Vincent Youmans
Submissions from 1920
A Boat Song, Mary L. Ritter and Mary Turner Salter
Almost Home, Charles W. Kemling
Avalon: Fox Trot Song, Al Jolson and Vincent Rose
Daddy, You've been a Mother to Me, Fred Fisher
Days of a Short While Ago, E P. Womack and Harry P. Guy
Dodge Brothers March, Victor Herbert and Maxwell I. Pitkin
Down the Trail to Home Sweet Home, Ernest R. Ball
Drifting, Arthur J. Lamb and William Polla
Everybody's Buddy, Billy Frisch and Bernie Grossman
Grieving For You, Joe Gibson, Joe Ribaud, and Joe Gold
Ham and Eggs, John Martin
I'd Love to Fall Asleep and Wake Up in My Mammy's Arms, Fred E. Ahlert, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young
If Love Were What the Rose Is, Algernon Swinburne and Reginald Billin
Japanese Sandman, Raymond B. Egan and Richard A. Whiting
Japanese Sandman, Raymond B. Egan and Richard A. Whiting
Jennie, Garfield Kilgour, Henry Bergman, and Lou Handman
Jimmie, Herbert Stothart, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein, Frank Mandel, Frances White, and Arthur Hammerstein
Kiss a Miss, Maurice Baron, Cal De Voll, and Jack Yellen
Look for the Silver Lining, Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton, Clifford Grey, and Bud De Sylva
Look for the Silver Lining, Jerome Kern and Bud de Sylva
Love Comes Like a Butterfly, Zelda Sears and Harold Levey
Margie, Con Conrad and J. Russel Robinson
Maybe, Benny Davis and E. E. Walton
Mother My Own, Joseph Soloman, Ted Garton, George Benoit, and W. M. Fisher
My Little Home On The Hill, Al Sweet
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Sidney D. Mitchell and George W. Meyer
Pale Moon, Frederic Knight Logan and Jesse G. M. Glick
Rose: Just To Say That I Love You, Jack Neiberg and Aaron Neiberg
Shores of Old California, Unknown
The Love Nest, Louis A. Hirsch, Otto Harbach, and Frank Mandel
There is a Garden, Ednah Proctor Clarke and David Proctor
Time Will Tell, Bobby Jones and Will Donaldson
Whip-Poor-Will, Jerome Kern
Whispering, John Schonberger
Submissions from 1919
After All, J. Will Callahan and Lee S. Roberts
Along the Trail Where the Blue Grass Grows, Cliff Friend
And He'd Say "Oo-La-La-Wee-Wee", Harry Ruby and George Jessel
Anything is Nice if it Comes From Dixieland, Grant Clarke, Geo W. Meyer, and Milton Ager
A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody, Irving Berlin
Bangalore, Earl Burtnett and A J. Stasny
Buddha, Lew Pollack and Ed Rose
By the Campfire, Mabel Elizabeth Girling and Percy Wenlich
Carolina Sunshine, Walter Hirsch and Erwin R. Schmidt
Chong, He Come From Hong Kong, Harold Weeks
Country Gardens, Percy Aldridge Grainger
Daddy Long Legs, Harry Ruby, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young
Danse Java, Vincent Scotto, J. Bertet, and J. Roder
Dardanella, Fred Fisher, Felix Bernard, and Johnny S. Black
Don't Cry Frenchy, Walter Donaldson, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young
Everybody Takes You By The Hand, L. J. Kaley
Ev'rybody Calls Me Honey, Joe Lyons and Charley Straight
Freckles, Cliff Hess, Milton Ager, and Howard Johnson
Good-bye, Wild Women, Good-bye!, Howard Johnson, Milton Ager, and George W. Meyer