Music

Numerous handwritten, printed and especially digital copies of sheet music are available for use and circulation. Additionally programmes from historical and contemporary concerts, operas and ballet performances, books and journals on music, as well as libretti can be found at the SLUB Dresden. The music collection is complemented by handwritings (such as musicians’ letters), recordings in the Media Library (i.e. of music held in the SLUB), and images pertaining to music history from the Deutsche Fotothek.

Music has traditionally had a high status at the SLUB Dresden. This is illustrated above all by the treasures of the1816formed in 1816 as an additional collection segmentmusic departmentIn theoriginal parts to Bach's Missa in B minorthey now span an arc from choir books of the Reformation period to the music of the Dresden court chapel to thosestreamedaudiovisual media that document contemporary historical facets of the city and countryside. Rooted in Saxon history on the one hand, and taking up current opportunities and developments on the other, the music department finds itself in a field of tension between tradition and innovation, between an evolved individual perspective and a new perspective.innovation, between the grown perspective of a place for essential sources of Central German music history and a developing self-image as an infrastructure partner for musicology with a national mission and international significance. The spectrum of content is reflected in the range of projects in which the music department is at least involved:

The music department houses more than 490,000 media from the 16th to 21st centuries - not including digital reproductions. With around 20,000 music manuscripts, 157,000 music prints and 65,000 music books in the Music and Music Literature Department and similarly extensive audiovisual holdings in the Media Library Department, the Music Department is one of the largest music collections in Germany.

Music and music literature

The historical media in this area, all music manuscripts and all printed music and music books published up to 1850, are made available in the Collections reading room. Of the media published after 1850, 145,000 music prints and 63,000 music books, 11,000 and 18,000 respectively are open access copies, while the rest are stored.