Eastman School of Music

Located inside the Miller Center on Gibbs Street Sibley Music
Library The largest music library affiliated with any college or university in North America 3 floors dedicated entirely to music. Floor Map A 12th century collection of early medieval theoretical music treatises, written in Germany or Austria. It was previously owned by the Benedictine Admont Abbey, near Salzburg, and was purchased by the Sibley Music Library in 1936. The last page of the manuscript features an exquisite Guidonian hand, devised by theorist Guido d’Arezzo to propagate a method of sight-singing with the six syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la. Admont-Rochester Codex Manuscript (ca. 1103) This magnificent manuscript is the Sibley Music Library’s single most celebrated holding, and one of only three extant manuscript sources of this celebrated composition (1905). This is a particelle, or short score — a detailed sketch or draft, in condensed form. The composer’s painstakingly fine penmanship, and the multiplicity of colored pencils, never fail to draw admiring comment. Claude Debussy,
1862-1918 Manuscript (1905) La Mer: Trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre The holograph manuscript score of Hanson’s most famous composition. Serge Koussevitzky commissioned the work for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1930; the New York Philharmonic premiere was conducted by Arturo Toscanini, whose markings appear on the score. Howard Hanson,
1896-1981 Begun April, 1928 – Completed July 6, 1930 Symphony no. 2, opus 30, “Romantic” This copy, number 227 of the limited first edition of the piano vocal score, was signed by the composer, the librettist (DuBose Heyward), the lyricist (Ira Gershwin), and the producer (Rouben Mamoulian) of the first production (1934). From 1923 to 1926, Mamoulian was Assistant Director of Eastman’s Opera Department and Director of the Department of Dramatic Action and Dance. George Gershwin,
1898-1937 (New York Random House, 1935) Porgy and Bess A rare, incomplete set of the partbooks of the Masses of Josquin des Prez — the Superius and the Bassus from the liber primus, liber secundus, and liber tertius. The Sibley partbooks are believed to date from a 1514-16 printing by Ottaviano dei Petrucci (1466-1539), the first to print polyphonic music from movable type, which initiated the dissemination of polyphonic music. Josquin des Prez, d. 1521 Printed at Fossombrone, Italy (1514-16) by Ottaviano dei Petrucci Missarum Josquin liber primus; liber secundus; liber tertius Jazz in the Stacks Jazz Session Musicians Data Services flyer Matilda Lorenz, Kate Molloy, Erin Famoues and Coleman Breining Holiday Decorations

Featured Resources

BrowZine
A database comprising many of the academic journals to which Sibley subscribes
ProQuest
Hosts multidisciplinary content containing scholarly journals, books, video & audio, dissertations & theses, newspapers and more
Oxford Music Online
Access point for Oxford music reference subscriptions and products
MGG Online
A general encyclopedia of music, entirely in German (although with Google translate imbedded).
RILM
Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale (RILM) documents and disseminates music research worldwide.
Music Index
A Subject-Author Guide to Music Periodical Literature is compiled from over 655 international music periodicals
JSTOR
A cooperative venture among 1400 international libraries and publishers to provide full-text access to older scholarly journals.
Naxos Music Library
A streamed audio service, which includes access to not only every recording on the Naxos label (even those that have gone out of print), but several other labels-both classical and jazz-have significant portions of their catalogs digitized.
Worldcat
A database of library resources from around the world, including books, movies, music, art, and artifacts.
Streamed Audio/Video
List of all streamed audio/video resources subscribed by Sibley Music Library
Interlibrary Loan
A massive network of libraries working together to share their collections.

Helpful Links

RESEARCH GUIDES
ASK A LIBRARIAN
GRADUATE CARREL REQUEST
FLOOR MAP

Special Collections

Featured Collection

On Display

This week @ Eastman

FINDING AIDS
PREVIOUS DISPLAYS
THE VIEW FROM THE ARCHIVE

General Collections

Books, Scores, and Periodicals

Recordings Collection

Digitized Material

Of Note

University of Rochester Libraries is happy to announce Love Data Month 2026. Run by Data Services, this month of workshops and events is focused on celebrating the beauty of data throughout February. Workshops include sessions on sharing research outputs, ORCID, metadata and documentation, Python essentials, text analysis with Python, and creating 3D visualizations in XR.

We are also hosting an exhibit showing the history of visualization on February 18th, with primary source materials from across the centuries. Finally, we will have a Transatlantic Anti-Slavery Wiki Edit-a-thon on February 13th with the University of Leeds in the UK to help celebrate Frederick Douglass Day.

Learn More: Love Data Month

From the Bindery

Wondering how to get a volume that is “in the Bindery?”
Use the regular request link –
Request link doesn’t work?
Email Public Services for help with your request.
Find a score that looks like it needs attention?
Bring it to the Circulation desk and point out what the problem is.
If you have questions about how to bind your own music, email the Conservator.
We are always ready to help!

Public Domain Scores Request
Contact Public Services
Contact the Conservator