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link to Sheet Music 1820-1860Music for the Nation:  American Sheet Musiclink to Sheet Music 1870-1885

Music Division, Library of Congress


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Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music contains more than 62,500 pieces of historical sheet music registered for copyright: more than 15,000 registered during the years 1820-1860 and more than 47,000 registered during the years 1870-1885. Included are popular songs, operatic arias, piano music, sacred and secular choral music, solo instrumental music, method books and instructional materials, and music for band and orchestra. The collection documents the attitudes and tastes of a bygone era with music of many varieties and sources, all of it published in the United States.
The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available and useful to Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The goal of the Library's National Digital Library Program is to offer broad public access to a wide range of historical and cultural documents as a contribution to education and lifelong learning.

The Library of Congress presents these documents as part of the record of the past. These primary historical documents reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in these collections, which may contain materials offensive to some readers.


Special Presentations
Music for the Nation, American Sheet Music:
1820-1860

1. Music Copyrighted in Federal District Courts, ca. 1820-1860
2. Greatest Hits, 1820-60 (Variety Music Cavalcade)
1870-1885

1. Music Published in America, 1870-1885
2. In Performance - Choral Works from the Collection
3. Greatest Hits, 1870-85 (Variety Music Cavalcade)


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Sep-23-2002