The Library of Congress Music Division
Performing groups traveling to Washington, D.C. need to make a visit to the Library of Congress’ Music Division a high priority! Here, groups can see original manuscripts from Beethoven, Bernstein, Copland, Stravinsky and Sousa, among many others, as well as instrument collections that can keep one occupied for days.
The music division–formally created in 1896 and established in quarters within the Library’s Jefferson Building upon its completion in 1897–traces the origin of its collections to the thirteen books on music literature and theory that were contained in Thomas Jefferson’s library, purchased by the Congress in 1815. At that time, the cultivation and development of a music library were scarcely matters of great importance. By the closing years of the century, however, some 400,000 music items had been added to the Library’s collections, largely effected through the deposits under the Copyright Act. Today, the Music Division’s collections number close to eight million items, including the classified music and book collections, music and literary manuscripts, microforms, and copyright deposits.
