Trove Tuesday - Can you hear the Music?

The National Library holds one of the largest music collections in the country – over 300,000 printed and manuscript musical scores, many of which can be accessed online through Trove. Its greatest strength rests in its Australian collections.

Before the invention of recorded sound, and later radio, listening to live performance and playing music yourself was how people consumed music. By the late 19th century, Australia had a flourishing performing arts scene and international performers were welcomed with fanfare. 

Sheet music was how you could play the latest hits at home at an affordable price. Composers and publishers were responsive to current events and Australia had thriving music retailer publishers which sold both instruments and printed music and published the work of Australian and overseas composers.

The National Library’s collections also include large company archives and comprehensive holdings of the music used by professional orchestras and performers in Australia, including those used for theatre productions or silent movies. An example of this is the State Theatre Collection which has music for the silent movie Felix the Cat as part of the collection.

A highlight of the Library’s music collection is its printed sheet music holdings. Numbering over 13,000 items, they are usually the length of a single song, and many have decorative cover art.  Most of the Library’s sheet music holdings are out of copyright and have been digitised. 

A highlight of the National Library’s sheet music collection is Australia’s unofficial national anthem Waltzing Matilda. This music was written by Christina MacPherson and later arranged by Marie Cowan, to words by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson. It was first published in the early 20th century. Another is the popular Aeroplane Jelly jingle, which was first recorded in 1938 and is one of the most recognisable jingles in Australian history.