Table of Contents
Original manuscripts and facsimiles
Original manuscripts at Stanford
These items reside in the Department of Special Collections, Green Library.
Large-scale facsimiles are on display in the Music Library.
The catalog records below link to high-resolution, downloadable digitized images.
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 39
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 42
Special Collections » Manuscript Collection » MLM 44
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 46
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 49
At the Ira F. Brilliant Center
Includes letters, sketches, and copyist's manuscripts.
On the web
"The Music Treasures Consortium provides online access to the world's most valued music manuscripts and print materials, held at the most renowned music archives, in order to further research and scholarship."--website. Contains 46 Beethoven entries.
Complete set of Beethoven manuscripts
München : K.G. Saur, 1997-
Music Library » Microtext » M/F 1:356 LFG.1
Browse all Beethoven facsimiles:
No results
Early score editions
Bonna et Colonia : Presso N. Simrock, [1822]
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » M1001 .B41 S93 1822
First German edition of the full score.
Bonn et Cologne : Chez N. Simrock, [1823?]
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » M1001 .B41 S94 1823
First edition.
Leipsic : Breitkopf & Hartel, [1826]
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » M1001 .B41 S96 1826
First edition.
Mainz und Paris : Bey B. Schotts Söhnen ; Antwerpen : Bey A. Schott., [1826]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 48
[Boston, O. Ditson, 18--]
Archive of Recorded Sound » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » M35 .B41 S953 1800Z
Paris : chez A. Farrenc, [18--?]
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » (no call number)
Paris : S. Richault, [1859?]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 41
Moguntiae : Ex taberna musices B. Schott filiorum. ; Paris : Chez les fils de B. Schott, rue de Bourbon no. 17, ; Anvers, : Chez A. Schott, 1827.
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 44
Paris : Chez A. Farrenc, professeur et éditeur de musique, rue Vivienne no 19, [1826]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 43A
First edition.
Bonn : Bei N. Simrock, [ca. 1815]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 43A.15
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 38
66 settings of a text by Giuseppe Antonio Carpani, of which Beethoven's is the last. The original manuscript of Beethoven's setting is in the Memorial Library of Music, Department of Special Collections.
Mainz : Schott, 1816.
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » (no call number)
[Leipzig] : Bey Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, [1810?]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 40
In Leipzig : Bey Breitkopf & Härtel, [1811]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 47
A Leipsic : Chez Breitkopf & Härtel, [1802]
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 45
First edition of the parts. A manuscript fragment of this work is in the Memorial Library of Music, Department of Special Collections.
A Vienne : chez Jean Cappi, [1802?]
Archive of Recorded Sound » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » M312 .B41 T8 OP.1 1802 PTS
A Vienne : chez Artaria et comp., [1795].
Special Collections » Memorial Library of Music » MLM 50
Bonn : N. Simrock, [1824?]
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » (no call number)
Paris, A. Le Duc [1806]
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » M1 .A3 V.3
Contemporary scores
In addition to the many printed scores in the Music Library stacks, these databases provide printable (pdf) versions of Beethoven scores:
Alexandria, VA : Alexander Street Press, 2007-
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
[Cleveland, Ohio] : CD Sheet Music
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
CCARH provides freely-accessible printable pdf scores and some parts for all 9 symphonies; in addition, the MuseData repository provides musical data for computational analysis purposes.
Early sound recordings
Discographies
New York : Four Corners, c1942.
Archive of Recorded Sound » Reference » ML156.5 .B4 M3 1942
Great Barrington, Mass. [1971]
Archive of Recorded Sound » Reference » ML156.5.B41 R31
Paul Henry Lang reviews the symphonies; Harris Goldsmith reviews the concertos.
Early recordings in the Archive of Recorded Sound
The Archive holds numerous early disc recordings of Beethoven's works; see this page for a list of titles.
The cylinder collection contains one Beethoven recording, of the "Menuett", performed by Kathleen Parlow, violin. Edison Blue Amberol, issue no. 28192 (original issue no. 4M-28026), October 1917. ARS accession no. 1460.
Early recordings online
Six recordings, digitized for streaming, from the UC Santa Barbara Cylinder Digitization Project.
Results from the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings Project. Some entries include streaming audio files.
27 Beethoven recordings, ca. 1910-1923.
63 recordings; most provide streaming audio files and label images. Search "Beethoven" under name field.
Reading and research
Reference works
[Oxford, England] : Oxford University Press
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
See the comprehensive Grove article on Beethoven's life and works.
München, G. Henle Verlag [c1955]
Music Library » Reference » ML134 .B41 K56
The classic thematic catalogue. For each work, you'll find incipits for each movement, notes on the compositional process, location and notes regarding manuscript source material, and bibliographical information on first editions.
Werke / Beethoven ; herausgegeben von Beethoven-Archiv, Bonn, unter Leitung von Joseph Schmidt-Görg.
München : G. Henle, 1961-<2014 >
Music Library » Stacks (Limited loan) » M3 .B41 W9 V.1:1
The complete works, published by Henle Verlag, 1961-2011. This set of printed scores includes extensive notes on the editing process for each work.
New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.
Music Library » Stacks » ML410 .B4 C62 2001
Provides information on more than 450 persons associated with Beethoven.
New York : Routledge, 2002.
Music Library » Reference » ML161 .H17 2002 V.1
Place Beethoven's life and works in the context of European arts and culture.
On the web
"A free online resource that helps direct people interested in Beethoven to books, articles, scores, and other sources on the composer. Although it functions primarily as a catalog of the collections of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, its also serves the broader purpose of providing a comprehensive and fully-indexed bibliography of materials relating to Beethoven, from a wide range of subject areas"--website.
Biography
Browse the shelves at ML410 .B4.
Criticism and interpretation
No results
Analysis and appreciation
No results
Music and culture in Vienna and environs
Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Music Library » Stacks » ML246.3 .R523 2003
London : Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Music Library » Stacks » ML246.8 .V6 H25 1985
Stuyvesant, NY : Pendragon Press, c1989.
Music Library » Stacks » ML246.8 .V6 M98 1989
Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1998.
Music Library » Stacks » ML549 .M38 1998
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2004.
Music Library » Stacks » ML196 .S74 2004
Video
Masterclasses and other films
[England] : EMI Classics, c2006.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 648 BOOKLET
Bristol, England UK : The Masterclass Media Foundation, c2007.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 1082
Bristol, England : Masterclass Media Foundation, c2009.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 1370
[England] : Cello Classics, p2005.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 454
Ridgefield, CT : Crescent Software ; [Ann Arbor, MI] : Shar, [2005?]
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 508
San Francisco, Calif. : SFS Media, c2006.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 619
[Brighton, East Sussex, England] : Seventh Art Productions, [2005]
Media & Microtext Center » Ask at Media Microtext desk » ZDVD 22982 DISC 1
Culver City, Calif. : Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1999.
Media & Microtext Center » Ask at Media Microtext desk » ZDVD 1435
Performances
No results
Links
Images
Contains many images of engraved portraits.
On the web
The Center is the only institution in North America devoted solely to the life, works, and accomplishments of Ludwig van Beethoven. Access the extensive online guide to research; browse the collections; contact the staff for research assistance. Visit the center to see historical keyboards, Beethoven-themed art and ephemera, and a very famous lock of the composer's hair.
"The Beethoven Gateway is a free online resource that helps direct people interested in Beethoven to books, articles, scores, and other sources on the composer. Although it functions primarily as a catalog of the collections of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, its also serves the broader purpose of providing a comprehensive and fully-indexed bibliography of materials relating to Beethoven, from a wide range of subject areas."--website.
"Since its foundation in 1889 the Beethoven-Haus has become a unique place, uniting under its roof a historic memorial site (Beethoven's birthplace), collection site, research centre and concert hall."--website. The site provides a virtual tour of the Beethoven-Haus; and a searchable catalog of Beethoven's works including scanned images and audio clips when available.
From the lied, art song, and choral text archive site.