Music
Sheet music to borrow, sound recordings to listen to, prints, manuscripts, estates, archives and music libraries to explore – music is our primary focus!
A music collection of European significance
In addition to a wide selection of printed sheet music and sound recordings, the Music Department of the ZB Zürich has extensive archive holdings with a focus on the musical heritage of the city and canton: more than 200 bequests and archives of companies and companies as well as libraries of private individuals and institutions are stored in our stacks. We also house several manuscript collections. These include other important sources from the field of music history, such as documents by Johannes Brahms and a large collection of material on Richard Wagner’s stays in Switzerland.
When it comes to education, we attach particular importance to making works from our archive available to the public: play our music editions, listen to the sound recordings of rarely performed works or attend our concerts!
The library of the Institute of Musicology (MWI) at the University of Zurich has been part of the Zentralbibliothek Zürich’s Music Department since 1 January 2021.
Latest news
Music Department
Holdings
The Music Department was established in 1971 on the basis of the holdings of the former city and cantonal libraries as well as the library of the Allgemeine Musik-Gesellschaft Zürich (AMG), which has been taken over as a deposit. We have been systematically acquiring sheet music, sound recordings and specialist literature for more than 50 years. In addition, we are continually expanding our collection to include bequests of Swiss composers, musicians and music researchers, archives of Zurich music publishers, choirs and orchestras, and sources relevant to music history.
Sheet music
- More than 100,000 pieces of printed sheet music
New works and editions, primarily from the field of classical music, are constantly being added, spanning everything from the first printed pieces of secular music to contemporary avant-garde creations. We systematically buy works produced by Zurich-based music publishers, and selected pieces of pop music.
Printed sheet music from the last 100 years can be borrowed directly from our open stacks. Older, rare or particularly valuable pieces of printed music are available for use on site in the Music Department reading room.
- Online access to digitised and digital sheet music
Prefer sheet music in digital form? Older sheet music that has already been digitised can be found in the catalogue itself or on our platforms e-rara and e-manuscripta. In addition, we have a licence for the database nkoda. We are also happy to assist you with your search for digitised sheet music online.
Sound recordings and DVDs
- Approx. 45,000 sound recordings
- Music DVDs related to Zurich (selection)
The sound recordings and DVDs can only be used in the Music Department’s listening room. We will provide you with a copy of audio tapes, cassettes, etc. for you to listen to on site.
- Online access to digitised and digital audiovisual documents
The audiovisual workstation in the listening room enables you to access the digitised audiovisual media of the Swiss National Sound Archives, Memoriav (incl. Memobase+) and the audiovisual archives of the SRG. If you are interested in this, please speak to us in the reading room.
The streaming services Naxos Music Library and Naxos Music Library Jazz provide countless sound recordings and informational texts on works, as well as work analyses, biographies, playlists, digital booklets and other features offering information on music. The databases can be accessed via the ZB/UZH network (VPN) or via PURA/SLSKey login.
Estates, archives and manuscript collections
- Music and text manuscripts
- Bequests of more than 200 composers, musicians and music researchers
- More than 15 archives and libraries of music publishers, choirs, orchestras and private individuals
We make these materials available to you in the Music Department reading room for use on site. Usage restrictions apply in some instances for legal reasons.
Specialist literature
Reference books on music and catalogues of works as well as the current issues of music journals are available for you to read in the Music Department reading room. Further musicological literature can be found in the Zentralbibliothek’s general loanable holdings. The list of the ZB’s databases and e-resources provides an overview of databases for music research.
Library of the Institute of Musicology
The Library of the Institute of Musicology of the University of Zurich (MWI) provides selected literature, sheet music and sound recordings relevant to this discipline for use on site. The library is open to non-university members. Please note its differing opening hours.
Image gallery
Lute tabulature, owned by Junker Ittell Reding à Biberegg. Regiment des Guardes suisses du Roy, l’année 1642. (Shelf mark: Ms Q 907)
Autograph score of the composition by Johann Ludwig Steiner for the inauguration of the new concert hall in Zurich on 9 November 1717. (Shelf mark: AMG I 100)
Joyful cantata by Johannes Schmidlin on the occasion of the election of Johann Jacob Leu as mayor of Zurich on 16 May 1759. (Shelf mark: AMG XIV 161: a)
The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, early print by Hans Georg Nägeli, 1801. (Shelf mark: Mus 8002)
Autograph notes by Richard Wagner on the performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Aktientheater Zürich on 8 November 1850 under his direction. (Shelf mark: AMG I 331)
Autograph album sheet by Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee for Louis Spohr as a pleasant reminder. Frankfurt 1819. (Shelf mark: Mus Ms A 891)
Engraver’s template of Die Walküre by Richard Wagner, around 1870–1880. (Shelf mark: Ms Q 162)
Winterthur-based publisher Jakob Melchior Rieter-Biedermann published works by Berlioz, Kirchner, Eschmann, Schumann and Brahms, among others. (Shelf mark: Mus RB 2109)
Autograph of the wedding cantata by Gottfried Keller and Johannes Brahms. July 74 on Lake Zurich. (Shelf mark: Ms Q 607)
Cataloguing
Take a look at our catalogues to see whether we have what you need in our holdings, where you can find it in the open-access area and which order deadlines apply for it. We recommend different research aids depending on the nature of the material you are looking for.
Most documents from non-public stacks can be ordered directly via swisscovery. If you would like to use musical manuscripts and documents from bequests, please send us an email with the shelf marks and the date of your visit. Please note the withdrawal periods of one, three or seven days detailed in the catalogues.
Overview of bequests and archive holdings
The overview of our bequests and archive holdings (PDF) with direct links makes it easier for you to search through the Music Department’s bequests and archive holdings.
Online research
swisscovery bietet Zugang zu den Beständen von rund 500 wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken in der Schweiz. Enthalten sind physische und elektronische Bücher, Zeitungen und Zeitschriften, aber auch Non-Book-Materialien und Millionen von elektronischen Artikeln.
swisscovery UB und ZB Zürich erlaubt die Recherche im gesamtschweizerischen Bestand und eine gezielte Recherche in den Beständen der Universitätsbibliothek (UB) und der Zentralbibliothek (ZB) Zürich.
swisscovery is the first port of call when looking for sheet music, sound recordings and DVDs as well as individual manuscripts, letters, digitalised music prints and specialist literature.
Sie finden hier Archivmaterial (inkl. Nachlässe), Bildmaterial, Alte Drucke und Rara, Dokumentensammlungen, Filmmaterial, Handschriften, Karten, Musikaufnahmen, Musiknoten, Textaufnahmen sowie Einträge in Kantonsbibliographien. Es handelt sich um einen Metakatalog, der auf verschiedene Datenpools zugreift.
Beteiligte Institutionen:
- Aargau, Kantonsbibliothek Aargau
- Basel, Schweizerisches Wirtschaftsarchiv
- Basel, Universitätsbibliothek
- Bern, Universität, Institut für Medizingeschichte: Archiv und Sammlung Hermann Rorschach
- Bern, Universitätsbibliothek
- Beromünster, Chorherrenstift
- Frauenfeld, Kantonsbibliothek Thurgau
- Luzern, Zentral- und Hochschulbibliothek
- Solothurn, Zentralbibliothek
- St. Gallen, Kantonsbibliothek inkl. Vadianische Sammlung
- St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek
- Trogen, Kantonsbibliothek Appenzell Ausserrhoden
- Zürich, Zentralbibliothek
- Zofingen, Stadtbibliothek
swisscollections offers additional search options, such as an author/title index or an index of shelf marks, musical genres and musical instrumentations. Nuanced filter options allow individuals to be differentiated by role, and comprehensive output options for metadata are also available.
In ZBcollections, einem Katalog der ZB-Spezialsammlungen (vor allem der Handschriften- und Musikabteilung und der Graphischen Sammlung), sind die in der Zentralbibliothek Zürich aufbewahrten Nachlässe, Familien- Firmen- und Gesellschaftsarchive sowie grosse Teile der Handschriften verzeichnet und erschlossen.
It is best to use the ZBcollections archive portal for personal papers, family archives, company archives and the manuscript holdings of the ZB’s special collections.
Printed catalogues
- ‘Katalog der gedruckten und handschriftlichen Musikalien des 17. bis 19. Jahrhunderts im Besitz der Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft Zürich [Catalogue of printed and manuscript music material from the 17th to 19th century owned by the Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft Zürich], edited by Georg Walter, Zurich 1960 (PDF)
- ‘Musikbibliothek Erwin R. Jacobi’ [Music library Erwin R. Jacobi], rare editions and manuscripts, compiled by Regula Puskás, Zurich 1973
- ‘Musikalienbibliothek des Opernhaus Zürich’ [Music library of Zurich Opera House], collection in the Zentralbibliothek Zürich, catalogue compiled by Mireille Geering, Winterthur 1995
Advice & mediation
Specialist advice
We are happy to advise you on researching topics, individuals, works or repertoire by period, genre or instrumentation across printed sheet music, sound recordings, music manuscripts and bequests or in musicological literature. Please contact us for orders from bequests or digitisation orders.
The Music Department reading room is located on the 5th floor of the Predigerchor. Twelve workstations, a modern microfilm reader, an audiovisual workstation, audiovisual equipment, scanning and copying equipment and Wi-Fi are available to support your work with our collection. Please note our Terms of Use.
The library at the Institute of Musicology of the University of Zurich (MWI) offers about 25 workstations for working with the library’s holdings, a workstation for audiovisual media, listening facilities for sound recordings and Wi-Fi, as well as a photocopier.
Concerts
Each of our concerts features at least one work held in the Zentralbibliothek either as a manuscript or as a first edition or early print. From time to time, you will even experience a world premiere. The selected works are performed alongside famous pieces from the concert repertoire in order to situate them within a broader historical context.
The lunchtime music series in the Predigerchor comprises seven concerts, and the 2025–2026 season programme contains all the dates, programmes and information. The series is made possible by the kind support of the Hans Schaeuble Foundation.
We run individual early evening concerts in the chamber music series in the Predigerchor. We usually organise these in collaboration with a partner, such as the Institute of Musicology of the University of Zurich or the Allgemeine Musik-Gesellschaft Zürich.
Each year on 2 January, Bächtelistag, after the New Year’s music has been unveiled we invite you to a New Year’s Concert. There, the performers present individual works from the ZB’s New Year’s piece, which are then released on CD that day.
You can find all upcoming concerts in our event calendar.
Don’t want to miss any events in the future? Subscribe to the ZB newsletter to stay in the loop!
ZB’s New Year’s piece
A commitment to tradition: the custom of publishing New Year’s pieces on 2 January, Bächtelistag, dates back to the 17th century in Zurich. The Music Department builds on the New Year’s pieces started in 1645 by the city library and continued by the ZB, and publishes a CD or sheet music every year on Bächtelistag using music from the ZB.
Tours and courses
We run guided group tours on request – feel free to contact us!
Contact
Music Department
Digitised Material
We are digitising more and more documents from our holdings and making them available on the following platforms.
Auf der Plattform e-rara.ch, einem Projekt der Elektronischen Bibliothek Schweiz e-lib.ch, werden digitalisierte alte Drucke aus Schweizer Bibliotheken, unter anderem auch aus der Zentralbibliothek Zürich, öffentlich und kostenlos angeboten. Als erster inhaltlicher Schwerpunkt werden die Schweizer Drucke des 16. Jahrhunderts digitalisiert und aufbereitet. Diverse thematische Kollektionen von gedruckten Büchern sowie gedruckte Karten aus dem 16. bis 19. Jahrhundert erweitern das Angebot.
Our printed music from Zurich from the 16th to 18th century has been digitised and is available on this platform.
Auf der Plattform e-manuscripta.ch werden digitalisierte handschriftliche Quellen aus Schweizer Bibliotheken und Archiven, unter anderem auch aus der Zentralbibliothek Zürich, öffentlich und kostenlos angeboten. Die Handschriften und Archivalien stammen aus mehreren Jahrhunderten, das Spektrum reicht von Texten, Briefen und Archivgut über Musikhandschriften bis hin zu Karten, Plänen und anderen graphischen Materialien.
Here you will find digital copies of a selection of our music and text manuscripts as well as letters and photographs.
Order digital copies
Can’t find the digital copy you’re looking for on a platform? Need a high-quality print template? You can create digital copies of numerous documents from our holdings yourself at the library. Please contact us if this is not possible for a particular medium. On request, we can produce digital copies for a fee for research purposes and publications.