Yiddish Music at NYPL
Dorot Jewish Division (in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building)
Music Division, Billy Rose Theatre Division, and Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound (all are in the Performing Arts Library)
The collections include:
- Sheet music
- Music manuscripts
- Songbooks
- Theater programs/ephemera
- Photographs of artists
- Archival collections/personal papers of artists
- Related materials and secondary sources
Search Terms
Use these subject headings in the research catalog:
Songs, Yiddish
Folk songs, Yiddish
Use these search terms in the "all fields" search box:
- SATB
- Choir
- Hora
- Sher
- Yiddish art songs
- Yiddish theater songs
The use of genres is somewhat limited in the catalog - please contact staff for assistance if you're having trouble finding what you need.
Search the "author" field for the names of composers, lyricists, and performers.
Search Tips
Please note that the term "klezmer" is used by contemporary authors to describe Yiddish instrumental music, but it's generally not used as a search term for primary sources/ historical works in the collection.
If the item you need is from before 1923, check the digital sources listed in this guide to see if it's available online.
Shortcuts
Yiddish sheet music in the Dorot Jewish Division: **P (Sheet Music)
Yiddish music manuscripts from Boris Thomashefsky's repertoire - these contain parts for several instruments and were used for musical theater production: **P (Thomashefsky Collection)
Jewish songbooks in all languages *PVO
(Choose "Limit sort search" and refine results by language if desired)
Browse digitized ephemera in NYPL's Digital Collections
Yiddish theater collection
Browse by name for photographs of artists