- Edited list of Yiddish Sheet Music in the Dorot Jewish Division, NYPLAlphabetical list of sheet music in the Dorot Jewish Division, New York Public Library.
Sheet Music - Online Collections
- Chazzanut OnlineComprehensive site on Jewish Liturgical Music (chazzanut), with a large collection of cantorial music scores, midi sound, annotated links and background information.
- Digital Sheet Music, Florida Atlantic UniversityIncludes about 300 pieces of Yiddish American sheet music; browse by various access points.
- Jewish Art Music (Jewish Theological Seminary)Digitized sheet music in Yiddish, Hebrew, and Ladino.
- National Library of Israel (Ha-Sifriyah ha-Olamit)Comprehensive, international Jewish music collection, with some online content.
- Seder Chazzanut (Amsterdam)Multi-media site specializing in Sephardic Chazanut, including sheet music and information on liturgical practices.
- ShulMusic.orgThis site's definition of Jewish Liturgical Music (JLM) is any music intended for use in (mostly) Ashkenazi synagogues (shul is Yiddish for synagogue) or in other Jewish religious ceremonies. The site includes downloadable sheet music.
- The St. Petersburg Score Collection (American Society for Jewish Music)The Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg was the first Jewish musical institution permitted in Russia. It emphasized on folkloric collection, and new Jewish music composition and performance, and it nurtured new composers and published their work.
- Yiddish American Popular Sheet Music (Library of Congress)The largest online collection of its kind, with 1, 340 pieces of mostly Yiddish American sheet music from before 1923.
- Yiddish Sheet Music, Brown UniversityOnline collection of about 800 pieces from Brown University. Search in transliteration; browse by creator (lyricist/composer/singer), title, or cover art.
- The Yosl and Chana Mlotek Yiddish Song Collection at the Workers' Circle.This database has musical notation for 400 songs, arranged thematically, with lyrics in Yiddish and YIVO-standard transliteration, and English translation. The content comes from the following books:
-Mir Trogn a Gezang! 4th edition. New York: Workmen's Circle, 2000.
-Mir zaynen do=We are here! Songs of the Holocaust. New York: Workmen's Circle, 1983.
-Songs of Generations. New York: Workmen's Circle, 1997.
-Pearls of Yiddish Song. New York: Workmen's Circle, 1988.
-Yontevdike teg: lider far di yidishe yontoyvim. Jewish Education Press, 1972.
Sheet Music - Digitized Bibliographies
- Heskes, Irene. Yiddish American Popular Songs, 1895-1950
Washington: Library of Congress, 1992.
This is a bibliography of Yiddish sheet music deposited for copyright purposes at the Library of Congress is listed here, with description and details. An essential source for finding American Yiddish songs.
Books with Reproductions of Historical Yiddish Sheet Music
Yiddish Songs from Warsaw 1929-1934: The Itzik Zhelonek Collection by ISBN: 9780981811598Publication Date: 2014
Yiddish Songs of the Gaslight Era: a sampling of sheet music for broadsides sold by peddlers on the Lower East Side by ISBN: 9781535367028Publication Date: 2016
Sheet Music - Print Collections
- American Jewish ArchivesJudaica library and archives, including music collections.
- Hebrew Union CollegeMajor Judaica collection, including sheet music. Some of this has been reproduced in Jane Peppler's American Yiddish penny songs by Morris Rund and others : the Hebrew Union College collection of Yiddish broadsides, 1895-1925.
- Institut Européen des Musiques Juives (IEMJ)Major collection of European Jewish music, including printed sources and recordings.
- Jewish Theological SeminaryMajor collection of published and archival Jewish music, including cantorial repertoire.
- National Library of Israel (Ha-Sifriyah ha-Olamit)Comprehensive, international Jewish music collection, with some online content.
- New York Public LibraryPrint collection of about 1,000 pieces. Use this guide's section on "Yiddish Music at NYPL" for search tips: https://libguides.nypl.org/yiddishresearch/musicatNYPL
- Edited list of Yiddish Sheet Music in the Dorot Jewish Division, NYPLAlphabetical list of sheet music in the Dorot Jewish Division, New York Public Library.
- Record Group 112, YIVO Institute for Jewish ResearchMassive print collection of Yiddish and Jewish sheet music. Search the online finding aid and contact YIVO for more information.
Sheet Music: Books on Yiddish Sheet Music
Tenement Songs: the popular music of the Jewish immigrants by ISBN: 0252008936Publication Date: 1990
Finding Yiddish Music in NYPL's Catalog
Browse by subject headings in the Research Catalog:
Browse by historical call number in the Legacy Catalog
- **P (Sheet Music) for Yiddish sheet music in the Dorot Jewish Division:
- **P (Thomashefsky Collection) for Yiddish music manuscripts from Boris Thomashefsky's repertoire (these contain parts for several instruments and were used for musical theater productions)
- *PVO for Jewish songbooks in all languages
Search the "author" field for the names of composers, lyricists, and performers.
Use these search terms in the "all fields" search box:
- SATB
- Choir
- Hora
- Sher
- Yiddish art songs
- Yiddish theater songs
Additional Search Tips
- 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 was published in the U.S. before 1923, check the digital sources listed in this guide to find an online version.
- Spelling varies. Try searching in the Hebrew alphabet. If you don't have a Hebrew keyboard, use an online one.
- Please contact us at dorotjewish@nypl.org for additional assistance.