Bavarian State Library Launches a Major Digital Scores Project

In November 2011 the German Research Foundation of the Bavarian State Library approved funding for the first stage of a four-year digitization project. The Bavarian State Library owns about 1,800 music prints dating from the 16th and 17 centuries, including polyphonic vocal and instrumental music. The project will create one of the world’s richest collections of the most popular pieces from the beginnings of music printing. The materials to be scanned are listed in the bibliographies of collected prints RISM BI, 1 and individual prints RISM AI. Printed music of the 16th and 17 centuries was usually presented as “Stimmbücher” or several different works (up to 20 different prints) in the form of an anthology. They are often bound in fragile historic bindings, including many with parchment covers.

The first phase of the project (February 2012 to 2014) will digitize approximately 1,050 titles.

(Adapted from ViFaMusik-Blog)