Special Music Collections

• Kidson Collection - 18th and 19th century British music including song, country dance, ballad operas and instrumental tutors. More than 5,000 items.
• Moody-Manners Collection - the working library of the Moody-Manners opera company which toured Britain and South Africa in the early years of the 20th century. Includes full scores/parts and vocal scores of operas that were in the repertoire at the time.
• Dunedin Collection - the gift of the Dunedin Association of the 1940s. Sheet music and vocal scores of works by Scottish composers such as Alexander C. MacKenzie and Donald F. Tovey.
• The Early History of the Glasgow Choral Union, 1855–1935 is a collection of 24 volumes  in manuscript by Robert Craig. The Glasgow Choral Union later became the Scottish National Orchestra.
• a collection of manuscript material by composers such as Learmont Drysdale, William Milne, Liddell Peddieson and Francis George Scott.
• a collection of concert/opera programmes including sets of SNO (Scottish National Orchestra) programmes until 1988 and Scottish Opera Programmes from 1960s onwards.

Newspaper clippings collections

• R. Turnbull Collection of concert criticisms in 10 vols 1899-1921. Turnbull was music critic of the “Glasgow Herald”.
• H. Thomson Collection of concert criticisms in 6 vols 1927-1951. Thomson was music critic of the “Glasgow Herald”.
• D. C. Parker Collection of newspaper cuttings in 19 volumes covering the years 1919-1956.  Parker was a writer on music subjects and the first British biographer of Bizet.
• A. M. Henderson Collection of newspaper cuttings in 26 volumes, 1890s to 1930s. Henderson was organist and choirmaster to Glasgow University from 1906 – 1954.
• John Ord Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings relating to Bothy songs in particular. John Ord (1880 – 1928) was an authority on the bothy songs of Aberdeen, Banff and Moray.

Song sheet collections

• Joe Irvine Collection: chiefly Victorian and Edwardian sheet music with some dance band arrangements of the 1920s, 30s and 40s (16,000 items)
• Cedric Thorpe Davie Collection: Victorian and Edwardian sheet music (3,000 items)
• STV Collection:  6000 song sheets and 1000 song albums donated to the Mitchell by Scottish Television. Rich in music of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Music Resources at The Mitchell

Music Services at The Mitchell

Online guide to Music Collections in the UK