The Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) - International Inventory of Musical Sources - is an international, non-profit organization that aims to comprehensively document extant musical sources worldwide: manuscripts, printed music editions, writings on music theory, and libretti that are found in libraries, archives, churches, schools, and private collections. RISM’s over 1.5 million records can be searched at no cost through the RISM Catalog and RISM Online. RISM was founded in Paris in 1952 and is the largest and only global organization that documents written musical sources. RISM records what exists and where it can be found.
Search in RISM
Search in RISM
Library Sigla
Search RISM’s abbreviations for libraries, archives and collections with historical music holdings
RISM for Libraries
Librarians, see here what RISM has to offer you
Muscat
All about Muscat, RISM’s specialized program for cataloging musical sources
News
A new thematic catalogue of the musical works of Johann Georg Pisendel (PW) is now available
We have received the following from Fabrizio Ammetto (University of Guanajuato, Mexico): Three violinists- cum-musicologists hailing from three different countries (Italy, Spain and Colombia) – Fabrizio Ammetto, Francisco Javier Lupiáñez Ruiz and Luis Miguel Pinzón Acosta – have recently produced a new thematic catalogue of the musical works of the...
Enhancing Visibility of American Music Manuscripts at the Library of Congress
We have received the following from Dr. Paul Allen Sommerfeld (Library of Congress) and his Summer 2023 intern, Jasper Forster (University of Michigan): Working as a Junior Fellow for the Library of Congress Music Division during Summer 2023, Jasper Forster created RISM records for music manuscripts by Black American composers...
The Project "RePIM – Repertorio della Poesia Italiana in Musica, 1500-1700"
The following guest post is by Giovanna Casali (Università di Bologna, Italy): On 16 November 2023, a study day entitled “Due gemelle nell’aria e nel sembiante”. Archivi e repertori della lirica poetica e musicale del Cinque-Seicento was held at the University of Bologna, more precisely at its Department of Cultural...
The Musical Public Domain in 2024
If you follow copyright news at all, then chances are you’ve come across the names Walt Disney and Sergei Prokofiev several times already this month. Mickey Mouse and the music to Peter and the Wolf have now entered the public domain—but only depending on where you are in the world....
The German Musicological Society supports the preservation of Ukrainian cultural assets
Since the devastating Russian attacks on Ukrainian cultural assets such as historic churches, theaters, cultural centers, museums, libraries and archives, have been going on for almost two years and no end is in sight, it is urgent to save these from total destruction and provide help if they have suffered...
Library Sigla
Search RISM’s abbreviations for libraries, archives and collections with historical music holdings
RISM for Libraries
Librarians, see here what RISM has to offer you
Muscat
All about Muscat, RISM’s specialized program for cataloging musical sources