The Collection
The Scottish Music Centre is home to the only archive on all things related to Scottish music.
Consisting of over 40,000 fascinating items, dating back to the early 1500s, with articles ranging from hand-written scores by various famous Scottish composers, to original poems by Robert Burns, to sheet music of work from Robert Carver to the present day, to demo recordings of Scotland’s best bands, our collection is one of a kind.
The material is open to the public and may be viewed by arrangement during SMC opening hours. We can also provide copies of most unpublished or out-of-copyright items if desired.
A small part of our collection is held on site, at Candleriggs, and may be consulted by appointment in our comfortable and stylish foyer space. The rest of our material is stored off-site; we require two working days’ notice in order to retrieve it. As more of the collection is digitised, visitors can explore our treasures easily online.
Many items are available for sale or hire. If you are looking for an item which is not in the shop, simply drop us a line and we would be happy to help you obtain a copy if possible.
Sheet music
Scores and performance material for works by Scottish composers dominate our collection of sheet music. Most of this material dates from the 1960s, and includes unpublished as well as published items, but we have significant holdings of printed music from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, with modern editions of music from earlier periods.
Books
We have an extensive collection of printed books, periodicals, and pamphlets which relate to Scottish musical history and significant individuals and institutions, as well as dozens of song- and tune-books from early collections such as James Johnson’s Scots Musical Museum and the fiddle tunes compiled by Niel Gow through to modern compilations of specially-commissioned compositions like The Nineties Collection or the Songbook series from NYCoS.
Recordings
Our recordings include commercial releases on vinyl and CD, as well as private recordings donated to us and copies of radio broadcasts of live and studio performances and music-related documentaries, plays and interviews, many on quarter-inch tape and cassette. We hold copies of major radio series such as The Music of Scotland (1973), Maisters of the Bow (1984), Scotland’s Music (1991-2, 2007).
Special Collections
New Traditional School Collection
This new national collection, established 2024, will preserve and make available, for research, learning, hire or sale, selected compositions from traditional and folk musicians in Scotland.
Based on the research of Dr Lori Watson, a traditional musician, composer and lecturer in Celtic and Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh, the collection will advance the practices of extended and experimental composition by traditional and folk musicians and potentially facilitate the development a wide range of music performers. The first phase of the collection will feature the work of Mairi Campbell, Fraser Fifield, Martin Green, Corrina Hewat, Karen Marshalsay, Aidan O’Rourke, Patsy Reid, Ailie Robertson, Jim Sutherland, Simon Thoumire and Mike Vass.
Ronnie Gurr Collection
A wide range of photographs, demo and promo tapes, original mixes, radio broadcasts and live concert recordings from the 1970s and 80s. Donated by Ronnie Gurr. More details.
Radio Scotland demo tapes
A collection of over 600 tapes sent to BBC Scotland in the 1980s by bands and singer-songwriters hoping for radio play. Partial listing.
CaVa Studios Collection
Unclaimed master-tapes donated by CaVa’s Glasgow studios when it downsized in 2005. More details.
Morris Pert Collection
Over a hundred tapes representing the recording career of the composer and percussionist Morris Pert (1947-2010), including his work with Brand X and his own group Suntreader. Donated by Mark Spalding.
Kenneth McKellar Collection
Over 1000 sheet music items and over 400 recordings from the personal collection of the famous tenor. Donated by Jane McKellar. Partial list.
Glasgow Orpheus Choir Collection
Two boxes of material relating to the Glasgow Orpheus Choir and its founder and conductor Hugh S. Roberton. The Lute: The Monthly Record of the Glasgow Orpheus Choir, 14 bound volumes, 1918-51 (incomplete); scrapbook containing photographs, concert programmes, press cuttings and correspondence relating to the choir (1908-77), and a handwritten, bound discography compiled by Wemyess Craigie. Also three LPs (The Isle of Mull, The Celebrated Glasgow Orpheus Choir and The World Famous Glasgow Orpheus Choir) and three other audio recordings (two quarter-inch reels and one audio cassette) and one video cassette labelled ‘Orpheus broadcast’. Donated by John R Hume and by Duncan and Una McGhie. Images of selected items.
Clifford Hughes Collection
20 tapes representing the recorded work of Clifford Hughes (1936-2013) as lyric tenor and musical director of the Castalian Singers. Donated by Kathleen Hughes.
Philip Hill Collection
Over 500 cassettes recorded by Barry Morris and John Wiggins from radio broadcasts from the mid 1970s to early 1980s, most of them featuring the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Some copied from older recordings on reel. Donated by Gavin Hill.
Marie Dare Collection
Mostly unpublished, handwritten chamber and instrumental compositions by Marie Dare (1902-1976). More details.
Manuel Jacobs Collection
The surviving manuscripts of instrumental and chamber compositions of Manuel Jacobs (1910-1993). Donated by Geoffrey Jacobs.
Rab Noakes Collection
An substantial collection of over 300 sound and video recordings donated by the family of singer-songwriter and radio producer Rab Noakes (1947-2022). Includes demos, sessions, and live recordings of Rab Noakes and his band the Varaflames, as well as interviews with and about musicians who were the subject of his acclaimed documentaries: Gerry Rafferty, Woody Guthrie, Gallagher and Lyle, Lindisfarne, Hamish Imlach, Ken Sykora, Hamish Henderson, Alex Campbell, Bill Leader, The Incredible String Band, and many more.
Arthur Blake/Ian Gourlay Collection
Over 1000 performing sets of light orchestral arrangements made for the BBC and Scottish Television. Donated by Margaret Calderwood and Morna Gourlay
BBC Scotland Radio Orchestra Collection
The sheet music for over 3000 songs including ‘I Belong to Glasgow’, ‘The Jeely Piece Song’ and ‘Donald, Where’s Your Troosers’. From the archive of the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra
Jazz at the Gateway Collection
Tapes of performances at the Gateway Theatre, Edinburgh in the 1980s by Oscar Peterson, Stan Tracy, Morrissey Mullen, Duncan Findlay, Jimmy Deuchar and others. Donated by James Bryce.
Finitribe Collection
Over thirty releases on CD and vinyl by Edinburgh-based industrial techno outfit Finitribe and related projects from the 1980s and 1990s. Donated by David Millar. Full listing.
Francis George Scott Collection
Including the original manuscripts of over 200 songs, many of them still unpublished, by Francis George Scott (1880-1958), a major figure of the modernist Scottish renaissance
Ian Whyte Collection
Over 2000 handwritten scores and parts for original compositions and arrangements by Ian Whyte (1901-1960).
William Wordsworth Collection
Handwritten and printed scores and parts for over 100 original compositions by William Wordsworth (1908-1988). Also correspondence, sketches, cuttings.
William G Whittaker Collection
Handwritten and printed scores and parts for nearly 500 works by William G Whittaker (1876-1944). Also letters, diaries, draft autobiography, and miscellaneous pamphlets and cuttings.
William Wallace Collection
Indexed research materials from MA dissertation by Valerie Carson on the life and work of William Wallace (1860-1940) including scores, information on his family and career, articles and extracts from books by him or in which he is mentioned; concert programmes; reviews of performances of his music; obituaries; copies of many of his letters. Donated by Valerie Carson.
Miscellaneous Material
We also hold a substantial collection of ephemeral material relating to over a hundred Scottish composers, such as concert programmes, press clippings, correspondence, photographs, mostly from the 1960s to the present day.
