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 We can also provide copies of most unpublished or out-of-copyright items if desired.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 Most of this material dates from the 1960s, and includes unpublished as well as published items, but we have significant holdings of printed music from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, with modern editions of music from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
The Scottish Music Centre’s archive holds several Special Collections.
Find out more about them by clicking the button below:
