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Pittsburgh Sheet Music Collection

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh holds a unique collection of over 1000 titles of sheet music published in Pittsburgh or nearby since the early 19th century. While a number of the songs highlight the people and places of Pittsburgh (for example, The Kennywood Park Waltz, The Ohio River Song), many others simply reflect the standard popular song style of the day. Some titles by various Pittsburgh composers, published elsewhere, are also included in this collection. Stephen Foster, however, is not well represented since the Foster Archive is located across the street at the Center for American Music at the University of Pittsburgh (http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/cam/cam.html).

The sheet music is indexed by composer, title, publisher and date. Each of these indexes has been put online and can be accessed by clicking on the index you wish to peruse below. Within the entries, if the title is contained in one of our many old bound sheet music collections, the call number is noted. Otherwise, the items remain as single sheets filed in order by title in a special location. 


                             >By Composer

                             >By Title

                             >By Publisher

                             >By Date



Pittsburgh Sheet Music Collection - Volkwein Section

Another part of this collection contains music published by Volkwein Bros., Inc. Volkwein's Music is currently an active music store in Pittsburgh, but in the past was also a publisher of choral music, sheet music, and music pedagogical materials. This collection includes the published music as well as various catalogs and memorabilia. The choral music collection is indexed separately from the other titles; each index is by composer only. All of the Volkwein items listed below are also included in the larger Pittsburgh Sheet Music Collection Indexes above.


Other works published by Volkwein's are on our online catalog but do not appear on this index. See this link: Volkwein in the online catalog.

Volkwein Sheet Music
Volkwein Choral Music

Digital Copies

Carnegie Library received a grant to digitize documents associated with Pittsburgh's industrial heritage. The Pittsburgh Iron And Steel Heritage Collection includes 13 sheet music titles. Click on the links below to view these, or click on the links within the indexes above.

Please contact the Music Department directly if you have specific questions about the collection, its contents, or its use.

Phone: 412-622-3105
e-mail: musicdept@carnegielibrary.org

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