![BeethovenSymponyNo5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/BeethovenSymponyNo5.JPG)
The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of
free content sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...
, in a way similar to
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.
[Portal page at th]
Internet Archive
Retrieved January 24, 2001.
The music is reproduced from old scores that are in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
. New scores are
digitally typeset with
GNU LilyPond
LilyPond is a computer program and file format for music engraving. One of LilyPond's major goals is to produce scores that are engraved with traditional layout rules, reflecting the era when scores were engraved by hand.
LilyPond is cross-pla ...
and distributed in the following formats:
*
PDF format
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating system ...
in both
letter
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
and
A4 paper sizes for printing,
*
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
for aural reproduction, and
* LilyPond source code format.
Currently, there are more than 2,000 pieces of music available, more than half of which are pieces for piano. There are also many pieces for voice, and various other musical instruments. The Mutopia Project home page has a list of links to the most recently added pieces.
See also
*
List of online music databases
Below is a table of online music databases that are largely free of charge. Note that many of the sites provide a specialized service or focus on a particular music genre. Some of these operate as an online music store or purchase referral serv ...
*
Public domain resources
*
Open music
*
International Music Score Library Project
The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project, which uses MediaWiki software ...
, a similar music cataloging project, that collects both typeset and
scanned scores.
*
Werner Icking Music Archive
The Werner Icking Music Archive (often abbreviated WIMA) is a web archive of liberally licensed sheet music of public domain music. The scores are electronically typeset by volunteers and distributed in PDF, often accompanied by their typesetting ...
*
Choral Public Domain Library
The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing (such as via permission from the copyright holder).
It is a ...
References
External links
Mutopia Project home pageMutopia Project mirror (Portugal)Project maintenance siteCreative Commons Content Directory listingWiki-score an online, collaborative platform for large-scale sheet music editing
Collaborative projects
Online music and lyrics databases
Libre culture
Internet properties established in 2000
Canadian music websites
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