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I have only just discovered the IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library.
I caught Horowitzian mentioning IMSLP and had no idea what he was on about so did a google and discovered this candy shop of public domain music manuscripts.

I was disappointed that I could not find any Messian there, but hey, there is plenty of other stuff to amuse one with. For those at PW that are not familiar with it, it is a music portal with PDF's of manuscripts from hundreds of composers and it is all FREE.

Check it out here IMSLP

Yeah, I can spend hours at that site.

It is a great site, a pity it was temporarily shut down some time ago... I was worried it would never open again!

It's a great site indeed.

There are very complicated rules about what pieces are in the public domain. It's a function of when the piece was written, the copyright laws at the time and the present (I think), and the country you live in. You won't find a lot of 20th century music; for instance, not only no Messiaen, but no Shostakovitch. You can download Sibelius's first five symphonies, but not six and seven (at least in the US). The rules of copyright are cruel but explicit.

Like a lot of things on the internet, it works because of the masses. Most of the pdfs on the site were uploaded by random users with a score and a scanner.

-Jason

p.s. ChopinAddict: I think the shut-down last year was from legal threats, because they were being a little sloppy with what they allowed to be downloaded by whom. Now they're being very careful about it, so they should be up for good!

Yup, IMSLP is brilliant! The one thing that IS problematic is that they put CC (Creative Commons) licenses to whatever's up there. Which means that living composers could get in trouble with a CC license, which for me at least is nothing but trouble and LESS than normal copyright. It settles things but in favor of the aucience and not the composer!

But, still, IMSLP is brilliant, and of course anything under copyright is not there yet!

And things still under copyright are there too.

Thanks for the link it is a great site, best not spend too much time there, things to do

yea, it's been pretty useful, I've printed out 11 scores from them so far. (I think I've been good about copyright laws...)

Don't worry about the copyright laws. IMSLP worries about it for you. If you're not allowed to download something, it won't let you. So unless you're using an internet anonymizer or something shady (to hide the country you're in), download to your heart's content.

-Jason

OTOH, if someone is using such things, they probably don't care a whit about copyright laws anyway.

Only 11? I know people who have printed out easily 150,000 pages and possibly two or three times as much.

Alkan-now SO easy to access! Except the Concerti da Camera Op. 10 (piano/orchestra); still waiting on those.

It's funny, you can't get Rachmaninoff's 4th concerto. Is it not in public domain yet?

I must say that I still love having my manuscript on nice paper that is nicely bound. Mostly I use Verlag-Henle Urtext. But sometimes there are some pieces of music that you can find and IMSLP has been brilliant. I have found it also quite good for getting different versions of music to see what sort of editing and fingering others have used. It is also good for analysis, if you want to print a score and write all over it to your hearts content and you don't have a photocopier handy.

M

Yup, I really like the IMSLP library. If I'm not certain of a piece to choose to learn and don't want to speculatively purchase a score I can download most things and get a feel for a piece before then choosing which score to buy - saves me lots of cash and quite often exposes me to pieces I would not have considered too!

Long may it continue!

That's not a correct characterization of IMSLP. As far as copyright goes, they do what they can regarding allowing or disallowing downloads of music outside of public domain, but they explicitly say they don't guarantee it in a disclaimer you see every time you download something:

The above is basic language a site like that uses to cover themselves - not you.

That being said, I love the site.

Phlebas, you're absolutely correct. I imagine IMSLP makes that disclaimer both in defense against people trying to be sneaky, and to legally protect themselves against errors on their part.

But I still let them do all of the thinking for me. I don't really know what the copyright laws in the US are. I download when IMSLP lets me, and trust their judgment when they tell me something is blocked, even if it's counter-intuitive. (For instance, they allowed me to download the second two movements of Mahler's early cantata Das klagende Lied, but not the first movement. It turned out that's because the first movement was discovered relatively recently.)

Is this a naive approach? One can argue it is. But so is automatically clicking "I Agree" to the End User License Agreements we click when we download software. (Which I do as well.) Life is too short; I prioritize my attention and energy.


-Jason

I must admit that I do the same thing. You're right - life's too short.

Life is short, but I think copyright issues are worth caring about. For example, we will all suffer if something like IMSLP disappears under another threat. If the public is not sufficiently outraged, this will happen again and again. Likewise, you should read those licenses for the software you use, and refuse to install it if the terms are objectionable to you.

Short answer: it's complicated! I found your question really interesting so I've done some reading around, and I hope that legal eagles can correct me if I go astray...

Under U.S. copyright law, copyright for works published prior to Jan 1st, 1923 expires after 75 years. This is why Rach 1-3 are in the public domain now.

However, copyright for works whose copyright was secured between Jan 1st, 1923 and Dec 31st, 1977 lasts for 95 years.

It also depends on which version of Rach 4 you want! The most commonly performed one is the revised 1941 version. I think you'll have to wait until 2036 for that (1941+95), sorry. Most Europeans including Brits should be able to get their hands on it from 70 years after the composer's death: Mar 28th, 2013.

The original published version (1928 in France), I think is the same story: Americans have to wait until 2023 (1928+95), while most Europeans could download from Mar 28th, 2013.

However, the version a lot of people are interested in nowadays is the original manuscript version from 1926, which was not published until 2000 by Boosey & Hawkes in the UK. If I'm correctly understanding sections 301-304 in Title 17 of the United States Code, this case in the U.S. is lifetime of author + 70 years, i.e. PD from Mar 28th, 2013. Whereas Brits and most Europeans will have to wait until 70 years after publication.