New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "Sheet music was the popular culture of its time. People used it to share news, advance political causes, and entertain their friends. It is an important part of our shared cultural heritage," said
Thomas Smith, Co-Founder, Project Gado.
Project Gado, the Sheridan Libraries, and Sheet
Music Plus today announced a partnership to make over 20,000 pieces of early American sheet music (1700s-1900s) available for purchase by musicians, choirs, and other performers. The music is from the Lester S. Levy Sheet
Music Collection, which consists of over 29,000 pieces of American popular music. This music was donated to the Johns Hopkins University by Lester S. Levy over a period of years starting in 1976, and is now housed in the Special Collections Division of the Sheridan Libraries.
The Lester S. Levy Collection spans the years 1780 to 1980 and provides a thorough documentation of nineteenth-century
America through popular music. The collection is especially strong in music spawned by military conflicts from the War of 1812 through World War I. The songs cover topics ranging from military victories and political campaigns to temperance, courtship and cooking. The collection includes choral selections, ballroom dance classics, songs from musicals, ukulele music, and much more. Significant artists include Irving Berlin, Albert Von Tilzer, John Philip Sousa, and Stephen Foster.
"Sheet music was the popular culture of its time. People used it to share news, advance political causes, and entertain their friends. It is an important part of our shared cultural heritage," said
Thomas Smith, Co-Founder, Project Gado.
The partnership will make it easy for musicians to purchase the sheet music in a familiar format, store it alongside their contemporary music from Sheet
Music Plus, and easily perform the songs. It will also allow musicians to more easily find music from the collection, using Sheet
Music Plus' powerful search tools. A portion of sales from the collections will be used to digitize and share additional historical artifacts at the Johns Hopkins University.
"We are very pleased to represent the Lester S. Levy Collection" said Jenny Silva, Sheet
Music Plus CEO. "The collection adds an important historical component to Sheet
Music Plus' world-leading catalog of digital download and print sheet music. It has been fun to watch which titles customers have been interested in. Top sellers have included "12th Street Rag", "My Faithful Stradivari", "Under the
Double Eagle. March" and "A trip to Niagara. March and Two Step."
Musicians can view and purchase the music at https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/series/the-lester-s-levy-collection/1303185.
