The Westminster Music Library in London is one of the largest public music libraries in the UK. It includes sheet music, scores, sets of parts for performances, press cuttings and books about music. Since 2021 the collection has been housed within the

Westminster Reference Library Westminster Reference Library is a reference library in St Martin's Street, London, in the City of Westminster, part of the Westminster Libraries network. History The library was opened by W. Foxley Norris, dean of Westminster, on 8 October 19 ...

in St Martin's Street, part of the Westminster Libraries network. For more than 70 years it was located within

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Library at 160,

Buckingham Palace Road Buckingham Palace Road is a street that runs through Victoria, London, from the south side of Buckingham Palace towards Chelsea, London, Chelsea, forming the A3214 road (Great Britain), A3214 road. It is dominated by London Victoria station, V ...

on the first floor. A private library, the Central Music Library Limited (CML), was first established in 1947, formed to keep together the personal library of the late music critic Edwin Evans and his father.

Lewis Foreman Lewis Foreman (born 1941) is a musicologist and author of books, articles, programme notes and CD sleeve notes on classical music, specialising in British music. He has been particularly associated with the Dutton Epoch and Lyrita record labels ...

and Susan Foreman. ''London: A Musical Gazetteer'' (2005), pp. 103-4 Initial funding for this came from a £10,000 endowment by the pianist and composer Winifred Christie as a memorial to her late husband, the Hungarian composer

Emánuel Moór Emánuel Moór (; 19 February 1863 – 20 October 1931) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and an inventor of musical instruments. Life Moór was born in Kecskemét, Hungary, and studied in Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Between 1885 and 1897 ...

. CML was then invited to deposit its collection within Westminster Public Libraries, and was renamed as the Westminster Central Music Library, which opened in October 1948. Librarian

Lionel McColvin Lionel Roy McColvin (1896–1976), commonly referred to as Lionel McColvin, was a British librarian. He has been described as "the dominant figure in British public librarianship" in the mid-20th century and a "world leader" in the profession ...

, appointed as Librarian of the City of Westminster in 1938, was involved in the establishment of the collection. The American librarian Dorothy Lawton also advised on the initial organization."Dorothy Lawton, Librarian, 85, Dies," ''The New York Times'' (February 21, 1960), p. 92. Another critic,

Harold Rutland Harold Rutland (August 21, 1900 – July 23, 1977) was a British pianist, music critic and composer. He began studying at the Guildhall School of Music, became organ scholar at Queens' College, Cambridge, and completed his studies at the Royal Coll ...

, bequeathed his extensive collection to the library after his death in July 1977. Today there are over 30,000 music scores and performance parts, a large collection of vocal sets, sheet music, and 17,000 books about music for reference and loan. The library holds every edition of '' Grove's Dictionary'' and an archive of 450 music journal titles. The library is particularly noted for its coverage of British scores from the 19th and early 20th century, and for its collection of press cuttings, originally the working library of Edwin Evans.
Catalogue of Books in the Central Music Library
' (1978)

References

{{reflist 1946 establishments in the United Kingdom Libraries established in 1946 Libraries in London

Music Library A music library contains music-related materials for patron use. Collections may also include non-print materials, such as digitized music scores or audio recordings. Use of such materials may be limited to specific patron groups, especially in pr ...

Music archives Music libraries