Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Online Music Library

Sometimes it is amazing to discover the wealth of information that exists on the web. That is how I felt when I first discovered Musopen, an online music library of music in the public domain. The mission of Musopen is to record or obtain recordings that have no copyrights - so that users can listen or re-use music as they please.  Their motto is "set music free."

On the Musopen website you will find copyright-free music recordings, sheet music, and even a in-progress music textbook.  Their goal in creating this music library was to give the world free access to music without any legal hassles.  By providing recordings, sheet music, and a textbook for free - Musopen is an incredible resource for homeschoolers.

Beethoven was actually the inspiration for the Musopen website with his belief that there should be one place for artists to store and access each other's works.  The team at Musopen has quoted him as saying:
"There ought to be but one large art warehouse in the world, to which the artist could carry his art-works and from which he could carry away whatever he needed."
~ Beethoven
 Here are just some of the things you can do at Musopen:
  • Browse their music collection by composer, performer, instrument, form, and time period.
  • You can help collaborate on a public domain Music Theory Textbook.
  • Listen to streaming music live.
  • View and download sheet music.



What I really about the site is that while you are learning about a composer, you can also get a detailed description about their compositions.  Then add in the ability to actually listen, and even download, that piece.  Talk about a real music appreciation gem.


 I urge all classical music fans to check out this website.  It is not only a great educational resource, but might also be a great cause to support by making either a monetary donation or becoming a contributor to the website.  In my opinion, Musopen is such a great project, I think that Beethoven would be proud. 


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