Choral Public Domain Library
Encyclopedia
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).
, or converted, to wiki
format, and is now accessible at ChoralWiki or via cpdl.org. In July 2008, Ornes stepped back from the site administration and turned the operational responsibilities to a group of the site administrators. A transition committee was formed which subsequently incorporated CPDL as a non-profit under California state and now operates CPDL.
In addition to making sheet music scores available, the wiki format supports additional features including:
Music is available for free download
in a variety of formats
, including score images in PDF
, PS
and TIFF
format, sound files in MIDI
and MP3
formats, and in the notation formats supported by various notation programs, including Finale, Finale Allegro, Finale PrintMusic, and Finale Notepad
by MakeMusic, Sibelius
, by Sibelius, Noteworthy composer
, Encore, and the open source GNU Lilypond
. Most scores on CPDL are distributed under an open-source license. As of May 15, 2011 CPDL archives over 12,750 scores by more than 1800 composers, contributed by over 750 editors and contributors. It includes large numbers of scores from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, including nearly complete vocal works by William Byrd
and Tomás Luis de Victoria
in excellent editions.
CPDL is suggested as a resource by departmental or faculty websites at Kent State University, Northern Illinois University
, the University of Oregon
, the University of Western Ontario
, the Internet Public Library of the University of Michigan
, the University at Albany, The State University of New York
, by the UCLA Music Library
, by the libraries at the Universities of Boston
and Stanford
and by inclusion by faculty members in syllabi for courses at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. It is recommended by the Iowa and Massachusetts chapters of the American Choral Directors Association
, and is included in the resource database of Intute, an association of Institutions in the UK.
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
archive which focuses on choral
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and vocal music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
or otherwise freely available for printing and performing (such as via permission from the copyright holder).
Description
The site CPDL.org was launched in December 1998 by Rafael Ornes. In 2005 CPDL was portedPorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
, or converted, to wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
format, and is now accessible at ChoralWiki or via cpdl.org. In July 2008, Ornes stepped back from the site administration and turned the operational responsibilities to a group of the site administrators. A transition committee was formed which subsequently incorporated CPDL as a non-profit under California state and now operates CPDL.
In addition to making sheet music scores available, the wiki format supports additional features including:
- original texts, their sources and translations;
- cross-indexing of choral music using criteria including musical genre, period, and number and voicing of choral parts;
- composer information;
- description and performance considerations can be included for works;
- contents of collections of choral music;
- community discussion such as through "Talk" pages related to composers or specific works.
Music is available for free download
Uploading and downloading
In computer networks, to download means to receive data to a local system from a remote system, or to initiate such a data transfer. Examples of a remote system from which a download might be performed include a webserver, FTP server, email server, or other similar systems...
in a variety of formats
File format
A file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
, including score images in PDF
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
, PS
PostScript
PostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
and TIFF
Tagged Image File Format
TIFF is a file format for storing images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and both amateur and professional photographers in general. As of 2009, it is under the control of Adobe Systems...
format, sound files in MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIDI is an industry-standard protocol, first defined in 1982 by Gordon Hall, that enables electronic musical instruments , computers and other electronic equipment to communicate and synchronize with each other...
and MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
formats, and in the notation formats supported by various notation programs, including Finale, Finale Allegro, Finale PrintMusic, and Finale Notepad
Finale (computer program)
Finale is the flagship program of a series of proprietary scorewriters created by MakeMusic for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Finale is regarded as one of the industry standards for notation software....
by MakeMusic, Sibelius
Sibelius Software
Sibelius Software is a London-based software business and a part of Avid Technology that develops and sells music notation and music education software....
, by Sibelius, Noteworthy composer
NoteWorthy Composer
NoteWorthy Composer is a scorewriter application made by .NoteWorthy Composer is a graphical score editor for Microsoft Windows computers , and is also reported to work on PCs under Linux with Wine. Versions 1 of NWC was released in October 1994, and Version 2 in September 2008...
, Encore, and the open source GNU Lilypond
GNU LilyPond
GNU LilyPond is a computer program 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....
. Most scores on CPDL are distributed under an open-source license. As of May 15, 2011 CPDL archives over 12,750 scores by more than 1800 composers, contributed by over 750 editors and contributors. It includes large numbers of scores from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, including nearly complete vocal works by William Byrd
William Byrd
William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
and Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria, sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria , was the most famous composer of the 16th century in Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer, but also an...
in excellent editions.
CPDL is suggested as a resource by departmental or faculty websites at Kent State University, Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
, the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
, the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
, the Internet Public Library of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, the University at Albany, The State University of New York
University at Albany, The State University of New York
The State University of New York at Albany, also known as University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY Albany or simply UAlbany, is a public university located in Albany, Guilderland, and East Greenbush, New York, United States; is the senior campus of the State University of New York ...
, by the UCLA Music Library
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, by the libraries at the Universities of Boston
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and by inclusion by faculty members in syllabi for courses at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. It is recommended by the Iowa and Massachusetts chapters of the American Choral Directors Association
American Choral Directors Association
The American Choral Directors Association , headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization with the stated purpose of promoting excellence in the field of choral music...
, and is included in the resource database of Intute, an association of Institutions in the UK.
Other public domain music projects
- Werner Icking Music ArchiveWerner Icking Music ArchiveThe Werner Icking Music Archive , 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 files. WIMA continues the defunct GMD Music Archive and is named after...
- Mutopia ProjectMutopia projectThe Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books.The music is reproduced from old scores that are out of copyright...
- Kantoreiarchiv
- International Music Score Library ProjectInternational Music Score Library ProjectThe International Music Score Library Project , also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a project for the creation of a virtual library of public domain music scores, based on the wiki principle...
(IMSLP)