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"He did not exaggerate their achievement...but he determined to show what they had achieved. He was a traveller forever suggesting that if only you would journey further you would be transfixed by some new and life-enhancing experience."
Sir Maurice Bowra's work on the minor poets, as described by Lord Annan in "The Dons"
The nineteenth-century is the key point in the growth of the piano both as an expanded and strengthened instrument and in terms of its increased repertoire responding to the rise of the virtuoso and the popularity of the piano as a domestic instrument. The Henselt Library offers an opportunity to experience this period through many worthwhile but forgotten works.
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The Collection
This collection is devoted to rare and unfamiliar scores, and does not seek to duplicate the holdings of mainstream composers in other digital libraries. Although concentrating on the nineteenth-century, a few earlier scores have been included where their rarity justifies this.
Most music is presented either directly in .pdf format or in a compressed .rar file which contains .pdf files. A few files are in .djv format.
We request that visitors save files to disk (right-click and select "Save Target") rather than viewing them online, since this saves bandwidth.
The collection is arranged in alphabetical order by surname of the composer. Transcriptions and arrangements are listed under the name of the transcriber or arranger. A small number of multi-composer volumes as well as anonymous compositions and transcriptions are listed separately.
Usage of materials
Since all material in the Library is in the public domain, no restrictions on its use are imposed. It is hoped that its ready availability will stimulate interest in performance and scholarly activity concerning these works.
Affiliations
The Library is part of European-American University, a private and autonomous global online university that offers degree programs in many areas through non-traditional educational methodologies. It is also associated with the Romantic Discoveries Recordings project (an associate research center of EAU) which is dedicated to creating CD recordings of previously unrecorded nineteenth-century piano music.
Access the Scores
Scores

A portrait of
Adolf von
Henselt (1814-89), piano virtuoso and composer, after whom the Henselt
Library is named. Henselt's compositions are outstandingly technically
advanced for their era. He suffered severe stage-fright and had given
up both performance and composition by the age of 33.