You are no doubt aware that the Evanston Public Library contains a vast wealth of materials, the like of which may astound with its breadth. Why there are 485,000 print items in our collection alone. And because we are so very large and impressive, there are whole swaths of the collection you could easily never know about. In this series, I’d like to highlight different areas of the collection that your average patron might not be aware that we own. Today it is . . . .
Music Scores
That’s right. Evanston Public Library owns a whole heaping helpful of music scores.
To the average layman, this may sound strange. If musicians need sheet music, surely there are online databases or websites where they can just download that information, right? Not so much. Sure, there are databases. There are websites. But you must consider too the fact that scores online are haphazard in scope.
Now imagine you’re a music student. Due to the fact that here in Evanston we are local to The People’s Music School, The Bienen School of Music at Northwestern, The Evanston In-School Music Association, The Music Institute of Chicago, The Evanston Symphony Orchestra, and The Musical Offering and Chicago Academy for the Arts, this is not much of a stretch of the imagination. You need to audition and you need music to do so. What some people don’t know is that a lot of auditions do not allow students to play off of electronic scores. Yet if you need a print edition which can be hard (or expensive) to come by.
Currently the music scores take up about 216 feet of shelving. They range from full symphonies to lighter fare. Not long ago I was forced to remove from our shelves a dilapidated copy of what may well be my favorite score of all time. There was no saving it, and this was a pity because check out this song list:
That’s right. “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough”
In respect for that score and song, I shall embed this truly bizarre music video that went with the song, in tribute. Fare thee well, oh absent friend. And check out our music scores if you get a chance!
And yes. It has two parts. Because your day is not complete if I can’t fill it with a little Andre the Giant action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h6YJIzfpKg