Top left: bowed sheet music; Bottom Left: Music Librarian Bob Borden preparing parts; Right: backstage Bob and Brenda Leonard (former Music Librarian and Principal Cello)
The Art of Music Librarianship Preparing Sheet Music For Performance Throughout our 93 years as an orchestra, the Spartanburg Philharmonic has amassed quite a music library. Our current Music Librarian Bob Borden keeps the collection organized and in good repair. However, this is only one aspect of the job. The librarian is also in charge of all the music passing through our musicians’ hands. Depending on the size of the orchestra for a given performance, this can be quite a feat. Unlike the conductor, who gets the full score for any music to be performed, each musician only sees their individual part. It often makes for a flurry of sheet music - one that Bob deftly manages well in advance of each concert. Making sure each musician receives their music is only one part of a Music Librarian’s job, though. The work begins with acquiring the scores and parts if the piece is not already a part of the Philharmonic library, which means researching sources. Occasionally a piece in the public domain can be found online - many out of print scores and parts can be downloaded from the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) database - but frequently it must be purchased or rented from a publisher. Before finding the music, though, librarians work closely with the Music Director 52
“Orchestra Librarian is kind of an invisible job, but it’s quite detailed. Of course, some concerts were easy - an overture, concerto, and a symphony to rent, borrow, or buy and you’re all set. Get bowings from the concertmaster and the principal players, put them in the parts, and send out the music to the players. On the other hand, if it’s concert with a lot of short pieces, it can be challenging to track them all down from various sources. I was librarian during Maestro Ioannides’s tenure and we did a lot of premieres. So, I was sometimes working with composers or publishers where the music wasn’t even finished yet! Occasionally, Maestro wanted a piece that she had heard another orchestra play but wasn’t sure of the publisher. That could take some sleuthing to locate! On one memorable occasion, I ended up calling the principal librarian of the New York Philharmonic
