This microsite compiles the rich musical resources of the Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliográfico, which encompasses 655 both printed and handwritten scores (many of which include their corresponding parts), 132 books, 93 graphic documents (such as illustrations, engravings, posters, postcards or photographic materials) and 16 ancient manuscripts.

The oldest scores are valuable examples of medieval antiphonaries, prayers for the dead and graduals. The most modern ones are, manily, sheet music for orchestras like, for example, symphonies, concerts, operas, suites, zarzuelas, etc. In addition, there are plentiful examples of popular music (carols, traditional folk songs, pasodobles, folk dances) amd religious music (liturgical books, religious songs, requiems, etc.). This ensemble is quite international, as there are scores in Spanish, German, French, English, Italian, Latin and other languages.

Most of the books are librettos from comedies, revues, or other types of stage plays. There are also opera programs, and treatises and manuals on music written in different centuries, some quite interesting. 

The photographic materials in this collection depict musical ensembles, evenings, kiosks, music schools or academies, etc. The graphic materials show the clothes musicians wore, musical instruments from different cultures and historical periods, folk dances, etc. The plates drawn by Francisco Aznar (Indumentaria española), Auguste Racinet, (Le costume historique) and Friedrich Hottenroth (Historia del Traje) are particularly of high quality.

This collections offers, then, a historical panoramic of music, from the Middle Ages to modern times, even dating back, with fashion plates and musical instruments of different cultures, to antiquity.

There are two collections that deserve a special mention: the handwritten music sheets of the Fundación Jacinto e Inocencio Guerrero and the collection of symphony scores belonging to the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid.

Jacinto Guerrero

The Fundación Jacinto e Inocencio Guerrero collection includes 184 handwritten scores by Jacinto Guerrero.
Jacinto Guerrero (1895-1951) was a Spanish musician and composer that mainly wrote zarzuela music. He was the author of well-known titles in the genre, such as Los gavilanes or El huésped del sevillano.

The Fundación Jacinto e Inocencio Guerrero is devoted to the promotion of Spanish musical culture since its creation in 1982, especially the study, investigation and divulgation of zarzuela and other similar genres, with a special focus on those composed by Jacinto Guerrero.

Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

 The Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid collection comprises 443 scores for orchestra, all of them including the corresponding parts for the different instruments. This is the music the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid has been playing for the last decades, all of it written by many of the most importat composers of classical music from the 17th century onwards.

The Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid was founded in 1903 by most of the members of the Sociedad de Conciertos —the first stable symphony orchestra in Spain, established by  Francisco Asenjo Barbieri in 1866.  It made its presentation in the Teatro Real de Madrid on 7 February 1904, conducted by Alonso Cordelás. A fertile collaboration with Enrique Fernández Arbós was initiated in 1905. It would last for three decades, in which important figures such as Richard Strauss and Ígor Stravinski participated in concerts as guest conductors. Under Arbós' direction the orchestra defined its basic objectives: the renovation of its repertoire, the promotion of Spanish music and musicians, and the creation of new audiences. After Arbós passed away, other Spanish conductors like Conrado del Campo, José María Franco, Enrique Jordá and Vicente Spiteri took his place.

After an agreement with the Ministry of Culture, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid became the permanent orchestra in the Teatro de la Zarzuela in 1981. Their purely symphonic activity was recovered as well, a field in which their annual cycle of concerts in the Auditorio Nacional de Música were of special significance. The Orquesta did not only work with the most important Spanish conductors, but it was also conducted by masters such as Peter Maag, Pinchas Steinberg, Kurt Sanderling, Krzysztof Penderecki and Mstislav Rostropóvich.

Since 1997 the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid has been covering the musical needs of the Teatro Real. The master García Navarro was the OSM's principal conductor from 1999 to 2002. He was replaced by Jesús López Cobos, who was the principal conductor until 2010. Kurt Sanderling, as honorary conductor, and Cristóbal Halffter, as composer associate, complete the artistic direction of the ensemble.

The most notable works in their discography are the zarzuela and Spanish operas recorded for «Auvidis», the totality of Mendelssohn's symphonies,under the direction of Peter Maag, for «Arts», the world's firsts Merlin and Henry Clifford recordings, composed by Albéniz and conducted by José de Eusebio, or Fernández Arbós' El Centro de la Tierra, conducted by José Luis Temes.