Library
The Library
of the Athens Conservatoire
consists of the Historical Library of the Conservatoire, the reference library, and other private libraries that are housed in the Conservatoire. In the Historical Library, which was created by the Conservatoire itself to cover the needs of music education and performance, featuring publications that were acquired since the early years of the Conservatoire’s operation in the 1870s, there are numerous scores, librettos, music history books, teaching methods for instruments, analyses of music works, etc., in Greek, French, German, Italian, and English. It includes, for example, Leopold Mozart's Gründlichen Violinschule, mit vier Kupfertafeln und einer Tabelle, vierte vermehrte Auflage (Augsburg, 1800), and the first music theory publication ever written in Modern Greek, which was published by the National Printing House right after the Revolution: Nikolaos Flogaïtis, Synoptiki Grammatiki, eite Stoicheiodeis Archai tis Mousikis meta prosarmogis eis tin kitharan [Concise Grammar, or Elementary Principles of Music adapted for the guitar] (Aegina, Publ. National Printing House, 1830).
The periodicals
collection
The periodicals
collection
The periodicals collection in the Conservatoire’s Historical Library is a separate section, as from the first years of its operation, the Conservatoire subscribed to many foreign (mainly French and German) periodicals: Le Ménestrel, Revue et gazette musicale de Paris, Guide musical, Le Théâtre, and Signale für die Musikalische Welt, Allgemeine Musik-Zeitung, Die Musik, as well as the rare Italian-language Ente Italiano Audizioni Radiofoniche: Bolletino di informazioni sui programmi e sull’attività dell’ente (EIAR). Among the Greek periodicals, the most notable ones include: Apollo, Mousiki Zoi, Mousiki Kinisis, Mousika Chronika,Kritiki, as well as rarer ones like Kallitechniki Epitheorisis, Elliniki Skini and Odeion. Following a recent donation, the Conservatoire now also holds a complete series of the earliest Greek music periodical publication (which included scores in each issue), Mousiki Ephimeris (1893-1896).
One of the most important private libraries of the Conservatoire is the Library of the Chourmouzios-Papaioannou Foundation, which consists mainly of the books of Emilios Chourmouzios. In this collection, one can find rare post-incunable literary editions, such as Εὐριπίδου, Τραγῳδίαι ΙΘ΄, Euripidis Tragoedia XIX, Antverpi AE, Ex officina Christophori Plantini, Regij Prototypgraphi, ΜDLΛΧΧΙ [=1571], and numerous books on theatre and literature.
A significant portion of the Athens Conservatoire’s library has been digitized and is available in the Digital Repository.
