Address:
Klariská 5, Bratislava
1st Floor, Room 203
Tel.: +421 2 20 466 513 (Reading Room)
Tel.: +421 2 20 466 516 (Head of Cabinet)
E-mail:
jana.prazienkova@ulib.sk (Reading Room)
hk@ulib.sk (delivered to the Reading Room and Head of Cabinet)
veronika.bakicova@ulib.sk (Head of Cabinet)
Mon: 09:00 – 16:00
Tue: 09:00 – 16:00
Wed: 09:00 – 16:00
Thu: 09:00 – 16:00
Fri: 09:00 – 16:00
Please note: The Music Library will be closed from 3 August to 14 August due to the annual institutional summer closure.
The Music Cabinet of the University Library in Bratislava is the oldest publicly accessible music department within a library in Slovakia. Since its establishment in 1952, it has become one of the country's most important specialized music collections and research resources. It provides access to extensive collections of sheet music, sound recordings, scholarly literature, and unique historical holdings for Slovak and international researchers, students, musicians, and the general public
Autograph manuscript of Eugen Suchoň’s composition Aká si mi krásna (jpg, 908 kB) (How Beautiful You Are to Me), 1930, from the Music Estate of Miloš Ruppeldt, Ms 1148/XLIV-1.
The history of the Music Cabinet, including presentations of its directors, historical premises in Liszt Pavilion and Klarisaeum, a detailed description of the collections, and a photo gallery, can be found in a representative brochure (PDF, 24 MB) published on the occasion of the department’s 70th anniversary.
The retrospective should be supplemented by noting that the Music Cabinet has been a member of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML) since 1966. It also cooperates with the Slovak National Library in the development of music subject authority records. The department carries out methodological activities, whose current outcome is the Methodology for Processing Music Documents
For more than 40 years, the Music Cabinet has published the Music Anniversary Calendar, an annual reference publication providing information on the birth and death anniversaries of composers, conductors, performers, music theorists, educators, musicologists, instrumentalists, folklorists, and other significant figures in the world of music. The publication first appeared in 1982 under the title Significant Anniversaries for 1982. Music. The current edition is available here: Mucis Anniversary Calendar 2026
In cooperation with the Library's Digitization Department, the Music Cabinet digitizes sheet music from its collections and makes it available through the University Library’s Digital Library. Older scores must first undergo professional conservation treatment provided by the Library’s Restoration Department.
Together with the Conservatory, the cabinet organizes monthly concerts by students of the vocal department and occasionally by students of wind instruments and contemporary composition. Educational music events are also prepared for students directly in the Music Cabinet Reading Room.
➡️ New records of sheet music and gramophone records are continuously added to the online catalogue.
➡️ For the most comprehensive search results, we recommend using the General Catalogue as well.
The Music Cabinet of the University Library offers rare scores, critical editions, recordings, and scholarly analyses unavailable online that can significantly enrich musical interpretation, expand repertoire, or support musicological research. The collections cover the period from the present day back to the second half of the 19th century. Older music documents are catalogued in the University Library Online Catalogue and the General Catalogue. They are available for on-site consultation in the reading rooms on Ventúrska Street. The oldest musical treasures are preserved and made accessible by the Department of Manuscripts, Early Printed Books and Rade Books
The sound archive contains approximately 25,000 items:
The Music Cabinet administers several unique collections:
Printed music and manuscripts from the 19th and 20th centuries, including autograph manuscripts by Slovak composers that were never published or were considered lost.
A collection of sheet music materials by composer, arranger, and music journalist Pavol Zelenay.
An extensive collection of approximately 700 CDs of classical, popular, jazz, folk, and sacred music from foreign productions that were difficult to acquire during the second half of the 20th century. Accessible recordings can be found in the online catalogue under the title Hudobná zbierka Jozefa Palkoviča
An extensive collection of salon music donated by Jiří Hrubý and currently being processed. A particularly valuable item is Franz Lehár’s handwritten note on a violin part from the operetta Die lustige Witwe (jpg, 542 kB) (The Merry Widow), published in 1928: "Beide Arrangements gehört. Sie klingen ausgezeichnet." ("I have listened to both arrangements. They sound excellent.") Signed: Lehár Lehár wrote this note after hearing Carl Robrecht’s foxtrot arrangements of his melodies. This rare document offers a unique insight into a composer who was open to modern adaptations of his works.
Among the collection's unusual items are period scores containing handwritten notes by composers and performers, a postcard incorporating a gramophone record, and a metal stamper ("mother") used for pressing records.
Another interesting item is a paper gramophone record featuring animal sounds recorded at London Zoo. Although the content itself may not be exceptional, the commentary was narrated by the renowned British biologist Julian Huxley. Such paper records, coated with formaldehyde resin and playable on one side only, were mainly produced during the 1930s.
One of the most remarkable curiosities is the gramophone record: BURIAN, František and Josef CHARVÁT. On Plastic Surgery. Prague: Supraphon, [1962]. František Burian, founder of plastic surgery in the Czech Republic and former Czechoslovakia, discusses plastic surgery, hormones, and diabetes. Call number: GRAM.DM.01289
The Music Cabinet offers:
Users may play sheet music directly in the reading room using headphones.
A recent user of the department's services was Christine Beard, professional flautist and professor at The University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her research focuses on flute music by persecuted composers, including works from the Holocaust period. During a research trip to Central Europe in May 2026, she visited several major libraries. At the University Library in Bratislava, she studied works by Slovak composers who had been persecuted because of their origins or political circumstances. She subsequently purchased selected scores through the Music Fund. We are pleased to have contributed to the international promotion of Slovak musical heritage and wish Professor Beard continued success in her research.
Members of the University Library have access to the renowned musicological encyclopedia Oxford Music Online
Available for secondary-school students, university students, and individual visitors.
Books in the Music Cabinet’s reference collection, available for on-site consultation in the Reading Room, are arranged according to the following categories:
Bibliographies and indexes; Music history; Discographies and publishers' catalogues; Encyclopaedias; Musicology; Musical instruments; Catalogues; Musical personalities; Popular music; Slovak music; Dictionaries; Guides; Vocal music.
We welcome suggestions for the purchase of sheet music, recordings, audiovisual materials, and musicological literature.
Suggestions may be submitted:
Please specify the type of material in your note:
