Music

How to consult documents

  • Please reserve your documents 2 working days in advance.
  • You can consult them in the General reading room.
  • Seat reservation is required.

The collection

KBR is the country’s most important scientific centre for the preservation of musical documents. Its collection consists of:

  • Handwritten and printed scores
  • Letters
  • Printed works
  • Concert programmes and posters
  • Photographs and other iconographic documents
  • Sound archives (78 rpm, 45 rpm and 33 rpm gramophone records, CDs, cassette tapes and magnetic tapes)
  • Varied items (paintings, sculptures, musical instruments,…)

Consulting documents

  • Physical documents are to be consulted in the General reading room.
  • Digitised documents (such as handwritten scores) are accessible via Belgica, the digital library.
  • For full-text searches in digitised journals and periodicals, please use BelgicaPeriodicals.

Musicological reference library

The Music Department was founded in 1965 with works from the Fétis Collection, but its collection has grown since then with the addition of numerous other collections. Scores acquired through legal deposit are also kept in the Music Department.

The Department also purchases items: monographs, the complete works of composers, scores, journals and magazines about music and musicology, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, CDs, CD-ROMs and DVDs and has consequently accumulated a library of musical and musicological reference works that is unique in Belgium.

List of subcollections

Internationally renowned musical and musicological expertise

KBR plays an active part in international organisations such as RILM (the International Repertory of Music Literature) and RISM (the International Inventory of Musical Sources). It is also home to the non-profit organisation “Archives Béla Bartók de Belgique. Fonds Denijs Dille“.

Every year, Marie Cornaz, the curator of the Music Department, teaches “Patrimoine musical belge” at the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Concerts

Each year, KBR organises concerts where the scores that are kept in the collection come to life. A unique journey to the very heart of the KBR collection. All concerts are held in the concert hall.

Buy your tickets online to ensure to have a seat. You can also purchase tickets at the ticket counter at the entrance of KBR.

View the programme
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