Choral Public Domain Library (review)

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

Reviewed by: Choral Public Domain Library Robert D. Terrio Choral Public Domain Library. Managed by Rafael Ornes. http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. (Accessed November–December 2007) [Requires a Web browser and an Internet connection. Down loading scores may require software dependent on the file format.] The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a free, Web-based, wiki-style portal dedicated to providing free, legal scores of choral music. Rafael Ornes, minister of music at Valley Presbyterian Church in Portola Valley, California, started CPDL in 1998. The core of the "Wiki way" is collaborative self-governance. With Ornes as the site manager, users contribute the majority of content and are encouraged to report or fix errors as they are detected. In addition to content where copyright has lapsed, composers are welcome to add their own original scores to the database. The goals of the CPDL are well defined: • To make sheet music available for free. • To create a website for public domain music that includes only legally downloadable scores. • To develop a viable collaborative model for sheet music distribution. • To publish scores that are not otherwise commercially viable. • To create a website that catalogs a large number of free sheet music websites. (http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/ Help:What_is_CPDL_anyway%3F). The interface for CPDL has the look and feel of a Wiki (it is a Wiki, and identifies itself as "ChoralWiki" in different parts of the database), and requires no special software for searching and browsing, but it has a number of requirements for downloading scores in various formats. The record for each entry is supplied with a legend that identifies in which format the score is available. The legend also indicates other types of files, such as picture files (.GIF) and Midi sound files (.MID). The vast majority of scores are available as .PDF (portable document format) files, which require installation of the free Adobe Acrobat reader. Some scores are uploaded as Sibelius notation files. Files of this type require Scorch, a free utility that allows the user to view, play, and print Sibelius scores from the Internet. Alternatively, users can download the free demo version of the full Sibelius notation program. Other files are submitted as Finale notation files, which require the Finale viewer, or Finale Notepad (Notepad is preferable, as it allows more options for editing, and Finale viewer does not operate under Windows 95). Scores and Composers Catalog CPDL contains approximately 8,857 score pages, and 1,245 composer pages from over 320 contributors. The site is updated regularly, with new scores being added almost daily. Navigation around the site is intui tive. The interface is not very slick in design. Its appearance follows the general Wiki model, which has more to do with the concept of uncomplicated collaborative document editing than it does with cosmetic aspects. Information on the main page of the portal is clearly described. Users are given the option to search or, as many users prefer, browse by score or composer. For browsing, each of these two divisions is further divided by subcategories. The score subcategories organize music by genre: sacred music (e.g., Anglican chant, evening canticles, shape notes); secular music (e.g., barbershop, folksongs, villancicos); historic period (e.g., classical, baroque); and number of voices (from unison to 16 parts). There is another subcategory for style of accompaniment (e.g., ensemble, keyboard, orchestra, jazz band), which is largely incomplete. The composer subcategories are grouped by era, and by nationality and ethnicity. There is also a subcategory for women composers, as well as an A–Z listing of all composers. The composer and score lists are also available as PDF documents, with links into the database, but these pages tend to be more outof date than the more dynamic HTML lists. There are several other browsing options available to users. The database has a catalog of score requests from users who do not volunteer on CDPL. This category can be browsed for all requests, requests pending, requests completed, and copyright-restricted requests. Particularly helpful is the browsable list of historical music publi cations [End Page 794] . Representative examples include 100 Carols for Choirs (David Willcocks and John...