University of Arizona

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David Soren Popular Sheet Music Collection

The David Soren Collection of Popular Sheet Music, documents an approximately 150 year period in the creation, production, and dissemination of American popular music. These musical scores mirror trends in both American popular music and American history and culture. Full of pathos and emotion, these scores evoke feelings of patriotism, nostalgia, and gaiety. Apart from their musical value, many of these scores are beautifully decorated and like the music, the cover art represents significant trends in American art and fashion.

Well known titles in the Collection include, "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Cheek to Cheek," "The Entertainer," "Over There," "Riders in the Sky," "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," "Stars and Stripes Forever," and "You Were Meant For Me." Well known composers include Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, Al Jolson, Paganini, Cole Porter, Rogers and Hammerstein, and John Philip Sousa. Musical genres include American patriotic, song and dance, romance, Dixie, and ragtime.