Drinker Collection
Staff is not currently accepting orders for choral music as we work to conduct an inventory of the Drinker Choral Collection's extensive holdings. We are working behind the scenes to make the catalog more searchable. In the meantime, please contact Music Special Collections staff with questions and comments. Music Special Collections is based out of the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music. Please email fleisher@freelibrary.org or call 215-686-5313 for more information.
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Friday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Closed |
Upcoming Closures
- Mon., Sep. 1 : Closed Labor Day
- Mon., Oct. 13 : Closed Indigenous Peoples' Day
- Tue., Nov. 11 : Closed Veterans Day
- Thu., Nov. 27 : Closed Thanksgiving Day
The Drinker Collection of Choral Music was donated to the Free Library by Henry and Sophie Drinker in 1959. The Drinkers were a prominent Philadelphia family who loved performing and listening to music, especially choral music. Henry Sandwith Drinker (1880–1965) was a lawyer who wrote English translations of German choral music, such as J. S. Bach’s cantatas and lieder, or folk-inspired songs, by Johannes Brahms.
Staff is not currently accepting orders for choral music as we work to conduct an inventory of the Drinker Collection's extensive holdings. We are working behind the scenes to make the catalog more searchable. In the meantime, please contact Music Special Collections staff with questions and comments. Music Special Collections is based out of the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music.
About Music Special Collections
The Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music (Fleisher Collection) represents the largest lending library of orchestral performance material in the world, housing more than 22,000 titles and continuing to grow. Additional music holdings include two other circulating collections, the Chamber Music Collection and the Drinker Collection of Choral Music, as well as an exceptional collection of Sheet Music numbering over 350,000 items. Special Collections enhance the Free Library of Philadelphia's educational mission by curating and making accessible historic materials, providing reliable and knowledgeable staff assistance, and offering instructional programs that promote understanding of history and culture.
Contact Us
The Drinker Collection is serviced by Music Special Collections staff based in the Fleisher Collection.
Phone: 215-686-5364
Email: fleisher@freelibrary.org
Research Queries and Visits
Access to Drinker Choral Collection materials is limited. Appointments are required. Please note: Materials in the Drinker Choral Collection are not currently circulating.
To set up an appointment, email us at fleisher@freelibrary.org. To help us best assist your research needs, please be as specific as possible about the music you are researching. Material must be viewed at Parkway Central Library. Same-day appointments are not available.
Scans of materials may be available upon request and at the discretion of the curator for $1 per page via Reproduction Services.
Due to ongoing server security issues, some international emails may not reach us. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you have an international email address, utilize the “Ask a Librarian” feature on our website. Please note these responses may be delayed.
History of the Collection
Henry “Harry” Sandwith Drinker (1880-1965) was an amateur musicologist based in the Philadelphia area and the founder of the Drinker Collection of Choral Music. A lawyer by career, he came from a prominent Philadelphia family. In 1911 Harry married Sophie Lewis Hutchinson. Sophie was herself a music enthusiast and amateur musicologist; her book Music and Women (1948) is considered a founding work in women’s musicological studies.
In 1928, the Drinkers began hosting private singing parties at their home in Lower Merion Township, PA. The attendees, who referred to themselves as the Accademia dei Dilettanti di Musica, would sing excerpts from choral works prepared and translated by Harry. As these parties grew in scale, the singers needed scores which could be easily copied and distributed, and which were simple enough for use by musical amateurs.
The Drinkers’ collection of scores–as well as Harry Drinker’s translations of the major choral works of Bach, Schubert, and Schuman, among other composers–formed the backbone of the Drinker Library of Choral Music. In addition to Harry’s own publications, the library collected and circulated a wide array of traditionally published scores and editions from major music publishers.
In 1957, the library was transferred to Parkway Central Library. In 1964, the collection was formally donated to the Free Library of Philadelphia, where it was administered by the Music Department and continued to remain in circulation. Harry and Sophie would remain involved with the Drinker Library until their deaths in 1965 and 1967, respectively.
As of 2025, the Drinker Collection is part of Music Special Collections, with in the Special Collections Division at the Free Library of Philadelphia. While circulation is temporarily paused, the collection is being organized and cataloged with the goal of resuming circulation to local choirs.