‘George Martin: The Scores’ Books Collects Producer’s Personal Archive of Music Manuscripts

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The first-ever definitive collection of Sir George Martin’s original music manuscripts are being published in April 2026, in celebration of the legendary, late producer’s 100th birthday. George Martin: The Scores, from Curvebender Publishing, includes full-sized reproductions of handwritten scores, insightful commentary, new orchestral recordings from Abbey Road Studios, and a foreword by Sir Paul McCartney. The trio of three-volume book sets is presented in Standard, Deluxe and Signature Editions, providing unprecedented access to Martin’s personal archive of original scores and other creative materials spanning his long, storied career. Martin was born on January 3, 1926.

All three editions are available for preorder ahead of their release here.

From the publisher’s Jan. 15 announcement: The Scores began more than 10 years ago, in close cooperation with Martin before his death at 90 on March 8, 2016. “As we worked — scanning, notating, building a database — George would occasionally pop in and observe over our shoulders,” Curvebender’s Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew recall in their Scores preface. “He had never seen the entire collection pored over in this manner. He would sometimes pick up a score and glance through it, bright eyes flickering across its staves, before returning it to the pile.”

All three of the collectible three-book sets feature complete, life-size reproductions of dozens of Martin’s original handwritten scores, which he tucked away for safekeeping after their use on iconic recording sessions for The Beatles and others. Original manuscripts for “Yesterday,” “A Day In the Life,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Here Comes the Sun,” McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” and many more iconic songs provide a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into the trailblazing producer’s working process.

The score for “Yesterday,” from George Martin: The Scores

The three-volume Standard Edition is packaged in a slipcase. It includes a USB-drive with multi-track audio files of several of Martin’s scores re-recorded in Studio Two at Abbey Road Studios especially for this project, allowing isolation of individual parts for study, as well as remixing.

The Deluxe Edition includes everything in the Standard Edition, plus a bonus clamshell case that features a complete, standalone, life-size score reproduction of one of Martin’s scores, a conductor’s baton, a Blu-ray disc featuring documentary footage of the re-recording session at Abbey Road Studios, as well as an audio CD of the final mixes from the session.

The Deluxe Edition of George Martin: The Scores

The limited Signature Edition is identical to the Deluxe Edition, but Volume I includes an exclusive signature page signed by Sir George Martin specifically for this project before his passing.

Speaking with Rob Sheffield for Rolling Stone, Sir George’s son Giles Martin said, “It’s a book of art, if you like, because his scores are very beautiful. There’s a fluidity to it. There’s a vibrancy to looking at that music on a page.”

Along the way, insightful commentary provides a detailed exploration of each piece, of interest and accessible even to individuals who do not read music. Several manuscripts reveal discarded arrangement ideas that differ notably from the final recordings, charting the evolution of Martin’s creative vision and offering an intriguing view of what might have been.  In addition to the manuscripts themselves, several arrangements have been meticulously re-recorded in London’s Abbey Road Studio Two, where Martin and The Beatles worked together to record many of the band’s timeless songs. This musical accompaniment allows the reader to experience Martin’s arrangements on their own, some revealing instrumental parts and lines which are less audible in the released recordings’ mixes. The individual multitrack session files from these newly recorded pieces are also included in all three editions, allowing for closer analysis and remixing. Documentary footage from the orchestral recording session is among the additional materials featured in the Deluxe and limited Signature Editions, and the Signature Edition exclusively includes a signature page signed by Sir George on commencement of this special project.