Composers & Performers

Print Resources

Composers

Bibliographies about composers are located on the shelf under the call number ML410. Within this call number books are arranged alphabetically by composers' last names (e.g. ML410.B contains books about Beethoven, Berlioz, and Bloch; ML410.M contains biographies about Mahler, Mendelssohn, and Mozart; ML410.S contains biographies about Schubert, Schumann, and Shostakovich).

• Anderson, Ruth. Contemporary American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1982.
  
  ML390.A54 1982

• Cohen, Aaron I. International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. New York: Books & Music USA, 1987.
  
  ML105.C7 1987 reference

• Ewen, David. American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1982.
  
  ML390.E815 1982 reference

• Floyd, Samuel A. Jr. International Dictionary of Black Composers. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999.
  
  ML105.I53 1999 reference

• Green, Richard D. Index to Composer Bibliographies. Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1985.
  
  ML113.G793 1985 reference

• Music in Print. Philadelphia: Musicdata, 1989--
  
  ML118.M83 reference

• Sadie, Julie Anne and Rhian Samuel, editors. The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994.
  
  ML105.N3 1994 reference

Performers

• Adams, John L. An Annotated Bibliography of Autobiographies Written by Musicians from 1800 Through 1975 Available in English. Monroe, LA: Northeast Louisiana University, 1978.
  
  ML105.A3

• Cowden, Robert H. Classical Singers of the Opera and Recital Stages: A Bibliography of Biographical Materials. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994.
  
  ML128.S295 C7 1994 reference

• Cowden, Robert H. Instrumental Virtuosi: A Bibliography of Biographical Materials. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
  
  ML128.B3 C73 1989 reference

• Cowden, Robert H. Popular Singers of the Twentieth Century: A Bibliography of Biographical Materials. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
  
  ML128.S295 C72 1999 reference

• Freeland, David, ed. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990. New York: Schirmer Reference, 2004.
  
  ML102.P66 B35 2004 reference

• Jacobs, Arthur. The Penguin Dictionary of Musical Performers: A Biographical Guide to Significant Interpreters of Classical Music: Singers, Solo Instrumentalists, Conductors, Orchestras, and String Quartets Ranging from the Seventeenth Century to the Present Day. London, New York: Penguin Books, 1991.
  
  ML105.J3 1991 reference

• International Who's Who in Classical Music. London: Europa Publications, 2002--
  
  ML105.I57 reference

• International Who's Who in Music, Popular Music. Cambridge: International Who's Who in Music, 2002--
  
  ML105.I58 reference

Online Resources

General Databases

• Musician Necrology Database
  Hosted and maintained by Washington University Gaylord Music Library, this website provides death dates and related links to composers, performers, and other music-related persons.

• American Composers Forum
  This is a basic-level networking site allowing contemporary American composers to post profiles and information about their work

• Classical Composers Database
• Similarly modelled to Wikipedia, members of the Classical Composers Database may add or edit information about composers. The database is searchable by name, group, or time period and may include biographical information, works list, and MP3 sound files.

• Digital Scores ~ Loeb Music Library ~ Harvard College Library
  Through Harvard University Library's Digital Initiative program, hundreds of the original manuscripts in the Loeb Library have been scanned and provided with significant metadata.

• ClassicalNet
  ClassicalNet supports an online database of webpages dedicated to composers that may include biographical information, recommended works & recordings, and relevant reviews and articles.

Resources by Composer

• Juan Crisostomo Arriaga Digitalized Scores
  The Municipal Library of Bilbao, Spain includes in its collections many musical sources for the study of Arriaga's work, including manuscript scores, autographs, and edited scores.

• Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies
  The Center for Beethoven Studies is the only North American research center dedicated to the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven. It is home to the largest collection of Beethoven materials outside of Europe.

• The Hector Berlioz Website
  Maintained by independent researchers, this website includes biographical information, discographies, bibliographies, articles, concert and recording reviews, and additional information.

• The Leonard Bernstein Collection, ca. 1920-1989
  Part of the American Memory project at the Library of Congress, the online Leonard Bernstein Collection includes dozens of photographs, the transcripts from Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts and Thursday Evening Previews, as well as more than 1,000 pieces of correspondence.

• Britten-Pears Foundation
  The Britten-Pears Foundation provides biographical information about the composer Benjamin Britten as well as a complete bibliography and related research resources.

• The Hoagy Carmichael Collection
  The Hoagy Carmichael Collection is housed in the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University. This digital rendering of much of the collection includes photographs, sound files, and sheet music.

• Chopin Early Editions
  This project is based in the Department of Music, Royal Holloway, University of London. 

• The Aaron Copland Collection ca. 1900-1990
  A part of the American Memory project by the Library of Congress, this online collections makes available only a portion of the materials contained in the Copland collection. Included in this online collection are 5,000 images of sketches, correspondence, writings, and photographs.

• The Irving Fine Collection
  This online collection, a part of the American Memory project by the Library of Congress, makes a selection of items from the Irving Fine collection available for online viewing. Digital renderings include photographs, a sketchbook, a manuscript score and an accompanying sound recording.

• The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive
  Although 'archive' is in the name, this site should be considered an expansive and highly informative gateway to additional resources. It includes information about numerous works, related festivals, articles, films, etc. Also included under the menu item "Memorabilia" is a link to digitized images of related materials.

• The Glen Gould Archive
  The Glen Gould Archive website describes the physical collection holdings of the Glen Gould Archive. Also included on the site are audio clips of Gould in conversation and performance.

• The Charles Ives Society, Inc.
• The Charles Ives Society maintains a frequently-updated website with suggested readings, discographies, photographs, and critical commentary.

• Leos Janacek Bibliography
  This website provides an excellent introduction to the life and times of Leos Janacek. Also included are a list of works, bibliography, and discography/videography.

• Liszt, Franz--Musikalische Werke
  This German language site from the Bavarian State Library in Munich is part of a project to create a digitized collection of all Liszt's musical works.

• Jean-Baptiste Lully Collection
  Part of the Special Collections library at the University of Northern Texas, the Jean-Baptiste Lully Collection includes detailed information about each of the works by Lully contained in the collection as well as high resolution images of the scores and manuscripts.

• Neue Mozart-Ausgabe: Digitized Version
  This site provides digitized renderings of the complete Mozart works published by Barenreiter.

• Archivio Luigi Nono
  This collection of over 250 early printed and manuscript scores represents in its entirety the Rita Benton Music Library's holdings of the work of French composer and music publisher Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831).

• Arnold Schoenberg Center
  This is the official website for the Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna. This website explores the Center's collections, provides biographical and bibliographical information about Arnold Schoenberg, as well as a discography and information about upcoming events and concerts.

• Schumann, Robert--Werke
  This German language site from the Bavarian State Library in Munich is part of a project to create a digitized collection of Robert Schumann's musical works.

• The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music
  In addition to biographical, bibliographic, and discographic information about Kurt Weill, this site includes similar information about vocalist Lotte Lenya and information about Foundation publications.