Music Library resources

Music Library

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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
  • Musicalics | The Classical Composers Database
    Similarly modeled 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.

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
  • Harvard Dictionary of Music, 4th ed. Edited by Don Randel. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2003.

    Music Ref. ML100 .A64 2003

    Standard dictionary providing basic definitions for musical terms. Includes some bibliographic references.
  • Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopaedie der Musik Edited by Friedrich Blume. Kassel: Barenreiter, 1994-2008.

    Music Ref. ML100 .M92 1994

    German-language encyclopedia offering detailed biographies and information on musical topics.
  • The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. 29 vols. Stanley Sadie, ed. London: Macmillan, 2001.

    Music Ref. ML100 N44 2001 ; also available online through Oxford Music Online

    Defines major terms and provides detailed biographical information about musicians as well as works, discographies, and bibliographic references.

Music Suppliers

Music Publishers

Luck's Music Library
Luck's maintains a vast catalog of parts for large ensemble or solo instrument. Their music is available for purchase or rent.

Theodore Front Musical Literature
Front offers a wide range of scores, parts, books, music, CDs, and DVDs. Their collections, which include new and out of print items, are excellent sources of music and concert programming for music educators and community ensembles. 

Publication Resources

Music Publishers' Association
The MPA website offers information about music publishers, contact information, and copyright as well as information about musical notation standards.
  • Dolmetsch Online Music Dictionary, maintained by Dolmetsch Musical Instruments, is an online source definitions of musical terms and foreign terms commonly found in scores and text written about music.
  • Musical Terminology: A Practical Compendium in Four Languages, compiled by David L. Boccagna. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1999.

    Music Ref. ML108 .B55 1999
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Musical Terms, Edited by Alison Latham. Oxford,: Oxford University Press, 2004.

    Music Ref. ML108 .D576 2004
  • Musical Terms, Symbols, and Theory: An Illustrated Dictionary, compiled by Michael C. Thomsett. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1989.

    Music Ref. ML108 .T46 1989
  • The A to Z of Foreign Musical Terms, from Adagio to Zierlich: A Dictionary for Performers and Students, edited by Christine Ammer. Boston: E.C. Schirmer, 1989.

    Music Ref. ML108 .A52 1989

Performing Arts at WWU

Local Resources

Music Festivals

Classical Music Radio Stations

Symphonies & Operas

Subject Guides for Instruments

Subject guides for all instruments as well as dance, musical theatre, Canadian music studies, and Baltic region music studies. These subject guides include relevant subject terms, call number ranges, and materials useful for further research on that subject.

Composition & Theory Studies

Annotated links to online resources for composers including places to post music files, blank staff paper, and professional organizations.

Ethnomusicology Studies

Annotated links to professional organizations and resources for ethnomusicology studies.

Jazz Studies

Provides annotated links to programs, discographies, journals, and archives related to jazz studies.

Music Education

Organizations and tools for music education.

Music & Movies

Websites dedicate to identifying and indexing the music used in movie and television soundtracks.

Musicology

Annotated links to professional organizations and websites related to musicological research.

Voice Studies

Links to song and libretto indices, hymn tune and anthem indices, historical and current opera performance calendars, as well as several professional development tools.

For additional help with writing, visit the Hacherl Research & Writing Studio located in Western Libraries.

Free printable staff paper

Citation Guides

Style Guides

  • Bellman, Jonathan. A Short Guide to Writing about Music. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007.
    ML3797.B4 2007
  • Irvine, Demar. Irvine's Writing About Music, 3rd ed. Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1999.
    ML3797 .I79 1999 reference
  • Wingell, Richard. Writing About Music, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. ML3797 .W54 2009 reference

Copyright Guides

The following resources provide information about copyright rules and regulations relevant to music materials, conducting research, and publishing. While these sites are highly respected, the Music Library is not responsible for any information contained on these sites.

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