MUH 530: Topics in Music History

This research guide covers the the history of western music from early times to present. It identifies the best resources and search tools and also provides helpful advice on library research.

Garrett, Charles Hiroshi. The Grove Dictionary of American Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Available online and in a physical copy at Thrift!

LOC Call Number: ML101.U6 N48 2013

For guidance about using Oxford Music Online, click here. 

Slonimsky, Nicolas. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. New York: Schirmer Books, 2001.

Available online and in a physical copy at Thrift!

LOC Call Number: ML105 .B16 2001

Nettl, Bruno, Ruth M. Stone, James Porter, and Timothy Rice. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. New York: Garland Publishers, 1998.

LOC Call Number: ML100 .G16 1998

Taruskin, Richard. The Oxford History of Western Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Taruskin, Richard. The Oxford History of Western Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Both editions are available as physical copies at Thrift!

LOC Call Number: ML160 .T37 [Year of preferred edition]

Fine Arts & Music

Search millions of articles about drama, music, art history, and filmmaking. Diverse resource for serious fine art students. 

Garland Encyclopedia of World Music

With 9,000 pages-- the complete online version of the print set also includes associated audio tracks, musical illustrations, photographs, drawings, song texts, score examples, charts, and maps. 

IPA Source

The web's largest library of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions and literal translations of opera arias and art song texts. Now with over 12,000 titles!

Library Music Source

This resource contains over 300,000 pages of Western Classical sheet music from over 35,000 works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano, organ, voice, chorus, strings, winds, percussion, and guitar. 

Oxford Music Online

The Oxford Music Online gateway provides access to multiple music resources including the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion to Music.

Library of Congress System – The Library of Congress System arranges books (as well as scores and audio visuals) on the shelf according to subject. Music materials are stored in the M’s. There are three main categories.

               M – Music (Scores) and Books on Music

               ML – Literature on music

               MT – Musical Instruction and Study

These main categories are then divided into major and minor topics.

Example:

               MT 1-960 Instruction and study

                        MT 1  General works

                        MT 2.5  Music study abroad

                        MT 3-5  History

                        MT 5.5-7  Music theory

                        MT 9-15  Printed pedagogical aids

                        MT 9  Examinations, exercises, etc.

                        MT 10  Teachers’ and supervisors

You can browse for materials on a like topic by starting with the appropriate Library of Congress number.

• Start with Oxford Music Online, containing the 29 vol. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and several other scholarly titles. Lots of cross indexing to related articles. This will let you get to know your topic before you do any further research. There are lots of lengthy bibliographies to scholarly sources. While no library could be expected to own all these sources (many are quite rare) you can get most of them through Interlibrary Loan.
• Instead of looking your topic up alphabetically, look it up in the index, vol.29. The index will not only direct you to the main article, but also to related articles which you would otherwise miss.
• This may be the single most useful reference source in music.
• Also available is the actual New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (ML100 .N48 2001).
• There are several guides to music research available in the library containing both advice and descriptions of useful resources. 
• Advanced assignments cannot be completed solely with one library’s resources. Sometimes you will need to either visit other libraries, preferably university libraries with a graduate music program, or utilize ILL (Interlibrary Loan). ILL takes about a week and is free. You may order ILLs at the library’s home page.  Also available there are search engines for finding materials to order and ILL FAQ’s.
• Keep track of your research. Write down each source you look in, even if it is a dead end. This will save you time in the long run.
• Be aware of possible multiple spellings, especially when dealing with foreign languages. Example: For some online searches, “Barber of Seville” would not find “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.”
• Research Guides (located on the library’s Research Page) – Research Guides are annotated bibliographies describing useful resources – both in the library and online – along with useful research strategies.
• Get help from a librarian.
• Don’t give up!

1.  Library Catalog - Search by composer’s name or a key word within title of composition.

NOTE: The library will not have books on every composer. You may need to use a book that discusses multiple composers. (SEE Biography Tab above.)
Use the faceted search box to limit your search to such things as books, music (scores), sound recordings (CDs, audio files), eBooks, VHS, DVD, etc.

 2.  WorldCat - The WorldCat search engine contains 1.2 billion titles and covers 10,000 libraries worldwide. It contains citations to books, ebooks, videos, music and music scores, dissertations, and even some articles. No full text is available, only citations! You can create an account in WorldCat, if you wish, by setting up a user name and password. but you do not have to have one to conduct searches. However, account holders can create and name lists, share lists, print lists, view other people's lists, and compose notes to describe your lists. Also, WorldCat generates citations in APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA, and Turabian styles. You can also sign up for a RSS feed.

3.  PASCALCAT - A service provided by PASCAL (Palmetto Association of South Carolina's Academic Libraries) to academic colleges and universities in the state.  PASCALCAT is a union catalog of the library collections of the universities and colleges in South Carolina.  Items can be searched, saved, and emailed to yourself.  You can email the bibliographic information to the Thrift Library as an Interlibrary Loan request.  You must also submit a form to the library with your name, email address, or home number. 

Research your topic using the library’s databases. (See Databases Tab) Some articles will be in full text.

Current subscriptions are on the periodical shelves next to the fireplace. Read for pleasure or to stay current.

Check the A-Z Title List on the library’s web page to determine what we have online AND what we have in house.       

If not available, either online or in house, use Interlibrary Loan. This is where the library obtains the article from another library. ILL takes about a week and there is no charge.

Scores may be cataloged in multiple formats, such as books, reference books, and miniature scores. There are also many websites containing free scores and sheet music.

Musical Scores are cataloged in the M's according to the Library of Congress Classification System.

               M – Scores

               ML – Literature on music

               MT – Musical Instruction and Study

To find a score in OneSearch, search for the composer or composition, and then limit your search to Score.

Be mindful of spelling errors or variations of spellings. 

Boomhower, Daniel F., Edward M. Komara, Amanda Maple, and Liza Vick. A Basic Music Library: Essential Scores and Sound Recording. Fourth Edition. Vol. 1–3. 3 vols. Chicago: American Library Association, 2017.

LOC Call Number: ML113.B3 2017

Diamond, Harold J. Music Analyses: An Annotated Guide to the Literature. New York: Schirmer Books, 1991.

LOC Call Number: ML128.A7 D5 1991

Gottlieb, Jane. Music Library and Research Skills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

LOC Call Number: ML3797.G68 2009

Duckles, Vincent H., and Michael A. Keller. Music Reference and Research Materials: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Schirmer Books, 1988.

LOC Call Number: ML113.D83 1988

Slominksy, Nicolas, and Laura D. Kuhn. Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Centennial Edition. 6 vols. New York: Schirmer Books, 2001.

LOC Call Number: ML105.B16 2001

Slominksy, Nicolas, Laura D. Kuhn, and Dennis McIntire. Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Classical Musicians. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.

LOC Call Number: ML105.S612 1997

Southern, Eileen. Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.

LOC Call Number: ML105.S67 1982

Berry, Lemuel. Biographical Dictionary of Black Musicians and Music Educators. United States: Educational Book Publishers, 1978.

LOC Call Number: ML106.U3 B47

Pulver, Jeffrey. A Biographical Dictionary of Old English Music. New York: B. Franklin, 1969.

LOC Call Number: ML106.G7 P9 1969

Feather, Leonard G., and Ira Gitler. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

LOC Call Number: ML102.J3 F39 1999

Briscoe, James. Historical Anthology of Music by Women. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1986.

LOC Call Number: M1.H57 1987

Lee, Stacy, and Lol Henderson. Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century. London: Routledge, 2013.

Larkin, Colin. Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Garrett, Charles H. The Grove Dictionary of American Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

LOC Call Number: ML101.U6 N48 2013

Randel, Don M. The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1996.

Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1969.

LOC Call Number: ML100.A64 1969

Briscoe, James, Violet Archer, Thea Musgrave, Cecile Chaminade, Louise Farrenc, Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth, Fanny M. Hensel, and Cacc. Historical Anthology of Music by Women. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1986.

LOC Call Number: M1.H57 1987

Cramer, Alfred Willliam. Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century. 5 vols. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2009.

Griffiths, Paul. The New Penguin Dictionary of Music. London: Penguin, 2006.

Latham, Alison. The Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Helander, Brock. The Rock Who’s Who: A Biographical Dictionary and Critical Discography Including Rhythm-and-Blues, Soul, Rockabilly, Folk, Country, Easy Listening, Punk, and New Wave. New York: Schirmer Books, 1982.

LOC Call Number: ML102.R6 H5 1982

Pendle, Karin. Women & Music: A History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.

LOC Call Number: ML82.W6 1991

Neuls-Bates, Carol. Women in Music: An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.

LOC Call Number: ML82.W65 1986

Bangert, Mark P., and Edward Foley. Worship Music: A Concise Dictionary. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000.

LOC Call Number: ML102.C5 W67 2000

Myers, Helen. Ethnomusicology. New York: W. W. Norton, 1992.

LOC Call Number: ML3798.E84 1992

Pendle, Karin. Women & Music: A History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.

Randel, Don M. The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1996.

LOC Call Number: ML3799.E8 1992

Shelemay, Kay Kaufman. The Garland Library of Readings in Ethnomusicology: A Core Collection of Important Ethnomusicologies. New York: Garland Pub., Inc., 1990.

LOC Call Number: ML3799.G37 1990

Miller, Hugh M., and Dale Cockrell. History of Western Music. New York: HarperPerennial, 1991.

LOC Call Number: ML160.C67 1991

Weiss, Piero, and Richard Taruskin. Music in the Western World: A History in Documents. New York: Schirmer Books, 1984.

LOC Call Number: ML160.M865 1984

Rosenstiel, Léonie, and Margaret R. Griffel. Schirmer History of Music. New York: Schirmer Books, 1982.

LOC Call Number: ML160.S32 1982

Strunk, W. Oliver. Source Readings in Music History: From Classical Antiquity Through the Romantic Era. New York: Norton, 1950.

LOC Call Number: ML160.S89 1950

Wade, Bonnie C. Thinking Musically: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

LOC Call Number: ML3798.W33 2004

American Ballet Theatre: Ballet Dictionary is a unique interactive resource designed to bring dance to the internet and make it accessible to everyone.

AllMusic lets users sample or purchase music recordings, giving access to the first 30 seconds of hundreds of thousands of recordings, as well as accompanying notes, biographies, reviews, and classical composition descriptions. Users must register to listen, but it is free. 

The Library of Congress in collaboration with the American Choral Directors Association produced an online encyclopedia in order to access significant choral music in the public domain by the leading American composers from 1870-1923. Users can find digitized items from the collections, special presentations on topics and collections, and articles and biographical essays, finding aids to collections, databases for performing arts resources, and a special Performing Arts Resources Guide which contains entries for hundreds of Library collections, websites, databases, and exhibits. 

The Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC) is a repository of materials covering a range of African American musical idioms and cultural expressions from the post-World War II era. The AAAMC collections highlight popular, religious, and classical music, with genres ranging from blues and gospel to R&B and contemporary hip-hop.

The Aria Database is a diverse collection of information on over 1,000 operatic arias. Designed for singers and non-singers alike, the Database includes translations and aria texts of most arias as well as a collection of MIDI files of operatic arias and ensembles. 

Baroque Music Pages contains articles, composer biographies, portraits, and music samples.

ChoralNet contains forums, choral organizations, choirs, resources, and the latest news of interest to the choral world. 

The George F. Devine Music Library at the University of Tennessee Knoxville has compiled a wonderful links page to online music collections and library holdings. 

Princeton University compiled a list of links and resources from their music department of Gregorian chants. 

IMSLP Petrucci Music Library is the free public domain sheet music library. 

The Library of Congress in collaboration with Sony gives free online access to over 10,000 music and spoken-word recordings produces in the U.S. between 1901 and 1925  through the National Jukebox.

Public Domain Music is a reference site to help identify music and songs in the public domain; this is royalty-free music that users can use anywhere in any way they choose.

Renaissance Channel is devoted to the performance of medieval and renaissance music.

The University of California Los Angeles has developed a Sheet Music Consortium that collects an assortment of tools and services to students to access online sheet music by scholars, students, and the general public.

The organizational site for the Society for Music Theory contains a variety of resources for those interested in the fundamentals of music theory, including links to bibliographies and information about computer-aided instruction (can be found under basic theory).

Computer databases Themefinder compiles musical themes where users can narrow down searches by things such as interval, scale, pitch, and contour. 

Turabian, Kate L., Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. Fitzgerald. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Ninth Edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2018.

LOC Call Number: LB2369 .T8 2018

Use the Turabian manual as a guide for Chicago/Turabian style.

Use the Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide as an online resource to develop notes and bibliography for your research.

The Turabian Quick Guide provides an online resource as a guide for using Chicago/Turabian style.

Zotero is a citation guide which you can use to map your research project resources.  Below is a step-by-step photo guide to using Zotero to create a bibliographical citation. However, you can also use the Zotero Connector browser extension, and Zotero will automatically generate the citation for you! Just be sure to check for any errors.