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Index for this guide:

Encyclopedias & Resources on Instruments
Indexes to Articles about Harps and their Performers
Periodicals specifically for Harps & Harpists
Listings Of Music
Browsing the Shelves for Harp Music Using Call Numbers
Using Subject Headings to Find Music in the UO Library's Catalog
Finding Music In Print
Finding Recordings of Harp Music
Web Sites for Harps & Harpists
Other Resources

Research Guides


THE HARPIST'S GUIDE to RESOURCES at the UNIVERSITY of OREGON'S KNIGHT LIBRARY

ENCYCLOPEDIAS and SPECIAL RESOURCES on INSTRUMENTS

    Rensch, Roslyn.
    The harp; its history, technique and repertoire.
    New York, Praeger Publishers [1969]
    [MUSIC ML1005.R42]

    Rensch, Roslyn.
    Harps and harpists. Rev. Ed.
    Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2007.
    [MUSIC ML1005 .R43 2007 + Doug. Circ. COMPACT DISC CX14809]

    Sadie, Stanley, ed.
    The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments.
    London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1984.
    [Has large signed articles with great bibliographies.]
    [MUSIC REF. ML 102 .I5 N48 1984]

Indexes to Articles about Harps and Harpists

    (For information about the instrument and performers; teaching methods; literature - Use music indexes; for teaching methods and school music- use education indexes as well as music indexes.)

Music Indexes:

    Music Index
    [MUSIC REF. ML 118 .M84 & on the UO Library web (for 1979 - present) through Articles, Databases & Indexes

    Music Article Guide
    [MUSIC REF. ML 118 .M842]

    RILM
    [MUSIC REF. ML 118 .R4 & on the UO Library's web, through Articles, Databases & Indexes]

Education Indexes

    [Note: the following index is searched by using the ERIC thesaurus terms, which are very broad - i.e. Music; Music Education; Orchestra. You can also do a free-text search on the ERIC web site, then follow through on the descriptors to find more articles about your topic.]

    ERIC
    1966 - present
    Available in paper form and on the UO Library's catalog, through Databases & Indexes
    [Note: any item found in ERIC that lists ED as its accession number is available in the MICROFORMS department in the ERIC microfiche cabinet, filed by the ED number. EJ numbers designate journal articles, and these journals need to be searched in the UO Library's catalog to find whether we own the journals.]

General Indexes that include Harp Articles

    [Note: These often provide access to full-text articles- or are indexes to full text resources that include music journals.]

    Academic Search Premier
    This resource connects you up to online journals by topic.

    JSTOR
    This is an archive of full-text journals that goes back to the beginning of the journal's life. To search the music journals, go to Browse and click on Music. You can choose the journal to search that might be the most appropriate- or go to Search and put in your terms (harps, names of harpists, etc.)

Periodicals specifically for harps & harpists

    [Note: the latest copies of most of the music periodicals are in the Music Services Department on the white shelves- older editions are bound and in our stacks. To find out if the journal is available in an online version, go to the Library's catalog under Journal Titles and type the title of the journal into the search box.]

    AHS Teachers Form.
    1997 - 2004
    [MUSIC MT540 .A47- later incorporated into the American Harp Journal]

    American Harp Journal.
    v. 1 (1968) - present) [MUSIC ML 1005 .A4]

    Historical Harp Society Bulletin.
    [Uncataloged copies in the Music Reference newsletter files]

    Historical Harp Society Journal
    [This has not yet been cataloged- stay tuned!]

    The Instrumentalist.
    [ML 5 .I55]

LISTINGS OF MUSIC

    Palkovic, Mark.
    Harp music bibliography: chamber music and concertos.
    Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2002.
    [MUSIC REF. ML128.H3 P33 2002]

    Palkovic, Mark.
    Harp music bibliography: compositions for solo harp and harp ensemble.
    Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, c1995.
    [MUSIC REF. ML128.H3 P35 1995 + 2002 supplement]

    Zingel, Hans Joachim.
    Harfenmusik. Harp music. Musique de la harpe. Harp muziek. Musica per arpa. Verzeichnis der gedruckten und zur Zeit greifbaren Literatur fur Pedalharfe.
    Hofheim am, Taunus, Hofmeister (1965)
    [MUSIC REF. ML128.H3 Z5]

Browsing the Shelves for Harp Music: A Guide to Helpful Call Numbers

[Note: While browsing the shelves is fun and helps you see all sorts of music, the better way to search for a specific piece of music by a specific composer is to search that composer's name in the Library's catalog. If you don't know how to do this search-or you can't find the piece you need, please see the Music Reference Librarian!]

Call Numbers to Browse:

    M115- 123 Solo Harp Music
    (hint: most are in M117- Harp concertos in solo are M119)
    M142 - Celtic Harp Music
    M273- Harp & Piano Music
    M293- 2 Harp Arrangements
    M682- Harp with Chamber Group
    M1036-1037 - Solo Harp Concertos with Orchestra
    M1137- Two-Harp Concertos with Orchestra
    M1527 - Movie music for solo harp
    M1534.5- Harp part with choral pieces
    MT545- Teaching pieces for harp & Excerpts
    MT546- Orchestra excerpts for Harp

Using Subject Headings to Find Music in the UO Library's Catalog

[Note: The terms that our library uses to list books, scores, recordings, and bibliographies in the Subject catalogs are listed in the Library of Congress Subject Headings Books]

Books about an instrument are listed under the name of the instrument:

    Harp
    Celtic Harp

You can also add the following subheadings:

    - Construction
    - History

Music for & about that instrument is listed under the name of the instrument, followed by Music:

    Harp- Orchestra Studies (an exception)

    Harp Music

      - Bibliography
      - History and criticism
      - Instructive Editions
      - Teaching Pieces

    Harp Music Harps (2)
    Harp Music- Harps (3)

    Concertos , Harp
    Sonatas, Harp

Other useful headings:

    Books about composers are listed in the SUBJECT section of the catalogs.

      (Search: Last Name, First Name; e.g. (Grandjany, Marcel.)

Finding Music In Print:

  • Start with an in-print directory, such as:
      String Music in Print.
      [MUSIC REF. ML 128 .S7 F4 1973 + 1984 supplement]

  • Consult the music publishers' catalogs, in the Music Reference area , near the Music Index table, for current prices/availability.

     

  • If we don't have a particular music publisher's catalogs, the following resources list the current addresses and phone numbers for publishers:

  • Other resources on Music Publishers and Music Distributors can be found on the web at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/music/coldev.html

Finding Recordings of Harp Music

    To find recordings in our library's catalog, search the Author section under the name of the composer, or the name of the performer.

    As a UO student, you also have access to our Audio Resources Online, which includes the Classical Music Library, providing access by performer, composer and instrument; the Database of American Music, which includes contemporary composers' works, as well as historical American Music; and the Smithsonian Global Sound, which includes music from all over the planet, including harp music from all the countries that have a form of this instrument.
    To access these resources at home, you must be a UO faculty, staff or student, and have your computer configured to be identified as a UO patron.

Web Sites for String Players

String and Music Organizations' Web Pages:

String Pedagogy Pages:

University Music Schools

Oregon Music Source

    Music in Oregon can be found at: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/music/musor.html

Just for Fun Source:

    For jokes on all instruments, at http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/jcb/other-instrument-jokes.html)
    (A Sample Harp Joke: Why are harps like elderly parents?
    Both are unforgiving and hard to get into and out of cars.)

Other Resources for Musicians

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Maintained by: Leslie Bennett, lbennett@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 10/24/2007