Index for this guide:

Locating Books

Journals of Musicology

Indexes to Articles

Dissertations & Masters Theses

Scholarly Anthologies, Original Manuscripts & Facsimiles

Interlibrary Loans

Other Sources

Music Library Web Sites

Discographies

Research Guides

MUSIC HISTORY RESEARCH GUIDE

I. Tour the Library.

II. Define your topic.

Consult a Music Encyclopedia for an Overview of Your Topic.
Other dictionaries and encyclopedias useful to consult:

III. Find a Research Guide on your topic:

Search Vincent Duckles' Music Reference and Research Materials for suggestions of music resources on your topic.
This can be found in the Music Reference section at MUSIC REF ML113 .D83 1997

IV. Get A Research Log Started.

V. Decide on a Citation Manual.

(For a list of the kinds of citation manuals available to scholars, see Citing Sources in Research Papers, located on the UO web site, at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/citing/

VI. Locate Books on Your Subject in Our Library:

Make a list of subject headings from the Library of Congress Subject Headings books [found in the Music Services Dept. at the Music Reference Desk.]
Search the subjects you've found in the UO Library's catalog.
Browse the shelves under the call numbers found in the UO Library's Catalog.

VII. Find Citations to Journal & Magazine Articles:

Important Journals in the Music History Field:

(These are indexed in the Music Index and RILM, as well as other resources) Those journals for which the UO owns the online archives are noted with an asterisk (*) next to the call number.

Acta musicologica.
[Publication of the International Musicological Society]
[MUSIC ML 5 .M6]*

Archiv fur Musikwissenschaft.
[MUSIC ML 5 .A63]*

Current musicology.
[MUSIC ML 1 .C9]

Early music.
[MUSIC ML 5 .E3]*

Early music history.
[ML 5. E123]*

The Journal of musicology.
[MUSIC ML 1 .J683]*
(Online articles can be found in the Academic Search Premier from 2001.)

Journal of the American Musicological Society.
[MUSIC ML 27 .U5 A83363]*
(Online articles can be found in the Academic Search Premier from 1999.)

Musica disciplina.
[Publication of the American Institute of Musicology.]
[MUSIC ML 5 .M722]
[We also own its precursor, Journal of Renaissance & Baroque Music.]

Die Musikforschung.
[MUSIC ML 5 .M9437]

Notes.
[Publication of the Music Library Association.]
[MUSIC ML 27 .U5 M695 ser.2]
(Online articles can be found in the Academic Search Premier from 1996.)

Performance practice review.
[MUSIC ML 1 .P10876]

Recercare: rivista per lo studio e la pratica della mus antica : organo della Societa italiana del flauto dolce
[MUSIC ML 5 .R184]

Research chronicle.
[Publication of the Royal Musical Association]
[MUSIC ML 5 .R8]
[We also own its precursor, R.M.A. Chronicle]

Revue belge de musicologie. Belgisch tijdschrift voor muziekwetenschap.
[Publication of the Societe belge de musicologie.]
[MUSIC ML 5 .R292]

Revue de musicologie.
[Publication of la Societe francaise de musicologie.]
[MUSIC ML 5 .R32]*

Rivista italiana de musicologia.
[MUSIC ML 5 .R7]

Studia musicologica.
[Publication of the Academiae Scientiarum Hungarica]
[MUSIC ML 5 .S925]*

Note: Also check individual composer's subject headings, with the subdivision - Periodicals, for more articles specific to those composers.

Indexes to Music Periodicals

Begin by making a list of terms indexes might use - and check to see if the indexes have a thesaurus.

The Music Index
On the web at Articles, Databases & Indexes on the UO Library's web catalog (1979 - present) and in paper on the Music Reference shelves from 1949 - 1989; on the Music Index Table from 1990- 2001.
[MUSIC ML 118 .M84]
(Use the same headings you found in the Library's catalogs- or consult the separate subject heading book in the last two years.)
For a guide to using the paper version of the Music Index, see the Guide to Using the Music Index at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/music/researchguides/
musindguide.html

RILM (Music Literature)
[Repertoire international de litterature musicale]
(Available on the UO Library's web site at Articles, Databases & Indexes
Also available in paper form to 1995 on the Music Index Table.)
Especially good for articles in non-music resources and in languages other than English. Annotations are given for a great number of the resources. The thesaurus of searching terms is available at the Music Reference Index Table.

Arts & Humanities Citation Index
(Searchable on the the UO Library's web page through the Articles, Databases & Indexes section.
Especially good for tracking the impact an article and its author has on other articles and authors. You can search by author or by cited reference to those authors who have cited your author.

Academic Search Premier
(Searchable on the UO Library's web page through the Articles, Databases & Indexes section.
Provides full-text access to a number of musicology articles in the standard journals. You can also search in a specific journal's holdings to find articles on your subject.

VIII. Find the Journals & Magazines in which the articles are published in our library's holdings:

Within a database, use the FindText button (if it displays) to find out what versions we may have of the journal (full text or in paper.)

Search the title of the journal in the UO Library's catalog with the Advanced catalog search under Journal Title.
Note the FindText button at the top of the screen, which allows you to connect up with any online versions of the journals to which the UO Library has subscriptions.
To find out what journals the UO Library owns online, search the FindText page, connectible from the FindText button in the middle of the UO Library's web catalog.

IX. Search for Dissertations & Masters Theses:

Important resources that list dissertations and theses include:

Dissertation Abstracts International
The on-line index to dissertations is available to UO users on the UO Library's web site at Articles, Databases & Indexes and indexes doctoral dissertations back to 1861.

Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology-Online
Available on the web at http://www.music.indiana.edu/ddm/
This is an electronic version of the list the American Musicological Society compiles of dissertations-in-progress and completed dissertations in musicology.
Search the UO Library's catalog by the dissertation author's name for our holdings.
(To see what dissertations our School of Music graduates have produced, search the UO Library's catalog by the title: University of Oregon. Theses. School of Music. These will be arranged by the year and title of the degree, going back to about 1975.)

X. Study the music of each period in the scholarly Anthologies, Monuments of Music, Original Manuscripts & Facsimiles

Scores for Music History Research:

Search the following resources to find specific scores in collected anthologies, monuments of music, and collected works of composers:

Heyer, Anna Harriet, 1909-
Historical sets, collected editions, and monuments of music : a guide to their contents.
3d ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1980.
[MUSIC REF. ML113.H52 1980 v.1 -v.2]

Hill, George Robert and Norris Stephens.
Collected editions, historical series & sets & monuments of music : a bibliography.
Berkeley: Fallen Leaf Press, c1997
[MUSIC REF. ML113 .H55 1997]
(Updates the Heyer for newer collections, including Recent Researches in the Music of...)

Note: Don't forget to check the New Grove's works lists under the composers' entries.

For Original Manuscripts, see the following resources:

Bibliographical inventory to the early music in the Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois, edited by D. W. Krummel.
Boston : G. K. Hall, 1977.
[MUSIC REF. ML136.C5 N43]

The British union-catalogue of early music before the year 1801:a record of the holdings of over one hundred libraries throughout the British Isles.
London, Butterworths Scientific Publications, 1957.
[MUSIC REF. ML116.B7 v.1 & v.2]

RISM [International inventory of musical sources]
A series that provides bibliographic access some of the world's libraries' manuscript collections. Individual volumes cover specific areas of music and theory.
[MUS REF ML 113. I6 (and series numbers)]
A web version of the Series I/A is available by subscription only (and the UO's edition is available at the Library's web site, under Articles, Databases and Indexes as RISM

Wood, David A.
Music in Harvard libraries : a catalogue of early printed music and books on music in the Houghton Library and the Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library.
Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Library of the Harvard College Library : Harvard University Dept. of Music: distributed by Harvard University Press, 1980.
[MUSIC REF. ML136.C23 H33]

Original Music Manuscript Sources in the UO Library's Special Collections Department

Although the University is not rich in "classical" original scores, there are some interesting editions of scores and arrangements by big band artists such as Axel Stordahl, Henry Beau, and Red Nichols, housed in the Special Collections' Department Manuscript collection.
The University also owns the original manuscript to Samuel Barber's Violoncello Concerto.
To see a listing of what primary source music materials the University owns, visit the UO Special Collections music manuscript web site at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/guides/music.html.

The UO Music Service Departments' Historic Sheet Music collection

Another source for primary material in music song and culture is the Historic Sheet Music collection. Housed in the Douglass Listening Room, and searchable by a computer-produced index (also available at the Douglass Room Desk), this collection of 20,000+ original printed pieces of sheet music provide a glimpse into the societal attitudes and concerns of the United States, from 1830 to the 1960's.
For more information about this collection, see the Sheet Music Collection web site, at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/music/sheet.html

Facsimiles:

Reproductions of composers' manuscripts, these are searchable in the UO Library's catalog by call number, in the ML 96.5 (for full score facsimiles), or series titles, such as

Archivum musicum. Collana di testi rari.
(These are performing edition facsimiles, with individual parts for performers.)

Another series of facsimiles, housed in the Music Reference section at M1 .P6, is the Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth-Century.

Of special interest to medieval scholars are the following facsimiles, housed behind the desk in the Douglass Listening Room:

Il codice Squarcialupi: Ms. Mediceo Palatino 87, Biblioteca laurenziana di Firenze.
[MUSIC REF. M2 .S72 1992a- Ask for it at the Douglass Room Desk]

Le roman de Fauvel in the edition of Mesire Chaillou de Pesstain : a reproduction in facsimile of the complete manuscript, Paris, Biblioth�que Nationale, fonds fran�ais 146.
[MUSIC REF. xML96.5 .R65- Ask for it at the Douglass Room Desk]

Digital Collections available on the World Wide Web

Many special collections departments are now digitizing their manuscripts, especially their sheet music collections, in order to preserve the materials and provide access to scholars.

XI. Borrow what scores, books, and dissertations we don't own:

Search Other Catalogs on the UO Library's web catalog to borrow books and scores.
- SUMMIT: (the catalog of the Orbis/Cascade Alliance of 33+ libraries in the Pacific Northwest.)
  Using the same headings as you used in UO Library's catalog, consult SUMMIT for resources at other member libraries. You can request those items we don't own (or that we own and are checked out) by filling out the request online.
  You should receive the item within three working days!
- WorldCat
  This resource allows you to search 20,000+ library holdings, using the same headings as the UO Library's catalog.
  You may order these items online (by clicking on the ILL button when you are in WorldCat).
- Prepare Interlibrary Loan requests for books, dissertations, etc. not listed in SUMMIT or WorldCat.
  Forms are available on-line on the UO Library's website at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/borrowing/otherlibs.html for books, dissertations, and articles.
- Verify your citations in indexes searched above.

XII. Other Sources:

Consult the UO Library's collection of Program Note Resources.

The following is a short of list of some of these resources (and most are housed on the Music Services Reference shelves.)

Band Programs:

Smith, Norman, and Albert Stoutamire.
Band Music Notes.
[MUSIC REF.MT125.S6 1979]

Smith, Norman.
March Music Notes.
[MUSIC REF. ML105.S65 1986]

Smith, Norman.
Program notes for band.
[MUSIC REF. ML102.B35 S54 2000]

Symphonies:

Downes, Edward.
The New York Philharmonic Guide to the Symphony.
[MUSIC REF MT 125 .D6]

Frankenstein, Alfred Victor.
A modern guide to symphonic music.
[MUSIC REF. MT125.F83M6]

Holoman, D. Kern.
Evenings with the orchestra : a Norton companion for concertgoers.
[MUSIC REF. MT125 .H62 1992]

Hopkins, Anthony.
The Concertgoer's Companion. 2 vols.
[MUSIC REF MT 90 .H64 1984]

Kramer, Jonathan D.
Listen to the music : a self-guided tour through the orchestral repertoire.
[MUSIC REF. MT125 .K72 1988]

Moore, Earl V.
The Symphony and the Symphonic Poem: analytical and descriptive charts of the standard symphony repertory.
[MUSIC REF MT 125 .M7 1974]

Mordden, Ethan.
A guide to orchestral music : the handbook for non-musicians.
[MUSIC REF. MT125 .M72]

Ridout, Godfrey.
A concert goer's companion to music : programme notes of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
[MUSIC REF. MT125 .R53 1996]

Voorhees, Anna Tipton.
Index to Symphonic Program Notes In Books.
[MUSIC REF. ML 128 .O5 V6]

Operas

Lubbock, Mark H.
Complete Book of Light Opera.
[MUSIC REF MT 95 .L85 1963]

The Metropolitan Opera Stories of the Great Operas.
[MUSIC REF MT 95 .M49 1984]

Rieck, Waldemar.
Opera Plots, an Index to the Stories of Operas, Operettas, etc., from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century.
[MUSIC ML 128 .L4 R4]

Studwell, William.
Opera Plot Index: a guide to locating plots and descriptions of operas, operettas, and other works of the musical theater, and associated materials.
[MUSIC REF ML 128 .O4 S8 1989]

[Also of note: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, which is incorporated into the New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians online, has wonderful plot synopses of operas.]

Mixed Programs

University of Oregon.
Programs. (We have 1980 - present)
[MUSIC ML42.E8 U5]

Other Bibliographic Resources to Consult:

Search Ulrich's Periodical Directory (online under the UO Library's catalog section, Other catalogs..., then Publisher directories) to find out where other similar journals might be indexed.
Search the Library of Congress Catalog, which is in book form for the music collection at MUSIC REF. Z881 .U52 M8 , or on the UO Library's website (for the whole LC Catalog) at http://catalog.loc.gov/
Search the print editions of the specialized music libraries' catalogs.
[A list of those music libraries' catalogs available at the University of Oregon can be found by searching the UO Library's catalog by Call Number ML 136 or browsing that call number in the Music Reference stacks].
Consult a librarian about other sources.
[The music librarian is Leslie Bennett. You can contact her by e-mail at lbennett@uoregon.edu
Consult "authorities" about your subject.
[For a list of experts in various fields, search the Directory sections in the Biography Resource Guide on the web at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/music/researchguides/resources.html.
[Don't forget to use the School of Music faculty as resources!]
Contact an e-mail listserv on your subject.
You may also want to consult the Professional Music Organizations section of the Music Service's web site for additional information on professional listservs. This site is available at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/music/professional.html.
One such important site is the American Musicological Society home page which will point you to other useful musicology sites.
It is available on the web at http://www.sas.upenn.edu/music/ams/

XIII. University Library/Music School Web Sites

[Note: These are just a few of the sites. To get a more comprehensive list, see links to the major university libraries in the world.]

A Sample of Some of the Important Academic Music Library Web Sites:

Duke University Libraries: Music Library and Media Center
(http://www.lib.duke.edu/music/)
Indiana University
( http://www.music.indiana.edu/muslib.html)
Oberlin Conservatory of Music Library
(http://www.oberlin.edu/library/con/)

Return to top

Maintained by: Leslie Bennett, lbennett@uoregon.edu