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University of Oregon Libraries
Index for this guide:
Our Library's Catalogs
Other Libraries' Catalogs
Periodical Resources
Indexes to the Articles
Music Analysis Indexes
Naming that Tune
Resources in Music Services' Web Site
Listservs for Theorists
Theory Web Resources
Oregon Web Resources

Research Guides


Library Resources for Music Theory Students

This is a guide to the resources available for theory students, both in print form and computer-accessible, at the University of Oregon. It includes information on the computer catalogs we have access to through the Internet, as well as some information and sites on the World Wide Web for theorists.

Our Library's Catalogs

The UO Libraries' Catalog:

    This is our on-line computer catalog, as well as being a gateway to other resources, including subject indexes, other libraries' catalogs, and research information.

    The UO Library's Catalog includes all of the library's musical scores and recordings. For books, films, etc. purchased and cataloged before 1975, consult the card catalogs on the second floor of the Knight Library.

    Access to our catalog is by Author, Title, Keyword, Call Number and Subject. If you are looking for specific song titles, see "How to Find Individual Songs in Recordings or Sheet Music" at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/music/ researchguides/
    songs.html    .

Subject headings

    The following subject headings may be of use in searching for books and resources on music theory & analysis:

  • Music Theory
    • Chants (Plain, Gregorian, etc.) Instruction And Study
    • Chromatic Alteration (Music)
    • Harmonic Analysis (Music)
    • Modulation (Music)
    • Music Acoustics and Physics
    • Music Philosophy and Aesthetics
    • Musical Intervals and Scales
    • Musical Meter and Rhythm
    • Musical Temperament
    • Schenkerian Analysis
    • Thorough Bass
    • Twelve-Tone System
    • Transposition (Music)


  • Musical Analysis
    • Melodic Analysis

Other Libraries' Catalogs:

    The following list includes some of the important music libraries' catalogs, providing access to scores for study. They are arranged in the order of accessiblity for you as a UO community member.

SUMMIT: This is a database designed by the Orbis/Cascade Alliance, that combines the collections of 31+ member libraries in the Pacific Northwest into a single online catalog.
Another member includes the Center for Research Libraries, which provides unique resources for research.
One of the nice advantages of SUMMIT is that you can request an item from another institution in the consortium, even if our copy is checked out, and you should receive it in three working days.

WorldCat: This catalog provides access to library catalogs for approximately 3 6 million books, journals, maps, musical scores, manuscripts, recordings, etc., held by libraries from around the world. Searching capabilities include access by individual songs, as well as by performer, composer, lyricist, and publisher. Material identified in WorldCat which is not owned by the UO Library may be requested through Interlibrary Loan if you are a UO library card holder. In general, recordings can't be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan.
Limitations: As libraries become members, their older databases may or may not be added to the WorldCat.
WorldCat is especially good for searching items within a collection, if the catalogers have included that information in the contents notes.
You can order ILL through the system by clicking on the ILL button and filling out the order form.

Other Universities' Music Libraries

    While you don't have direct Interlibrary Loan capabilities, these do provide you with more searching possibilities for obscure scores. A larger selection of library catalogs is available through the UO Library Catalog's web site under Catalogs from Other Libraries.

Music Information Centers

    Excellent sources for information about the music of specific countries. As an example of the services they offer, see:

  • Norwegian Music Information Centre at URL=http://www.mic.no/
  • The American Music Center, on the web at URL=http://www.amc.net/
  • One source not on the web, but in the UO Library's Music Reference collection is The Japan Federation of Composers' Catalogue of Publications. This resource lists scores published by composers, with a biographical sketch of each composer at the beginning, for every year, since 1972. The call number of this resource is ML 390 .N615.
    A similarly-entitled resource, Works by Japanese Composers, is also published by the Japan Federation of Composers, and is located at ML 120 .J3 W67.
    Both of these publications are in Japanese as well as English.

Periodical Resources for Theory

    [Note: Those journals for which the UO owns online subscriptions have an asterisk (*) next to their call numbers. Those journals whose full-text articles are available through Academic Search Premier have an ASP next to their call number.]

Computer Music Journal
[MUSIC ML 1 .C857] * (Full-text on the web from 1999- )

Ex-Tempore (includes accompanying cassettes 984M)
[MUSIC ML 1 .E88]

IMA Bulletin (International Midi Association)
[MUSIC ML 1380 .I42]

In theory only
[MUSIC ML 1 .I59]

Indiana theory review
[MUSIC MT 6 .I52]

Integral (Rochester, NY.)
[MUSIC ML 1 .I716]

Journal of music theory
[MUSIC ML 1 .J68] *

Journal of music theory pedagogy
[MUSIC ML 1 .J682]

Music analysis
[MUSIC ML 1 .M225] * (Full text on the web from 1999 )

The Music forum.
[MUSIC ML1 .M85] (ceased in 1987)

Music Perception.
[MUSIC ML 3830 .M87] [ASP- from 2000]

Music Theory Online
[Available on the web at URL http://www.societymusictheory.org/mto/]

Music theory spectrum
[MUSIC MT 6 .M9622] * [ASP- from 2001]
[Latest editions on the Society for Music Theory site]

Organised Sound: An International Journal of Music Technology.
[MUSIC ML1379 .O74]* (Full text on the web from 1996 )

Perspectives of New Music
[MUSIC ML 1 .P109] * [ASP-from 1996]

SMT Newsletter
[Available at http://www.societymusictheory.org/index.php?pid=116 ]

Theory and practice
[MUSIC ML 1 .T24]

Zeitschrift fur Musiktheorie.
[MUSIC ML5 .Z4] (ceased in 1978)

Indexes to Articles on Theory & Composition

    Use the following resources to find articles about theory & composition:

  • The Music Index: Available from 1949 to 2001 in print form; also available on the web from 1979 to the present.

  • RILM: Available through the UO Library's Catalog in the Databases & Indexes section- and in the
    Music Reference section in paper form from 1966 to 2001.

  • Arts & Humanities Citation Index: Also searchable from the UO Library's catalog in the Databases & Indexes
    option. Allows you to search by cited source to find out who they cited, and who cited them.

  • Academic Search Premier A good, multi-disciplinary index that provides access to full-text articles, and
    indexes many of the music theory journals.

Music Analysis Sources on the Web & in the Music Services Collection

Indexes to Analyses:

Damschroder, David.
Music theory from Zarlino to Schenker : a bibliography and guide.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.T5 D27 1990]

Diamond, Harold J.
Music analyses : an annotated guide to the literature.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.A7 D5 1991]

Laskowski, Larry.
Heinrich Schenker : an annotated index to his analyses of musical works.
[MUSIC REF. ML423.S33L4]

Perone, James E.
Form and analysis theory : a bibliography.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.T5 P45 1998]

Wenk, Arthur
Analyses of nineteenth- and twentieth-century music, 1940-1985.
[MUSIC REF. ML113.W45 1987]

Musical Score Anthologies for Analysis

Indexes to the Anthologies:

Murray, Sterling E.
Anthologies of music : an annotated index.
[MUSIC ML128.A7M87 1986]

Murray, Sterling E.
Anthologies of music : an annotated index. 2nd ed.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.A7 M87 1992]

Perone, James E.
Musical anthologies for analytical study : a bibliography.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.A7 P4 1995]

CD-ROMs Of Analyses

Stravinsky, Igor.
The Rite of Spring.
[DOUG.CIRC. CD-ROM MT100.S967 W56 1992]

Winter, Robert.
Antonin Dvorak: Symphony no. 9 in E minor : from the New world.
[DOUG. CIRC. CD-ROM MT145 .D58 1994]

Score Anthologies

Anthology of classical music.
Edited by Philip G. Downs. 1st ed.
[MUSIC MT6.5 .A56 1992]

Anthology of Renaissance music : music in Western Europe, 1400-1600.
NOTES: "Serves as a companion volume to Renaissance music, which appears in the Norton introduction to music history series and contains discussions of all 102 pieces included here"
[MUSIC MT91 .A58 1998]

Anthology of Romantic Music.
Compiled by Leon Plantinga.
[MUSIC MT6.5 .A59 1984]

Anthology of twentieth-century music.
Compiled by Mary H. Wennerstrom. 2nd ed.
[MUSIC MT6.5 .A6574 1988]

Anthology of twentieth-century music.
Edited with analytical comments by Robert P. Morgan. 1st ed.
[MUSIC MT6.5 .A595 1992]

Music by women for study and analysis.
Edited by Joseph N. Straus.
[MUSIC MT6.5 .M84 1993]

Music for analysis : examples from the common practice period and the twentieth century .
[MUSIC MT6.5 .M87 1978]

Music in the romantic period : an anthology with commentary.
Compiled by F.E. Kirby.
[MUSIC MT6.5.M89 1986]

Music of the Middle Ages : an anthology for performance and study.
Compiled by David Fenwick Wilson; translations from the Latin and Italian by Robert Crouse; translations from the French and Provencal by Hans T. Runte.
[MUSIC MT6.5 .M9 1990]

Music of the twentieth century : an anthology.
Bryan R. Simms.
[MUSIC MT6.5.M93 1986]

Norton anthology of western music.
Edited by Claude V. Palisca. 5th ed. 2 vols.
[MUSIC MT6.5 .N67 2006 + accompanying CD's (COMPACT DISC CX143182, 12 discs)]
Note: These anthologies and the accompanying recordings are often on reserve in the Douglass Listening Room.

Naming That Tune: Resources for Identifying Musical Works
by Tune

Barlow, Harold and Sam Morgenstern.
A dictionary of musical themes. Rev. ed.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.I65 B3 1975]

Barlow, Harold and Sam Morgenstern.
A dictionary of opera and song themes: including cantatas, oratorios, lieder, and art songs = originally published as A dictionary of vocal themes. Rev. ed.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.V7 B3 1976]

Barlow, Harold and Sam Morgenstern.
A dictionary of vocal themes.
[MUSIC ML128.V7B3]

Parsons, Denys.
The directory of tunes and musical themes.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.I65 P33]

http://www.themefinder.org/
Allows multiple ways to identify a theme from "classical" music, as well as folk music.

Resources in the Music Services Department Web

LISTSERVS for THEORISTS

    Listservs provide another outlet for discussion on various topics. They are a way of establishing an "invisible college" to people in your subject areas.

    Some examples of Listservs for music theorists include:

Theory-Specific WWW Sites include:

  • Ancient Future.
    Among other things, the site offers information about educational material on world music, especially rhythm
    training. Of special interest are the site's online MIDI groove tracks of the music of Africa, Bali and India.
    It is available on the web at URL=http://www.ancient-future.com

  • Society for Music Theory web site is at http://www.societymusictheory.org

Oregon Resources on the Web

Maintained by: Leslie Bennett, lbennett@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 01/03/2008