Reference Materials
Following is a list of the most important music reference materials. With one exception, they are housed in the Reference Collection, Main Floor of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. (A basic music library: essential scores and sound recordings, ML113 B3 1997+ is shelved in the general stacks, 18th floor).
Dictionaries and encyclopedias
New Grove dictionary of music and musicians
Ref. ML 100 N48 2001
Single most important reference source for the study of western art music. Authoritative and reliable articles on a broad range of musical topics. Noted for composer work lists and bibliographies. 29 vol. Also available online.
New Harvard dictionary of music
Ref. ML 100 N485 1986
Excellent definitions and descriptions on a wide range of musical terms and topics. Does not include biographies.
Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians
Ref. ML 105 B16 2000+
Foremost dictionary of current and historical biography, including composers, performers, conductors, scholars, and researchers. 6 vol.
New Grove dictionary of American music
Ref. ML 101 U6 N48 1986b+
Comprehensive coverage of a broad range of American music, from concert music and opera to country western and rock music. Includes composer work lists. 4 vol.
New Grove dictionary of jazz
Ref. ML 102 J3 N48 2002+
International coverage of the field of jazz, including performers and arrangers, instruments, record labels, styles, and terminology. 3 vol.
New Grove dictionary of opera
Ref. ML 102 O6 N5 1992
Comprehensive and encyclopedic coverage of opera in the Western tradition, including performers, composers, companies, and theaters. Plot summaries and performance history of individual operas, and black/white illustrations. 4 vol.
New Grove dictionary of musical instruments
Ref. ML 102 I5 N48 1984
Provides extensive history of construction and uses of both classical and folk instruments. Excellent coverage of non-Western instruments, and many illustrations. 3 vol.
Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart
Ref. ML 100 M92 1994
The most scholarly and definitive music reference work, international in scope, German language. Divided into Teil I: Sachteil (complete in 9 vol. + index) and Teil II: Personenteil (projected 12 vol. + index), plus a general index, to be completed in 2004. Extensive bibliographies.
Indexes
The Music Index
Ref. ML 118 M84
Indexes some 350 music periodicals, by author and subject. Broad international coverage, multilingual. Began in 1949, cumulative annual volumes with quarterly supplements, and annual subject heading guide.
RILM Abstracts
Ref. ML 1 I83
Provides abstracts to some 3,500 periodicals, books, dissertations, concert programs, note to recordings, etc., in over 200 languages. Published annually, RILM is a major tool in music bibliography. Also available online.
Bibliographies
A basic music library: essential scores and sound recordings
ML 113 B3 1997 + (Shelved in general stacks, 18th floor)
Major emphasis on sound recordings as well as scores, limited coverage of general and reference books. Invaluable guide for building a library collection.
Music reference and research materials: an annotated bibliography
Ref. ML 113 D83 1997
Single most important guide to music bibliography. Arranged by category (dictonary, encyclopedia, etc.). Provides citations and annotations to over 3,500 music sources. Includes useful chapter on electronic resources.
Song indexes
Popular song index
Ref. ML 128 S3 H4
Indexes songbooks, primarily U.S. but some British, French, and Canadian sources, by title, first line, and first line of chorus. Emphasis on folk songs, also includes popular songs. Main volume and 3 suppl.
Song index
Ref. ML 128 S3 S31 1966
Broad coverage of classical art songs and folk music. Single listing includes titles, first lines, names of composers and lyricists. Suppl. bound in main vol.
Songs in collections: an index
Ref. ML 128 S34 D37
Picks up where Song index left off, and a good companion to Popular song index. Strong in classical and opera anthologies, with separate sections for composed songs, folk songs, carols and sea chanteys. Includes indexes to first lines and authors.
Where's that tune? An index to songs in fakebooks
Ref. ML 128 P63 G66 1990
A fakebook is a collection of jazz and popular songs for which a melody line and chord symbols are provided, as well as text for vocal songs. Indexes 64 fakebooks, with indexes for titles and composers.
Music Monuments
Monuments are scores, representing collections of works of an individual composer or reflecting a national school or genre. They often include accompanying commentary about manuscripts, provenance, modern editions, etc., either as a separately published volume or incorporated into the score volume. Many monuments are published outside the U.S. Thus, the preliminaries and commentary may be in languages other than English, usually reflecting the nationality of the composer.
Our monument collection is classed in M2 and M3: M3 for works of an individual composer and M2 for broader collections. Monuments are housed in the Reserve Department, and circulate for three days with an extension to two weeks available on request. Individual monument volumes may be placed on Reserve or Music Reserve from time to time, so it is important to check the "Status" of the volume in the Library Catalog.
Monuments are typically multi-volume sets, often with complex numbering schemes and therefore complex call numbers. Their content is generally organized to reflect the composer's output. For example, the works of J.S. Bach are first organized into sacred and secular works. Within those large groups, we find first vocal and then instrumental works. Within sacred vocal works, for example, are both choral and smaller vocal groups, solo vocal works, arranged by form: cantatas, masses, motets, chorales, etc.
Each of these divisions and subdivisions become the identifiable groupings by which the monument set is organized. Terms such as workgroup or group, series, section, part, etc. are used for these divisions and are generally incorporated into the call number. For example, a typical Bach monument call number is: M3 B1133 Ser.1 Bd.1 Pt.1.
Some monuments include their own indexes, but more typically we rely on other publications to identify the contents of monuments. The most important indexes and finding aids for monuments are:
1. New Grove dictionary of music and musicians, 2nd ed.
Online or Ref. ML 100 N48 2001
2. Heyer, Anna Harriet, comp. Historical sets, collected editions, and monuments of music: a guide to their contents.
Ref. ML 113 H52 1980 (The 1969 ed. is shelved near the Monument collection, for quick consultation.)
3. Hill, George Robert and Norris L. Stephens. Collected editions, historical series & sets & monuments of music.
Ref. ML 113 H55 1997
4. Thematic catalogs for individual composers, generally found in the Reference collection, ML 134, then arranged alphabetically by the name of the composer. Individual biographies of composers (generally ML 410, 18th floor) may include a thematic catalog, and various composer websites might also be consulted.
5. Publisher and dealer catalogs. A few of the most important catalogs are shelved near the Monuments (Broude, Harrassowitz, and Kalmus catalogs). Contact juengling@library.umass.edu for information on others.
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