Reference Sources
Reference sources are designed to provide users with quick and authoritative background information on a given subject. They are the ideal place to familiarize yourself with a subject and its existing literature, although they should never be the culmination of your research process. On this page, learn about important reference databases like Oxford Music Online, explore specific entries, and view recommended reference books.
Online Reference Databases
Oxford Music Online is the primary reference source for music research. Its detailed entries on many of the great figures in music, musical instruments, and genres make it the best place for you to begin your research. Much of its content derives from a print publication called The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition, and sometimes your professors might refer to Oxford Music Online as "the Grove." Many entries, however, have been updated since that work's publication in 2001, and Oxford Music Online also incorporates entries from The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Second Edition, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, and The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition. Therefore, Oxford Music Online offers valuable information, regardless of genre.
To search Oxford Music Online, type the name of a composer, musician, instrument, genre, or another term into the main search bar near the top of your screen. You can also browse entries by clicking "Browse" and selecting from one of the categories provided. Narrow down your results by selecting filters to your left. Be aware that some terms will have multiple entries due to Oxford's incorporation of multiple print publications. You can determine which publication you have found by looking at either the URL or date of publication. Select the one which is most comprehensive or best suits your needs.
Because Oxford entries are designed for reference and not for continuous reading, you might wish to read only sections of longer entries. Notice the pane titled Article Navigation to the left of your screen and use it to navigate to relevant sections. Also use it to jump ahead to various lists at the end of each entry. These include lists of compositions (or "Works") by composers as well as the "Bibliography" section. These can each be vital tools as you expand your research outward to specific compositions and the scholarly writings of other authors.
Although Oxford Music Online is the most comprehensive music reference work, other databases and websites offer more specialized information within their subdisciplines. Among these, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music is primary in the field of ethnomusicology. Garland is available both in print and through Alexander Street's Music Online platform. Meanwhile, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music can be accessed through Oxford Reference Online. Websites like the African Diaspora Music Project, Boulanger Initiative Database, and IRCAM Resource Center are excellent, free resources with specific concentrations: African and African American classical music, music of women composers, and contemporary classical music, respectively.
Reference Databases and Resources:
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African Diaspora Music Project The African Diaspora Music Project seeks to create a repository for the concert works of composers of the African Diaspora; to provide access to scores, recordings, and programmatic information about these composers and their extant works for students, teachers, professionals and presenters; to encourage the research, exploration and performance of these works; and to assist students who wish to enter the George Shirley African American Art Song and Operatic Aria Competition with appropriate repertoire choices.
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Biography Reference Source Biography Reference Source is a comprehensive collection of full-text biographies and unique narrative biographies. You can either search using a person's name or browse categories such as occupation and nationality. This database can be useful for finding information on poets, novelists, playwrights, and other historical figures who might not be included in music encyclopedias.
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Boulanger Initiative Database (BID) Boulanger Initiative advocates for women and all gender marginalized composers. We foster inclusivity and representation to expand and enrich the collective understanding of what music is, has been, and can be. We promote music composed by women through performance, education, research, consulting, and commissions. At the Database, explore over 8,000 works by more than 1,200 composers with ease, available to you for free.
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Composer Diversity Database From the Institute for Composer Diversity at SUNY Fredonia, the Composer Diversity Database is a searchable listing of women and non-binary composers, those from historically excluded racial, ethnic, or cultural heritages, and/or people who identify in the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Only composers who have consented to being included appear in the Database. Started in 2016, the Database is still largely under construction.
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The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Edited by Colin Larkin, this encyclopedia's 30,000 entries cover all genres and periods of popular music from 1900 to the present day, including jazz, country, folk, rap, reggae, techno, musicals, and world music. The expanded Fourth Edition includes thousands of new entries on trends, styles, record labels, venues, and music festivals. Key dates, biographies, and further reading are provided for artists covered, along with complete discographies that include record labels, release dates, and a 5-star album rating system. Included in this Oxford Digital Reference Shelf edition are online-exclusive entries that originally appeared on Oxford Music Online.
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Gale eBooks Gale eBooks is a collection of searchable subject encyclopedias and reference books from Gale Publishing and many other publishers, including nearly 500 specialized background sources in a wide variety of subjects. Choose your field of study under the "Subjects" heading to see the titles in your area. For music books, look under the subject "Arts."
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The Grove Dictionary of American Music Edited by Charles Hiroshi Garrett, The Grove Dictionary of American Music is the largest, most comprehensive reference publication on American Music. Twenty-five years ago, the four volumes of the first edition of the dictionary initiated a great expansion in American music scholarship. This second edition reflects the growth in scholarship the first edition initiated. At eight volumes, it provides greatly expanded coverage, particularly in the areas of popular music, cities and regions, musical theater, opera, concert music, and music technology, as well as the musical traditions of many ethnic and cultural groups.
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IRCAM Resource Center (formerly B.R.A.H.M.S. Database) The IRCAM Resource Center (formerly B.R.A.H.M.S. Database on Contemporary Music) is published by the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music (IRCAM) and provides information about contemporary composers and their works. Although much of the text is in French, many entries allow users to select an English translation.
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Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online provides electronic access to the award-winning print resource of the same name. It contains more than 700 articles contributed by experts on the music of the world's peoples and is over 9,000 pages long. The database, which includes all illustrations from the print edition, also includes audio examples of musical performances from around the world.
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Oxford Companion to Music Edited by Alison Latham, this new online-only edition of The Oxford Companion to Music is a partial revision that focuses on living composers and their music, and adds some terms, works, and cross-references to the original text. Bibliographies have also been substantially revised and updated. This classic reference work includes articles that range from clear, concise definitions of musical ideas and terms to extended surveys of musical forms and styles, with specialist coverage of virtually every musical subject. It places music in its social and cultural context, with a range of new entries on topics such as politics, religion, psychology, and computers. The book covers current research in and approaches to music, including analysis, theory, ethnomusicology, and performance practice. All varieties of musical forms are covered, including jazz, popular music, and dance.
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Oxford History of Western Music The Oxford History of Western Music online offers an unmatched account of the evolution of Western classical music by one of the most prominent and provocative musicologists of our time, Richard Taruskin. Since its original publication in print Taruskin’s landmark study has received universal acclaim and numerous awards. The full text, which was printed in five thick volumes in print, is now available for the first time in an interactive digital format. The online version includes all 1.25 million words, 500 images, and 1,800 musical examples from the updated paperback edition with sophisticated search and browse functionality designed to maximize the dynamic possibilities of online reading and research.
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Oxford Music Online Oxford Music Online is the authoritative resource for music research with over 52,000 articles written by nearly 9,000 scholars charting the diverse history and cultures of music around the globe. It is the gateway to Grove Music Online which compiles invaluable resources like The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition (2001), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (1992), The Grove Dictionary of American Music (2013), The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (2002), and others. Oxford Music Online also provides access to The Oxford Dictionary of Music (2013) and The Oxford Companion to Music (2011), resources which are based in Oxford Reference Online.
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Oxford Reference Online Searchable and browsable collection of highly trusted reference books. Dictionaries and encyclopedias in Oxford Reference Online include general works, foreign-language works, and specialized subject works in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Note: Oxford Reference Online is separate from the familiar Oxford Music Online, and it has its own set of twelve music dictionaries and encyclopedias. These can be found under the Subject tab or through the search bar.
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RISM Inventory of Musical Sources RISM is a comprehensive index of musical sources produced by the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales. It contains records for manuscripts, printed editions, libretti, and treatises held in music libraries, archives, churches, private collections, and other institutions around the world. It also contains many digitized items.
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Wind Repertory Project The Wind Repertory Project is a comprehensive database of wind literature, expanded by contributions of band directors/conductors, students, and wind band enthusiasts worldwide. Our goal is to help you find detailed information about wind band literature, including program notes, instrumentation, errata, media links, academic resources, and more.
Also be sure to consult librarian-designed research guides and specialized print reference works, such as bibliographies and discographies, as you pursue your research.
How Reference is Organized
The Music Collection uses Library of Congress Classification, or LCC, for organizing print books and scores on the shelves. Used in libraries worldwide, this system groups items by topic and assigns each a unique alphanumeric call number. Hint: Enter the first part of a call number into OneSearch to see all items on a given topic.
Call Numbers for Music Reference:
ML 12 - 21 Directories. Almanacs
ML 100 - 109 Dictionaries. Encyclopedias
ML 100 General works
ML 101 By region or country, A-Z
ML 102 By topic, A-Z
ML 105 - 106 Bio-bibliographical
ML 108 Terminological
ML 109 Pronouncing
ML 112.8 - 158.8 Bibliography
ML 113 General works
ML 120 By region or country, A-Z
ML 128 By topic, A-Z
ML 134 Composers, A-Z --> thematic catalogues
ML 134.5 Other musicians, A-Z
ML 135 Manuscripts
ML 136 - 155 Catalogs
ML 155.5 - 158 Discography
Print and Digital Reference Books
Most reference works in the print Music Collection can be found in ranges 36 through 40 across from the New Arrivals table. The recommended books below include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and bibliographies of research sources, and are sorted by their call numbers. Click on the info icon to see a description of the book. Resources on specialized bibliographies can be found at the Bibliographies page while recommended discographies can be found at the Listen to Audio page.
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The Harvard Dictionary of Music
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This classic reference work, the best one-volume music dictionary available, has been brought completely up to date in this new edition. Combining authoritative scholarship and lucid, lively prose, the Fourth Edition of The Harvard Dictionary of Music is the essential guide for musicians, students, and everyone who appreciates music. The Harvard Dictionary of Music has long been admired for its wide range as well as its reliability. This treasure trove includes entries on all the styles and forms in Western music; comprehensive articles on the music of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Near East; descriptions of instruments enriched by historical background; and articles that reflect today's beat, including popular music, jazz, and rock. Throughout this Fourth Edition, existing articles have been fine-tuned and new entries added so that the dictionary fully reflects current music scholarship and recent developments in musical culture. Encyclopedia-length articles by notable experts alternate with short entries for quick reference, including definitions and identifications of works and instruments. More than 220 drawings and 250 musical examples enhance the text. This is an invaluable book that no music lover can afford to be without.
Call Number: ML100 .A64 2003 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 2003 -
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music (Print and eBook)
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v. 1. Africa / Ruth M. Stone, editor -- v. 2. South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean / Dale A. Olsen and Daniel, editors -- v. 3. The United States and Canada / Ellen Koskoff, editor -- v. 4. Southeast Asia / Terry E. Miller and Sean Williams, editors -- v. 5. South Asia / Alison Arnold -- v. 6. The Middle East / Virginia Danielson, Scott Marcus, and Dwight Reynolds, editors -- v. 7. East Asia; China, Japan, and Korea / Robert C. Provine, Yosihiko Tokumaru, and J. Lawrence Witzleben, editors -- v. 8. Europe / Timothy Rice, James Porter, and Chris Goertzen -- v. 9. Australia and the Pacific Islands / Adrienne L. Kaeppler and J. W. Love, editors -- v. 10. The world's music: general perspectives and reference tools / Ruth M. Stone, editor.
Call Number: ML100 .G16 1998 V.1-10 (Music Reference) and Music OnlinePublication Date: 1998 -
Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG): Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik
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Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG) is a general encyclopedia of music. It is encyclopedic in the true sense of that term: it offers in-depth articles on every aspect of music as well as many related areas such as literature, philosophy, and visual arts. Texts are in German, but even those not proficient with the language will likely be able to extract some essential information.
Call Number: ML100 .M92 1994 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 1994 -
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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First published in 1992, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music is the largest project ever undertaken for the subject. This authoritative biographical encyclopedia of rock, pop, and jazz artists covers popular music from 1900 to the present, including folk, blues, world music, rock, heavy metal, techno, reggae, and hip hop. Edited and largely written by Colin Larkin, it is exhaustive, meticulous, authoritative - and incredibly fun to read. Critically lauded in its previous three editions, the Fourth Edition will not disappoint fans seeking authoritative and reliable information about popular music from around the world. Expanded to ten volumes, the new edition contains 6,000 new entries, and extensive revisions and updates throughout, yielding 50% more material than the 1998 Third Edition. In addition to thousands of biographical entries, this A-Z reference also includes entries covering popular music genres, trends, styles, record labels, venues, and festivals. Key dates, biographies, and further reading are provided for artists covered, along with complete discographies that include record labels, release dates, and a 5-star album rating system. From Grateful Dead to The Killers, from Whitesnake to White Stripes, from R.E.M. to Blink-182, from The Jazz Singer to Jerry Springer - The Opera, and from Bye Bye Birdie to Rent, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Fourth Edition has something informative and clever to say about everyone's favorite band.
Call Number: ML102.P66 E45 2006 V.1-10 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 2006 -
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
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This 6-volume set of Baker's covers all musical genres, with entries written by a distinguished group of area specialists as well as the original articles of Nicolas Slonimsky. More than 15,000 biographies span the medieval ages to the present. This work continues the tradition of offering the most comprehensive and authoritative information on the musicians, along with interesting and insightful evaluations of their contributions to the musical world. Baker's remains the most affordable, comprehensive and readable of all music reference works, providing everyone from the student to scholar a one-stop resource for all their music biographical needs. Some of the artists featured include: Louis Armstrong, Johann Sebastian Bach, The Beatles, Ludwig van Beethoven, James Brown, John Cage, Maria Callas, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Claude Debussy, Marvin Gaye, Philip Glass, George Frideric Handel, Charlie Parker, Luciano Pavarotti, Arturo Toscanini, Tom Waits. And many more.
Call Number: ML105 .B16 2001 V.1-6 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 2001 -
International Encyclopedia of Women Composers
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This second edition triples the size of the first, and includes material through February 1987. The basic arrangement of the first edition is retained, but new features are added (e.g., bibliographies and a 48-page section containing 576 portraits). Among the l4 appendixes are numbered references to sources consulted (expanded from 435 to 653), the same sources listed by author and title, a bibliography for further reading, a list of composers about whom more information is solicited, another of those influenced by Shakespeare, lists by country, century, and occupation, still others by instrument played, instrument written for, and musical form. There are lists with addresses of national and international music societies, information centers, and clubs. At the end is a discography by composer with coded references to record companies with addresses and labels. An impressive and valuable reference work, well bound and easy to use. Recommended for academic libraries.
Call Number: ML105 .C7 1987 V.1-2 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 1987 -
Contemporary Composers
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Provides information on more than 600 living composers and composers of the recent past including Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, Luciano Berio, and Elliott Carter. Entries consist of a short biography; a complete list of works; dates of first performance and recording details; followed by an essay assessing the composer's career and significance.
Call Number: ML105 .C74 1992 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 1992 -
International Dictionary of Black Composers
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Worldwide in scope, this handsome two-volume set profiles composers of African heritage on several continents. Both those who composed for the concert hall as well as composers of popular and vernacular forms are included. The preface lays out the criteria for inclusion: classical and theater composers are covered if they have a substantial body of work that has been published or recorded. Composers of vernacular or popular music are included if they have composed music that has "circulated within performing repertories and had a substantial impact on the elaboration of the traditions of blues, ragtime, jazz, gospel" and other popular genres. Although all genres of music are represented, close to half of the 185 entries are on classical composers. This is one of the strengths of the set because black composers of popular forms are more widely represented elsewhere.
Call Number: ML105 .I5 1999 V.1-2 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 1999 -
Music Reference and Research Materials: An Annotated Bibliography
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This text has been the standard guide to source literature of music and contains critically annotated listings of over 3,500 key sources. This comprehensive guide to reference sources is organized into chapters by category of source. The text's organization introduces students to a vast array of sources to include: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias; Histories and Chronologies; Sources of Systematic and Historical Musicology; Bibliographies of Music, Music Literature, and Music Business; Reference Works on Individual Composers and Their Music; Catalogs of Libraries and Musical Instrument Collections; Discographies; Yearbooks; Directories; Electronic Resources.
Call Number: ML113 .D83 1997 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 1997 -
Music Research: A Handbook
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Music Research: A Handbook is designed for use in both undergraduate and graduate music courses that require students to engage in library research or to write research papers. Concise and practical, this unique handbook does not aim to provide an exhaustive introduction to music research; rather, it is highly selective and helps students navigate the most significant English-language research tools and resources; reference titles in major areas; and the principal sources in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Organization: The book's first section (Chapters 1-13) is organized by type of research tool-for example, encyclopedias, periodical indexes, and discographies. Each chapter in this section includes an overview of the tool it covers; an annotated bibliography that describes the tool's purpose, scope, strengths, and weaknesses; and an evaluation checklist that encourages students to think critically about the tools and materials they discover as they do research. The second section (Chapters 14-15) discusses style manuals and various resources for writing about music and citing sources. Methods for evaluating reference and research tools are emphasized throughout the book. Companion Website: A companion website includes all the links cited in the text as well as supplemental links not cited; updates to bibliographies and readings; and lists of the research tools in the text, core music journals, and major professional music associations.
Call Number: ML113 .S28 2013 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 2013 -
Sourcebook for Research in Music
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Since it was first published in 1993, the Sourcebook for Research in Music has become an invaluable resource in musical scholarship. The balance between depth of content and brevity of format makes it ideal for use as a textbook for students, a reference work for faculty and professional musicians, and as an aid for librarians. The introductory chapter includes a comprehensive list of bibliographical terms with definitions; bibliographic terms in German, French, and Italian; and the plan of the Library of Congress and the Dewey Decimal music classification systems. Integrating helpful commentary to instruct the reader on the scope and usefulness of specific items, this updated and expanded edition accounts for the rapid growth in new editions of standard works, in fields such as ethnomusicology, performance practice, women in music, popular music, education, business, and music technology. These enhancements to its already extensive bibliographies ensures that the Sourcebook will continue to be an indispensable reference for years to come.
Call Number: ML113 .S46 2015 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 2015
Interlibrary Loan
Users are encouraged to search for items beyond University Libraries' catalog via RILM Abstracts of Music Literature and WorldCat. Materials not available in print or online may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Please allow up to seven days for electronic delivery and up to fourteen days for delivery of physical items.