Fall 2007 -- Nikki Melville

In this guide:

• Finding Scores & Manuscripts
• Finding Recordings & Reviews
  
• Finding Critical Analysis
• Finding Biography and Autobiography
• More Information
  • Finding other kinds of sources
  • Uniform Titles
  • Handout of Basic Tips for Bridge Searching
    
• Librarian
  

Finding Scores & Manuscripts

• New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
  Ref ML100 .N48 2001
  The single most complete reference work for music, musicians, composers, instruments, genres, and terms. Entries are signed, and most contain bibliographies for further reading, lists of works, and the like. The entries for some of the most famous composers also include a section called "Works" near the end of the entry. This section lists all the works by the composer, as well as information about those works and where to find authorized editions. (Grove Music Online allows online access to this reference work, but the table of Works is much easier to read in the book version.)
• Bridge (or WorldCat)
  
  • Scores: Search Carleton and St. Olaf's score collection by limiting your search to "All Music Scores" on the main search form. (You can find scores held here at Carleton by doing an advanced search and selecting "Carleton Books" and/or "Carleton Music Resource Center" from the location box and "Music Scores" from the material type box.) If you do an "author" search for the composer's last name, that composer's works will be gathered by Uniform Title. You can use the little box at the bottom of the result screen (normally filled with numbers) to jump to "sonatas," for example, in this list of Uniform Titles (definition).
  • Manuscripts: We have a few manuscripts at Carleton and St. Olaf. To find them, do an Advanced Search in Bridge using your composer's name as an Author and then saying that "Subject Contains" the word "manuscripts."
    
• Browsing the Stacks
  • M 3 : Collected Works by composer
    
  • M 20 - M39 : Music for solo piano

Tip: Finding Authoritative Editions

Important and prolific composers often have their works gathered together into carefully researched collections which become the authoritative edition of that composer's work. To find this holy grail of an edition:

1. Look up your composer in Grove. At the back of entries for important/prolific composers, there will probably be a section entitled "Works."
2. The Header information for this Works section is important. It lists the authoritative edition(s) of that composer's works and (if there are more than one) assigns them initials. It also lists the Thematic Catalog(s) (definition) from which the opus numbers are taken and explains how to read the following table of works.
3. In Bridge, do an Author search for the composer (last name first). The results will be listed alphabetically by Uniform Title (definition).
4. Use the little search box at the bottom of the result list (the one that has numbers in it normally). Type "Works" to jump down the result list to that Uniform Title ("Works" refers to the collected works of a composer).
5. Open the entries listed and compare publication information with that given by Grove. Most likely, the one you want will be shelved with the Oversized Books under a call number beginning M3.

Note that Bridge lists all the volumes of the multi-volume sets we own. Click the gray "view additional copies" bar to see all the volumes. Some may include the notation "Kritischer Bericht," which means "Critical Commentaries." these volumes will explain the research that went into creating the authoritative editions of the pieces in the accompanying score volume.

Top of the Page

Finding Recordings & Reviews

Recordings

• Naxos Music Library
  You can search Naxos easily using the main search box on the first page. I tend to enter the composer's name followed by as much unique identifying information as possible. For example "Beethoven piano sonatas no. 8 op. 13" got me to listings for Sonata Pathetique. You can also list Uniform Title (definition) of a piece plus the composer's name to achieve similar results. (Remember to log out when you're done using Naxos. Only 10 people at a time can be listening to music.)
  
• Bridge (or WorldCat)
  Limit your search to "All Sound Recordings" to search the recordings held at the Gould Library, the Music Resource Center, and St. Olaf. If you want to specify location further, use the Advanced Search page and select locations and material types that fit your needs. Remember that you can do an Author search for your composer and then use the little search box (normally filled with numbers) at the bottom of the result list to jump to specific Uniform Titles (definition).
  Note: To listen to St. Olaf recordings, you will have to physically go to St. Olaf's music library.

Reviews

• All Music Guide to Classical Music
  ML156.9 .A385 2005
  Look here for lists and reviews of current recordings of important or popular classical pieces (listed alphabetically by composer last name). Note that this reference work includes "recommended" recordings that have appeared on CD. The editors have chosen recordings that are "considered reliable introductions to the music at hand and samplings, as diverse as possible, of the excellent performances available" on CD.
  
• Penguin guide to Compact Discs & DVDs
  REF ML156.9 .M33
  This is very much like the All Music Guide. It's often a good idea to check more than one review source to get multiple perspectives on your recording.
  
• Music Index
  To find reviews of recordings, click "Expert Search" and select "Non-Printed Material Review" and then conduct your search. Remember that you can search by subject, and that subjects are constructed in this way:
  [composer last name], [composer first name] Works [category of work with or without instrument]
  So, for example: Beethoven, Ludwig Van Works [Sonatas for piano]
  Note: The actual text of the articles is not included in this database. Enter the name of the journal that includes your article into the Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers List to see if we subscribe to that journal, and if we have the year that you need.
  

Top of the Page

Finding Critical Analysis

• The Music Index Online
  (1979 to the present)
  This is one of the primary tools for locating articles written in any given year (for 1949 to 1979, see the print version in the reference room at Ref ML118 .M84). Keyword searching is often the best way to navigate this database, but be sure to look at the subjects (found at the bottom of any article entry) to see what keyword strings might be most useful.
  Note: The actual text of the articles is not included in this database. Enter the name of the journal that includes your article into the Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers List to see if we subscribe to that journal, and if we have the year that you need.
  
• Bridge (or WorldCat)
  To find literature about music in Bridge, search for your composer as a Subject rather than Author. You can further refine your search by doing an Advanced Search, entering your composer's name as a Subject, and entering phrases like the following as a Subject:
  • History and Criticism
  • Interpretation (Phrasing, Dynamics, Etc.)
    
  • Analysis, Appreciation
    
• Browsing the stacks
  • ML650-747: Piano history
    
  • MT140: Analytical guides
    

Top of the Page

Finding Biography and Autobiography

• Bridge (or WorldCat)
  Search for your composer (last name first) and the word "biography" or "autobiography." This works best in the Advance Search form, so that you can put your composer's name in as an Author search, and "biography" or "autobiography" in the next box as a Subject search.
  
• Browsing the Stacks
  
  • ML410: Biographies of composers
    
  • ML417: Biographies of pianists

Top of the Page

More Information

Other Kinds of Sources... Just for fun

• Thematic Catalogs
  Thematic catalogs provide authoritative lists of authors' works and identifying opus numbers as well as other information about each piece.To find thematic catalogs in our library: Do an Advanced Search in Bridge that looks like this...
  ....Subject contains: [composer's name, last name first]
  ....Subject contains: "Thematic Catalogs."
  Thematic Catalogs may also appear within authoritative biographies on your composer. Most of the information is in German, but you should be able identify the most useful information if you know the following terms:
  
  • abschriften = transcription
  • autograph = autographed manuscript
  • anmerkengen = remarks or observations
  • ausgaben = editions
  • bearbeitungen = arrangements
  • widmung = dedication.
• The Gould Library Music Subject Guide
  More databases and reference works are listed on the subject research guide for music.

Uniform Titles

Select "Title begins with" to search two types of titles at the same time: titles as they appear on recordings and "uniform titles." Uniform titles are assigned to musical works so that a single search can retrieve all the different editions and formats of that work. What is more, uniform titles are constructed in predictable ways depending on whether the work is named for it's form or the composer assigned it a distinctive title.

• Form titles begin with the name of the form entered in the plural ("symphonies" rather than "symphony"), followed by the instruments used to perform the work (unless the form implies them), the opus or catalog number, and finally the key of the work. The form title for collected works of a composer is "Works."
  e.g. Sonatas, piano, no. 8, op. 13, C minor
  
• Distinctive titles (assigned by their composers) are always entered in the original language when constructing uniform titles.
  e.g. Die Zauberflöte for "The Magic Flute"

A single album containing recordings of several individual works may have multiple uniform titles listed in the "Added Author" section of the Bridge record (found below the location, call number, and other descriptive information). In this example, an album called "Piano Sonatas" and having the uniform title "Sonatas, piano. Selections." has several additional uniform titles for individual works. You can click on these titles to see if we have other recordings of that particular work.

Bridge Searching Basics

There are several basic ways to manipulate Bridge into giving you the music-related sources you want. I've integrated tips specific to your course into this page, but if you want a handy reference for the basics of Bridge for musicians try this handout.

Top of the Page