Music: Early Music
Baker's biographical dictionary of
musicians. Enl. ed.
Ref. ML105 .B16 2001 6 vols.
- Short biographies of musical personalities past and present.
An early music dictionary : musical
terms from British sources: 1500-1740 / Graham
Ref. ML108 .S88 1995
Updated web access through Oxford Music Online to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Ref. ML100 .N48 2001 29 vols.
A comprehensive encyclopaedia for the history of all genres of music, including illustrations and bio-bibliographical information.
The Harvard concise dictionary of
music and musicians / D.M. Randel, ed.
Ref. ML100 .H36 1999
- Contains brief biographical entries and definitions of terms and instruments.
The Harvard dictionary of music / D.M.
Randel, ed. 4th ed.
Ref. ML100 .A64 2003
- Covers Western classical music tradition. Defines key music terms and concepts in concise entries but contains no biographical information.
Ref. ML2151 .L4 1956t
Medieval manuscripts for mass and
office / Andrew Hughes
Ref. BX1973 .H83 1982
Medieval music : the sixth liberal art
/ Andrew Hughes
Ref. ML114 .H8 1980
Music reference and research materials
: an annotated bibliography / V.H. Duckles, I. Reed. 5th
Ref. ML113 .D83 1997
Musik in Geschichte und
Ref. ML100 .M92 1994-2005)
- Comprehensive, illustrated music reference work, written in German. International in scope and coverage, with articles by specialists. Includes extensive bibliographical notes.
New Oxford history of music
ML160 .N44 10 vols.
- Presents music history in chronological time periods, as it developed in association with every form of human culture and activity, not as an isolated phenomenon.
- OBO Music lists books, journals, primary documents, web resources, and multimedia resources.
Web access via Oxford Music Online to the print edition of The Oxford companion to music / Alison Latham, ed.Ref. ML100 .O94 2002t in Music Library Reference
Successor to Percy Scholes' Oxford companion to music and Denis Arnold's The New Oxford companion to music, this companion edition format honours the tradition to cover wide-ranging topics for a broad spectrum of music readers.
The Oxford dictionary of music / Michael Kennedy. 6th ed.
- Web access to The Oxford dictionary of music / Michael Kennedy. 6th ed., updating 2nd. ed. rev. of print Ref. ML100 .K35 2006, which covers 5,000 composers, including contemporary figures, updated entries on conductors and performers, as well as others in the music industry, and musical terms and forms, instruments, works and venues. Edited by the former music critic of the Sunday Telegraph and the Daily Telegraph.
The Oxford history of Western music /
ML160 .T18 2005 ref vols. 1-6
- Musicologist Richard Taruskin sets the details of music, the chronological sweep of figures, works, and musical ideas, within the larger context of world affairs and cultural history.
- More than 69,000 concise definitions and in-depth, specialist encyclopedic entries on the wide range of subjects within the broad field of music.
Terminorum musicae index septem
linguis redactus / Polyglot dictionary of musical terms
Ref. ML108 .T4
- Translations of music terminology in seven languages: English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, and Russian.
Composer Guides - Selected examples
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina : a
guide to research / Clara Marvin
Ref. ML134 .P2 M37 2002
Journals, Databases and Streaming Resources
- Check QCAT, under Journal Title Exact to see if a journal title is in print or electronic format
ML5 .E18 1973-2003 print in Jordan Library Journals; online 1973-present
Early music America
(full-text online 1998-present through IIMP at Queen's)
Early music history
ML170 .E27t 1981-2002 print in Jordan Library Journals; online (1981-present)
Plainsong & medieval
ML5 .P5t 2001-2003 print in Jordan Library Journals; online 2000-present
Music and Subject-Related Databases
- Relevant database covering medieval history from 300-1500 in archaeology, architecture, arts, canon law, classics, the crusades, daily life, ecclesiastical history, folk studies, historiography, language, literature, military history, music, philosophy, political thought, religion, social history, and theology, in Europe, North Africa, Armenia and the Muslim World.
- Relevant database indexing journals from 1843-present for period covering 400-1700.
- Non-profit, multinational database documenting extant musical sources (manuscripts, printed music, writings on music theory,and libretti, mostly before 1800) available in libraries, archives, monasteries and private collections.
- Gordon J. Callon's excellent site includes an early music facsimile archive and graphical chronologies of events by century.
- Mega-site with web sites of interest to musicologists, including early music.
- Edinboro University of Pennsylvania's useful timeline, arranged chronologically by year of composer's birth within a century. Some links to additional composer information.
- University of Oxford and Royal Holloway University of London online resource for the study of fragments and complete manuscripts of European medieval polyphonic music, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Access to images is free of charge, but requires users to complete a User Access Agreement, for reasons of copyright protection
- An international database of bibliographic records for completed dissertations and new dissertation topics in the fields of musicology, music theory, and ethnomusicology, as well as in related musical, scientific, and humanistic disciplines. Responsibility moved from the Center for the History of Music Theory and Literature, Indiana University, to the American Musicological Society in 2010.
- Maintained by Zeroland (New Zealand), a dedicated arts portal and online directory, with extensive links for early music.
- Site provided by Dr. Todd M. McComb, director of the Medieval Music & Arts Foundation. Also links to composer pages at other sites.
- Musica Antiqua's illustrated guide to medieval and renaissance instruments, including pictures, descriptions, and historical information.
Composer sites - Samples
- Kristina Lerman's award site featuring The life and works of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179).
- International Machaut Society's links to sites relevant to the teaching, study, and performance of poetic and musical works by Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377)
National Library sites
Last Updated: 21 September 2014