Music Library collections
books & scores | audio
& video recordings | periodicals | facsimiles
| microfilm & fiche | Lully
Archive | Henry Cowell Collection | Kronos
Quartet Collection | Ben Schmidt Collection |
George Antheil Correspondence | Other Collections
The Music Library houses the primary collection of music in the
Stanford Libraries. It includes materials in a number of formats
with an emphasis on Western art music. The collection largely reflects
Department of Music program offerings both past and present.
Books & scores
The library currently contains more than 124,000 books and scores.
The book collection covers a range of subjects and includes biographies
of composers, performers, and others involved with music; general
surveys as well as in-depth studies of the history of music by geographical
area, chronological period, or genre; librettos (i.e. the texts
of
operas and other vocal works); collections of essays and Festschriften;
catalogs of exhibits of music materials or music collections; and
writings on the philosophy and aesthetics of music. In addition,
the library contains dictionaries and encyclopedias, bibliographies,
catalogs
and indices of the works of a particular composer, writings on computer
music, music psychology and perception, music theory and analysis.
Although the Music Library has a small collection of rare books and
scores, most of Stanford's rare music materials are located in the
Department
of Special Collections.
The library's musical scores collection contains Western art
music from all periods and includes composer collected editions
(i.e.
a set containing all the works of a particular composer); monuments;
performance editions of instrumental, vocal and choral music;
study
and full scores of orchestral works; and vocal and full scores
of operas and large choral works. In addition, there is a selection
of "fake books", Broadway musicals, and a limited amount of folk
and popular music.
Books, scores, and periodicals in the Music Library are arranged
by the Library of Congress call number system (M
classification schedule), which groups them by type and by subject.
Audio & video recordings
The Music Library's collection of more than 39,000 recordings, while
focused on Western art music, contains small amounts of ethnic music,
jazz, and popular music. It is supplemented by the extensive collection
of the Stanford Archive
of Recorded Sound. Tapes of recent Music Department concerts
are also available. The video collection contains opera and other
performances,
biographical works on composers, programs on musical instruments
and the music of a specific time or place. It is enhanced by the
much
larger collection in Green Library's Media-Microtext
Center.
Periodicals
The Music Library currently subscribes to several hundred journals.
The most recent issues are shelved alphabetically by title in the
Reference Room, with older, bound volumes shelved in the stacks
under their call numbers. An increasing number of music journals
are also available electronically through the SULAIR
e-resources page.
Finding Articles in
Periodicals (under Research
Help) provides guidance for searching music-specific electronic
resources.
Facsimiles
There are a significant number of facsimile editions in the collection,
with the more elaborate ones painstakingly reproduced with the greatest
detail. Some noteworthy examples are:
Squarcialupi codex.
ML96.4 .S773 NO.2 F
Music Library Locked Stacks
Codex Calixtinus.
Z105.5 .C62 1993
Music Library Locked Stacks
Liber magistri: Piacenza, Biblioteca capitolare C. 65.
M2147 XII M5 F
Music Library Locked Stacks
Microfilm & Microfiche
The microform collection provides access to reproductions of music
manuscripts, theoretical treatises, and first and early editions of
music held in other collections. The Library also owns these sets:
[click here to view microform sets list]
Lully Archive
The Music Library is also home to the Lully
Archive, a repository of primary sources on microfilm originally
gathered in support of publication of the complete works of Jean-Baptiste
Lully (1632-1687). The acquisition of the materials was funded by
two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grants
also supported the cataloging of sources, although this was not fully
completed.
 |
| Anne Parker Wigglesworth. Portrait of Henry
Cowell. 1964. Oil on canvas, 92 x 60 cm. Gift of Henry
Cowell Coolidge Wigglesworth. |
Henry Cowell Collection
Mrs. Sydney Cowell donated published scores and recordings of
her husband’s music to the Music Library. Cowell lived in
nearby Menlo Park for many years. The scores are integrated into
the collection
but can be found in Socrates, Stanford’s online catalog,
by doing a subject search, “henry cowell collection.” A
small collection of print materials is housed in the Locked Stacks;
click here to view the inventory list.
Kronos Quartet Collection
The Kronos Quartet has donated part of their collection of chamber
music to the Music Library. The scores are integrated into the collection
but can be identified in Socrates by doing a subject search, “kronos
quartet collection.” A large part of the collection is currently
being processed.
Ben Schmidt Collection of Music
for Lute
The Schmidt Collection primarily contains photocopies of original
and transcribed music for lute from a variety of libraries and archival
repositories. These materials are not represented in Socrates; click
here to view the inventory list.
George Antheil Correspondence
Dates range from 1920 to 1959. All but one of the letters are
photocopies. Click
here to view the finding aid available through the Online
Archive of California. Please contact the Music Library to arrange
for use of this collection.
Other collections include:
The
Julio de Osma Collection (music manuscripts)
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Last modified:
June 27, 2008
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