Music research with dictionaries and encyclopedias

An overview of music dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Introduction

What do they do?

Music encyclopedias allow you to find comprehensive, reliable, scholarly information on composers and other musicians; musical works, forms and genres; historical and stylistic periods; and musical life in countries and cities around the world.

Where are they?

Browse in the Reference Room under these call numbers:

ML 100 General works (multi-subject)
ML 101 .A-Z  General works arranged by region or country
ML 102 By topic, for example:
ML 102 .J3 Jazz
ML 102 .M88  Musicals
ML 102 .O6 Opera
ML 105 Biographical dictionaries (of composers, performers, and other musicians), international in scope
ML 106 Biographical dictionaries arranged by country
ML 108 Dictionaries of musical terms
ML 109 Pronouncing dictionaries

 

~ Browse the list of all music encyclopedias ~

~ Browse the list of all music dictionaries ~

Learn more:

Dictionaries & encyclopedias
This entry in New Grove provides a detailed history and an extensive chronological list of published titles.

Seer also these useful books:

Gottlieb. Music Library and Research Skills [chapter 3]

Sampsel. Music Research: a Handbook [chapter 2]

Bayne. A Guide to Library Research in Music [chapter 2]

 

 

Comprehensive works

These titles are the most significant sources for scholarly entries on music.

Oxford music online [electronic resource].
[Oxford, England] : Oxford University Press
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart : allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik / begründet von Friedrich Blume.
2., neubearbeitete Ausg. / Kassel ; New York : Bärenreiter ; Stuttgart : Metzler, 1994-
Music Library » Recordings » MCDI 23
The Garland encyclopedia of world music / advisory editors, Bruno Nettl and Ruth M. Stone ; founding editors, James Porter and Timothy Rice.
New York : Garland Pub., 1998-2002.
Green Library » Information Center » ML100 .G16 1998 V.1

Biographical

Biographical dictionaries generally include entries for composers, performers, and other significant musical figures.

Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians.
Centennial ed. / New York : Schirmer Books, 2001.
Green Library » Information Center » ML105 .B168 2001 V.1
Entries for more obscure musicians were added and removed as newer editions were produced; a thorough search will include the 5th through the present editions. The preface to the 6th and 7th editions, by Nicolas Slonimsky, provide a fascinating gimpse into the creation of this remarkable work.
International who's who in classical music.
London, England : Europa Publications Limited, c2002-
Green Library » Information Center » ML106 .G7 W4 ED.32 2016
Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique.
2. éd. Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1878-1884.
Music Library » Reference » ML105 .F419 V.1
A scanned version is available from the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Biographisch-bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten der christlicher Zeitrechnung bis zur Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts.
New York, Musurgia, 1947.
Music Library » Reference » ML105 .E36A V.1
A digital version may be downloaded from the University of Zurich.
Grosses Sängerlexikon / K.J. Kutsch, Leo Riemens ; unter Mitwirkung von Hansjörg Rost.
4., erw. und aktualisierte Aufl. München : K.G. Saur, c2003.
SAL3 (off-campus storage) » Request for use in Archive of Recorded Sound » ML105 .K83 2003 BD.1

Topical

Beow are examples of encyclopedias and dictionaries devoted to specific topics.

The encyclopedia of the musical theatre / Kurt Gänzl.
2nd ed. New York : Schirmer Books, c2001.
Green Library » Information Center » ML102 .M88 G3 2001 V.1
The Viking opera guide / edited by Amanda Holden with Nicholas Kenyon and Stephen Walsh ; consultant editor, Rodney Milnes ; recordings consultant, Alan Blyth ; with a preface by Sir Colin Davis.
1st ed. London, England : New York, NY, USA : Viking, 1993.
Music Library » Reference » ML102 .O6 V69 1993
Tin Pan Alley : an encyclopedia of the golden age of American song / David A. Jasen.
New York : Routledge, 2003.
Music Library » Reference » ML102 .P66 J37 2003
Encyclopedia of keyboard instruments / edited by Robert Palmieri.
New York : Garland, 1994-
Music Library » Reference » ML102 .K44 E56 1994 V.1
The Virgin encyclopedia of jazz / compiled and edited by Colin Larkin.
Rev. and updated [ed.]. London : Virgin in association with Muze UK Ltd., 2004.
Music Library » Reference » ML102 .J3 V57 2004

Terminology

Dictionaries of music terminology may be general, or may focus on specific topics or eras. Note also the pronouncing dictionary at the end of this list.

The Oxford dictionary of music / Michael Kennedy ; associate editor, Joyce Bourne.
2nd ed., rev. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.
Music Library » Reference » ML100 .K36 2006
An early music dictionary : musical terms from British sources: 1500-1740 / Graham Strahle.
Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Music Library » Reference » ML108 .S88 1995
Selected musical terms of non-Western cultures : a notebook-glossary / Walter Kaufmann.
Warren, Mich. : Harmonie Park Press, 1990.
Music Library » Reference » ML108 .K21 1990
Thesaurus of abstract musical properties : a theoretical and compositional resource / Jeffrey Johnson.
Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1995.
Music Library » Reference » ML108 .J67 1995
The well-tempered announcer : a pronunciation guide to classical music / Robert A. Fradkin.
Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c1996.
Music Library » Reference » ML109 .F73 1996