Music: Online Resources
This guide will assist you in doing research in Music.
Music History
- Digital Imaging Archive of Medieval MusicThe purpose of the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music was to obtain and archive digital images of European sources of medieval polyphonic music, captured directly from the original document. The purposes were conservation and protection against loss, especially of vulnerable fragments, and to enable libraries to supply the best possible quality of images to scholars.
- National JukeboxThe National Jukebox debuts featuring more than 10,000 78rpm disc sides issued by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1900 and 1925. New recordings are added monthly.
- Smithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit recording lable of the Smithsonian Institution. They are dedicated to documenting “people’s music,” spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world. They support cultural diversity and increased understanding among people through documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound.
- Digital Mozart EditionThis website provides access to the complete works of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart (1756–1791) in digital form. In addition, this site includes a critical edition of letters, documents and libretti as well.
- Performing Arts EncyclopediaThis website from the Library of Congress allows you to search their collection for music resources.
- Historic American Sheet MusicThis website from Duke University provides access to digital images for over 3,000 pieces from the collection, published in the US between 1850 and 1920.
- All of BachThe Netherlands Back Society posts a new recording of one of Bach’s works here every Friday, with the goal of having an archive of every one of his 1080 works.
Popular Music
These websites will be useful to you when looking for information on Popular Music:
- Billboard.comThe premier music publication provides music news, reviews, articles, and more.
- All Songs ConsideredThis program from National Public Radio features new music from all genres.
- Rolling StoneThis website has music news, politics, reviews, photos, videos, interviews and more.
- Center for Popular MusicThis website from Middle Tennessee State University is devoted to the study and scholarship of popular music in america. They have an archive of research materials that stretch from early 1700s to the present.
Music Websites
These websites will be useful to you when doing research for Music:
- New York Philharmonic Digital Archives“The Philharmonic Archives is one of the longest running, highly detailed collections documenting all the activities of a single cultural institution. The Digital Archives will eventually make available almost 8 million pages of documents and 7,000 hours of audio and video.”
- Jazz at the SmithsonianThis website from the National Museum of American History includes mnay jazz resources, including online exhibits, oral histories, recordings, and more.
- OperabaseThis website has news and reviews, performers and artists, opera houses, recordings and web resources, plus booking details, interactive maps, search tools and timelines.
- Classical ComposerThis Naxos website provides background information and links to audio clips of that composer’s works.
- Doctoral Dissertations in MusicologyThis website is 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. There are no full-text dissertations, in this database, but you can request them through Interlibrary Loan.
- The Aria DatabaseThis website is a collection of information about opera and operatic arias. Included is text, translations and sound clips.
- The New Music USA Online LibraryThis website is a vast and comprehensive digital database that contains over 57,000 works by more than 6,000 composers, and includes over 14,000 media samples (recordings and scores).
Music on the Web
- Choral Public Domain LibraryOne of the world’s largest free sheet music web sites.
- MusopenMusopen is a non-profit focused on improving access and exposure to music by creating free resources and educational materials. They provide recordings, sheet music, and textbooks to the public for free, without copyright restrictions.
- International Music Score Library Project/Petrucci Music LibraryThe IMSLP is the largest collection of free and freely available recordings and scores on the internet. It has almost 260,000 scores by 7,640 composers, and is also searchable by time period, nationality, and instrumentation.
eZseatU
- Student CircleeZseatU memberships offer full-time college students the opportunity to see unlimited Philadelphia Orchestra concerts all season for only $25.
Online Journals
- International Journal of Research in Choral SingingThe research journal of the American Choral Directors Association publishes reports that advance knowledge and practice with respect to choral singing, choir sound, choral pedagogy, and related areas.
- Journal of Seventeenth-Century MusicThis online journal focuses on scholarly studies of the musical cultures of the 17th century, including historical and archival studies, performance practice, music theory, aesthetics, dance, and theater.
- Directory of Open Access JournalsThis website includes links to free scholarly journals on multi-disciplinary titles.