Guide to Information Resources

DICTIONARIES AND ENCYCLOPEDIAS

1. Anderson, E. Ruth. Contemporary American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1976. Ref.ML390.A54 Folio

   Twenty years old, but still one of the best resources for identifying obscure American composers.

2. Cattell, Jacques. Who's Who in American Music, Classical, 2nd ed. New York: Bowker, 1984. Ref.ML106.U3W6 1985

   Provides brief entries of performers, composers, and other musical figures.

3. Contemporary Composers. Chicago: St. James Press, 1992. Ref.ML390.M677 1992 Folio

4. International Who's Who in Music and Musician's Directory. Cambridge, England: Int'l Who's Who in Music, current year. Ready Ref.ML106.G7W4 (current year)

   Hit or miss, but often contains people you may not find elsewhere. International coverage.

5. Thompson, Kenneth. A Dictionary of 20th Century Composers, 1911-1971. New York: St. Martin's, 1973. Ref.ML118.T5 1973b

   Provides extensive coverage of thirty-two of major composers. Includes work lists and bibliographies for Bartok, Berg, Bloch, Busoni, Debussy, Delius, Elgar, Falla, Faure, Hindemith, Holst, Honegger, Ives, Janacek, Kodaly, Mahler, Martinu, Nielsen, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Puccini, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Roussel, Satie, Schoenberg, Sibelius, Strauss, Stravinsky, Varese , Vaughan Williams, and Webern.

6. Vinton, John, ed. Dictionary of Contemporary Music. New York: Dutton, 1974. Ref.ML100.V55

   A dictionary of article-length definitions of terms. Includes profiles of major composers.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND DISCOGRAPHIES

In recent years there has been an explosion of bibliographies, especially of 20th century composers. One such series is Bio-Bibliographies in Music, published by Greenwood Press. So far more than 50 have been issued including works on the famous and not-so-famous such as Archer, Ballou, Barber, Richard Rodney Bennett, Robert Russell Bennett, Bridge, Britain, Busoni, Carter, Chaminade, Copland, Foss, Glanville-Hicks, Granados, Hanson, Harris, Hill, Hoddinott, Husa, Ives, Krenek, Langlais, Ligeti, Luening, McCabe, Messager, Milner, Musgrave, Persichetti, Poulenc, Rorem, Rosbaud, Roussel, Sauget, Sculthorpe, Tailleferro, Tcherepnin, Thompson, Walton, Ward, Warren, Wilder, and Wuroinen. Most are classified ML134. Some other indispensable works are listed below.

1. Abravenel, Claude. Claude Debussy: A Bibliography. Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1974. Ref.ML134.D26A2

   Covers materials up through 1973. See Briscoe for more materials after 1973.

2. Antokoletz, Elliott. Bela Bartok: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 1988. Ref.ML134.B18A7 1988

   A model of the bibliographer's art by an eminent Bartok scholar.

3. Basart, Ann. Serial Music: A Classified Bibliography of Writings on Twelve-Tone and Electronic Music. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961. Ref.ML128.T9B4

4. Block, Geoffrey. Charles Ives: A Bio-Bibliography. New York: Greenwood, 1988. Ref.ML134.I9B6 1988

5. Briscoe, James. Claude Debussy: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 1990. Ref.ML134.D26B7 1990

   Covers materials from 1974-1990. Abravenel and Brisco together provide a comprehensive bibliography of works about Debussy.

6. Carlson, Effie B. A Bio-bibliographical Dictionary of Twelve-Tone and Serial Composers. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1970. Ref.ML105.C39

7. Chase, Gilbert, and Andrew Budwig. Manuel de Falla: A Bibliography and Research Guide. New York: Garland, 1986. (Garland composer resource manuals, 4) Ref.ML134.F18C5 1986

8. de Lerma, Dominique-Rene. Igor Fedorovitch Stravinsky, 1882-1971: A Practical Guide to Publications of His Music. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1974. Ref.ML134.S96D44

9. Heintze, James R. Igor Stravinsky: An International Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations, 1925-1987. Detroit: Harmonie Park Press, 1988. Ref.ML134.S96H4 1988

10. Kirkpatrick, John. A Temporary Mimeographed Catalogue of the Music MSS and Related Materials of Charles Edward Ives. Publ. by the author, 1960. Call no: Ref.ML134.I9K6 1973.

    The standard tool for information about Ives manuscripts. For information about Ives see the bio-bibliography by Block.

11. Lichtenwanger, William. The Music of Henry Cowell: A Descriptive Catalog. New York: ISAM, 1986. ML134.C69L5 1986

    Additionally, there are two other sources regarding Henry Cowell which provide a very complete picture of this extraordinary composer: Martha L. Manion, Writings About Henry Cowell: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: ISAM, 1982. Call no: ML134.C69M3 1982; and Bruce Saylor, The Writings of Henry Cowell: A Descriptive Bibliography. New York: ISAM, 1977. Call no: ML134.C69S3.

12. Oja, Carol. American Music Recordings: A Discography of 20th Century U.S. Composers. New York: ISAM, 1982. Ref.ML156.2.A45 1982

    An important listing of recordings of American composers, both famous and obscure. Very comprehensive.

13. Rufer, Josef. The Works of Arnold Schoenberg: A Catalogue of his Compositions, Writings, and Paintings. London: Faber & Faber, 1962. Ref.ML134.S33R83

MISCELLANEOUS SOURCES

1. Bull, Storm. Index to Biographies of Contemporary Composers, 2 vols. New York: Scarecrow, 1964-1974. Ref.ML105.B9

   Indexes over 100 sources for biographical information on close to 10,000 composers.

2. Hall, Charles J. A Twentieth-Century Musical Chronicle: Events 1900-1988. New York: Greenwood, 1989. Ref.ML197.H15 1989

3. Slonimsky, Nicholas. Music Since 1900, 5th ed. New York: Scribner, 1994. Ref.ML197.S634 1994

   A classic. Not only includes a complete chronology from 1900-1991 but also a number of letters and documents not readily available elsewhere. A dictionary of terminology is appended.

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Created: July 7, 1996