Subject Guides: Music Subject Guide: Reference Works

Reference Works

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The standard music reference. Extensive bibliographies.
Location: Trexler Library call no: Ref. 780.3 N532n and online
more...less...
Includes biographical information on most major composers including extensive work lists.
Music Online: Reference
Music Online: Reference brings together a variety of essential music reference materials, spanning the entire history of Western classical music, in a unified online database.Included are the authoritative reference titles Baker’s Dictionary of Music, Baker’s Bibliographical Dictionary of Musicians, and Baker’s Student Encyclopedia of Music, which are available for the first time in electrical form.
Cambridge History of Music
The Cambridge History of Music comprises a new group of reference works concerned with significant strands of musical scholarship. The individual volumes are self-contained and include histories of music examined by century as well as the history of opera, music theory and American music. Each volume is written by a team of experts under a specialist editor and represents the latest musicological research.
Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World
Reference guide to popular music from all corners of the globe. Includes extensive bibliographies, discographies, sheet music listings and filmographies.
International Encyclopedia of Dance
An extremely useful synoptic outline of contents" with nine sections (including "Ritual and Religion" and "Popular Entertainment") enables the user to explore dance in its cultural and social aspects, while topical essays complement the 2,000-plus entries. Heavily illustrated with black-and-white photographs, the encyclopedia captures the fluid movement of dance; with its depth and scope, this outstanding work has carved a well-deserved niche.

Grove Music Online This link opens in a new window
The authoritative resource for music research with over 52,000 articles written by nearly 9,000 scholars charting the diverse history, theory and cultures of music around the globe. One search includes Grove dictionaries of jazz, opera, American music, women composers, and musical instruments.
African American Music Reference This link opens in a new window
Reference collection covering African American artists across genres including blues, folk, jazz, spirituals, ragtime and more. Extensive biographies of artists, ensembles, and historical events.
Music Reference Collection This link opens in a new window
Music Reference Collection contains a variety of essential full-text reference books, artwork, biographies, songsheets, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Includes the full content of African American Music Reference Library, Classical Music Reference Library, and The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music.
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music This link opens in a new window
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music is the first comprehensive online resource devoted to music research of all the world’s peoples. More than 9,000 pages of material and 300 audio recordings, combined with entries by more than 700 expert contributors from all over the world, make this the most complete body of work focused on world music.

Music Subject Guide

Get Help

Reference Works

Resources by Course