Key Online Reference Tools
UBC Library offers a significant number of reference resources for research in the subject area of music.
Three of these resources are essential to preliminary music research:
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowAlternate title: Grove Music
Foremost English-language scholarly encyclopedia of music and musicians. Holds extensive articles and bibliographies written by subject experts and comprehensive lists of works for select composers. Incorporates access to New Grove Dictionary of Opera, New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (2nd edition), Norton Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, Grove Dictionary of American Music, Grove Dictionary of Music Instruments, the Oxford Dictionary of Music, and the Oxford Companion to Music. - Oxford bibliographies online This link opens in a new windowA convenient and comprehensive introduction to the essential body of literature that has shaped scholarly thought in the humanities and social sciences.
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowAlternate title: OHO Music module
Specially-commissioned essays referencing further reading for scholars, advanced students, and practitioners in the subject area of music.
Expanding Your Search for Reference Resources
To expand upon the selected lists of online and print reference materials listed above and below, search the Books and Media Catalogue using LC subject headings (instrument, composer, musical form) followed by LC sub-headings and qualifiers (such as historical period, geographic region, and publication type – bibliography(ies), dictionary(ies), indexes, discography).
For example:
Cello music--Bibliography.
Cello music--20th century--Bibliography.
Songs--20th century--Indexes.
Songs, German--Indexes.
Masses--Bibliography.
Chamber music--20th century--Bibliography.
Orchestral music--20th century--Bibliography.
Choral music--United States--20th century--Bibliography.
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Vocal music--Indexes.
Debussy, Claude, 1862-1918--Bibliography.
Schoenberg, Arnold, 1874-1951--Discography.
Music--Bibliography.
Music--Canada--Bibliography.
Music--United States--Bibliography.
Music--20th century--Bibliography.
Music--20th century--History and criticism--Indexes.
Select Online Reference Tools (A-Z)
- Cambridge Companions This link opens in a new windowOver 600 titles covering literature, classics, music, philosophy, religion, history, and culture.
- Canadian Encyclopedia This link opens in a new windowCanada's national encyclopedia covering all branches of knowledge, culture and history. Includes more than 35,000 articles in English and French.
- Classical Music Reference Library This link opens in a new windowReference materials spanning the history of Western classical music; includes Baker's Dictionary of Music, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, and Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music.
- Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the WorldArticles by leading popular music scholars. Includes bibliographies, discographies, sheet music listings, and filmographies.
- Dictionary of Opera CharactersOxford University Press, 2010
2,500 plus entries on operatic characters, with information on the creator of the role and notable performances; synopses for 200+ operas and operettas.
- Encyclopedia of Music in Canada This link opens in a new windowNow embedded in "The Canadian Encyclopedia." Describes the full breadth and depth of Canadas musical culture, including the historical and current aspects of popular, folk, religious, concert and other forms of music.
- Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online This link opens in a new window10 volumes devoted to world music: (v.1) Africa; (v.2), South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean; (v.3) the United States and Canada; (v.4) Southeast Asia; (v.5) South Asia; (v.6) the Middle East; (v.7) East Asia; (v.8) Europe; (v.9) Australia and Pacific Islands; (V.10) glossary, a bibliography of literature and recordings by region, and essays by prominent ethnomusicologists.
- Hofmeister XIXAn on-line, searchable version of the Hofmeister Monatsberichte for the years 1829-1900. Containing some 400,000 records of music publications, it is the most extensive resource for establishing what was published where and when during that period. Records are linked to facsimile images of the Monatsberichte on the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek website.
- Index to Printed Music: Collections & Series (IPM) This link opens in a new windowThe only electronic resource for finding individual pieces of music published in standard scholarly editions.
- Music Index This link opens in a new window(EBSCO) Some full text
Comprehensive subject-author guide to music periodical literature.
Print: ML118. M84 v.1(1949)-v.52(2000)
- Music Periodicals IndexFormerly: International Index to Music Periodicals
International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP) is the ultimate resource for music periodicals available on the web. It provides indexing and abstracts for 445 international music periodicals from over 20 countries. - Oxford Companion to MusicIncludes articles that range from clear, concise definitions of musical ideas and terms to extended surveys of musical forms and styles, with specialist coverage of virtually every musical subject. Bibliographies.
- Oxford bibliographies online This link opens in a new windowAnnotated bibliography and high-level encyclopedia identifying the best scholarship across a wide variety of subjects including music.
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowAlternate title: OHO Music module
Specially-commissioned essays referencing further reading for scholars, advanced students, and practitioners in the subject area of music.
- Oxford History of Western MusicRichard Taruskin’s multi-volume survey of the traditions of Western music.
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowAlternate title: Grove Music Online
Oxford Music Online incorporates Grove Music Online (including the Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Grove Dictionary of Opera, Norton Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, Grove Dictionary of American Music, and Grove Dictionary of Music Instruments), the Oxford Dictionary of Music, and the Oxford Companion to Music. - Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowIncludes Dictionary Plus Music, Oxford Companion to Music, Dictionary of Opera Characters, Dictionary of Music, and more.
- Oxford Research Encylopedias This link opens in a new windowPeer-reviewed, article-style writings authored and edited by leading scholars in a variety of subject areas including music.
- Popular Music: the key concepts4th Edition, 2017.
A-Z student handbook provides a comprehensive survey of key ideas and concepts in popular music culture. - RIdIM: Répertoire International d'Iconographie Musicale (RIdIM)Image database pertaining to music, dance, theatre and opera.
- RIPM: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals 1800-1950 This link opens in a new windowRIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals is an international, highly annotated database with detailed content analysis of writings on musical history and culture between 1800 and 1950.
- RISM - Series A/II: Music Manuscripts after 1600 (RISM-OPAC) This link opens in a new windowRISM Series A/II: Music Manuscripts after 1600 is a comprehensive annotated index to music manuscripts produced after 1600.
- SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and CulturePresents key concepts in the study of music in its cultural context and provides an introduction to the discipline of ethnomusicology, its methods, concerns, and its contributions to knowledge and understanding of the world's musical cultures, styles, and practices.
Select Print Reference Tools (A-Z)
- Analyses of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-century Music, 1940-2000
Scarecrow Press and Music Library Association, 2007.
Bibliography of musical analysis found in journal articles, monographs, doctoral dissertations, and Festschriften. - Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG)
Bärenreiter, 2nd edition, 1994.
Comprehensive German-language music encyclopedia. - Dizionario enciclopedico universale della musica e dei musicisti
Utet, 1985-
Encyclopedic dictionary, in Italian, dealing with music and musicians. - Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
International in scope and covering all eras of music from the ancient to the present, this important new reference source has information concerning 5,500 individuals. Most are associated with classical concert music, although prominent jazz, rock, folk, and popular personalities are also represented. - Harvard Dictionary of Music
4th edition.
Covers all periods, styles and forms in Western music; comprehensive articles on the music of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Near East; descriptions of instruments; articles that reflect popular music, jazz, and rock; includes bibliographies. - Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music : composers and their music
Integrity Press, 1991.
Provides band masters with the most complete guide to band music to date. - Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music
2nd edition.
Contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. 800+ cross-referenced entries on major types of music, composers, key religious figures, specialized positions, genres of composition, technical terms, instruments, fundamental documents and sources, significant places, and important musical compositions. - index to Music in Selected Historical Anthologies of Western Art Music
Music Library Association: A-R Editions, Inc., 2019.
Essential reference for music history and music theory instructors for finding specific listings and details for all the pieces included in more than 140 anthologies published between 1931 and 2016. - International Dictionary of Black Composers
Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999.
Two-volume reference work with biographies and work information for 185 living or deceased composers of African descent, 87 of them "classical" musicians, the others working in popular, jazz, or vernacular idioms. Coverage is international. - International Dictionary of Opera
St. James Press, 1993.
Beautifully illustrated guide contains 1,075 signed one-to-four-page critical articles on composers, librettists, performers, conductors, designers, directors, producers, and individual operas, including many recent and/or lesser-known works. - International Encyclopedia of Women Composers
Books & Music (USA), 2nd edition, 1987.
2 vols. Contains biographies of over 5,000 women composers from nearly 70 countries. - Lexikon: Musik und Gender
German language encylopedia. Brings together gender-relevant topics from music and its history in a compact reading and reference work. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. - New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers
Schirmer Books, 1997.
Produced by an international corps of experts, serves as the indispensable first choice of scholars, teachers, musicians, librarians, and all music lovers interested in women's creative contributions to Western art music. - Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India
Oxford University Press, 2011.
Spans more than 2000 years and offers entries on classical, folk, film, and other forms of music and dance; treatises, technical terms, and instruments; and short biographies of vocalists, gurus, composers, and instrumentalists, from all regions of India and the rest of the subcontinent. - Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance & Musical Theater
Cleis Press, 2004.
Over 200 articles showcasing composers, singers, musicians, dancers, and choreographers across eras and styles. Includes bibliographical references and index. - Spirituals : a multidisciplinary bibliography for research and performance
Co-published by Music Library Association and A-R Editions, Inc., 2015.
Bibliography covers a wide range of writings devoted to spirituals. Includes sections on reference works, the early history of spirituals, historical studies and surveys, use of spirituals in other types of music, composers who based music on spirituals, performers of spirituals, geographical studies, theology, spirituals in literature, and education.
Select Open Access Online Resources for Music Scholars
- DRM: Digital Resources for MusicologyLinks to substantial open-access projects of use to musicians and musicologists.