Music Resources



Classical Music - General Resources

Carolina Classical Connection (Charles K. Moss, Sumter, South Carolina)

"An Index of Classical Music Web Site Links." Includes many links organized by period (e.g. Middle Ages, Baroque, 20th Century); other categories include: Main Links, Opera Links, and Piano Links.

Classical Composers - I Write the Music (I Write the Music.com)

An extensive collection of links to Web sites, both commercial and non-commercial.

The Classical Music Archives (Classical Archives, LLC)

"The largest classical music site on the Web." Provides access to 22,273 full length classical music files by 1,810 composers. Search by keyword or subject category. Includes direct links to names of featured composers: J.S.Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Handel, Haydn, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi. Play or download performances.

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The Classical Music Navigator (Charles H. Smith)

Serves as a reference tool/index/directory. Focuses on composers in terms of influences (including a list of the 111 most influential composers of all time), provides a geographical index, and an index of forms and styles of music. Also offers a glossary of terms.

Classical Music Web (Zeroland; The Arts on the Web)

Covers chamber music, composers, contemporary music, conductors, festivals, instruments, jazz, journals, magazines, lieder, musicals, opera, opera singers, orchestras, pianists, pop music, scores, theory/musicology, violinists, wind instruments, women in music, and more.

ClassicalNet (Dave Lampson)

Offers a search engine, composer master index, 4000+ links to classical music Web sites, more than 3000 CD/book/DVD reviews, and more.

DW3: Classical Music Resources (Duke University Music Library)

"The World's Most Comprehensive Collection of Classical Music Links." Perform a keyword search or explore one of the subject categories offered: Composer Homepages, Chronologies and Necrologies, National and Regionally Oriented Pages, Organizations and Centers for Scholarly Research, Electronic Journals and Newsletters, Genre-Specific Pages, and Databases.

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Composers

For access to more Web sites devoted to composers, see other rubrics in this guide, such as: General Music Resources or Contemporary Music .
Bach Bibliography (Yo Tomita, School of Music, Queen's University, Belfast)

Currently the database contains more than 19,000 items. References include: published scholarly books, reviews, articles, facsimiles, unpublished dissertations (Masters and Doctorates), and unpublished conference papers.

Baroque composers

Select from categories offered: Baroque Music: historical and geographical context (Italy, Italy to Germany, Germany, England, France, Spain, Europe to the New World), Baroque Composers: Individual Biographies, Baroque Composers' Portrait Gallery.

Beethoven Bibliography Database (Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San José State University)

"The Beethoven Bibliography Database is a fully-indexed bibliography of published (and selected unpublished) materials relating to Ludwig van Beethoven." A search engine provides for searching by title, author, subject, and several other criteria.

Classical Composers Database (Jos Smeets)

Perform a keyword search or use the alphabetical display to find information on the lives and works of classical composers. Provides links to a large selection of Web sites devoted to composers and to other types of information about music.

Composer Master Index (ClassicalNet)

Names of composers may be selected and searched from the alphabetical display. Features biographical information and a portrait of each composer as well as information about his/her works and links to relevant Web sites.

Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers (Steven Estrella)

The dictionary contains basic biographical information about more than 500 composers. Each entry also includes a list of major works, short bibliographies, links to other sites, and more.

J. S. Bach Home Page (Jan Hanford (North America) and Jan Koster (Europe))

Provides information about the life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Includes links to related Web sites.

Tangento's Psych Music: Composers: Soundtrack and Otherwise (Tangento)

Focus is on 24 of Tangento's favorite composers including Aaron Copeland, Beethoven, and Frank Zappa. The majority of the composers are from the 20th century. Provides a photo of each featured composer. Offers links to related sites.

Women Composers and Women's Music (Worldwide Internet Music Resources, William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University School of Music)

A useful list of links to Web sites that present information about women composers.

Women of Note (Diana Ambache, UK)

An attractive and user-friendly source of information about women composers of the past 250 years.

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Contemporary Music

Thomas Moore, Pianist, New Music Links (Thomas Moore, UMBC)

Contains more than 11,000 links to other new music Web sites. Select composers, performers by instrument, other people, events, places and things, or "the Web" from the topic menu.

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Dictionaries & Glossaries

Free Online Music Dictionaries (1000dictionaries.com)

Offers links to a large collection of general and specialized music dictionaries available on the Web.

Glossary of Musical Terms (Classical Works.com)

Alphabetical list of terms with definitions.

Music Dictionary Online (Dr. Brian Blood)

Dictionary of common musical terms (American and British). More than just a dictionary, it offers lessons on music theory, manuscript paper, and additional features.

Music Technology (Doug Barnes's Handouts)

Definitions of terms related to music technology.

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General Music Resources

BUBL LINK / 5:15 Selected Internet Resources . . .     (BUBL Information Service, Andersonian Library, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland)

A vast and diverse resource. To access links to Web sites, click on the letter "M" to display subject headings related to music, such as: Music News, Musicology, Music Research, or Music Theory. Click on "O" for Opera or Orchestras, "B" for Baroque Music, "C" for Classical Music Composers or Classical music links, "J" for Jazz Music, etc., or perform a keyword search of title, author, description or subject.

Classical Music and Contemporary Music - A Web Directory (Zeroland)

Perform a keyword search or make a selection from entries arranged in alphabetical order by title. Users may also browse subject categories, e.g. Chamber Music Composers, Contemporary Music, Conductors, Country, Region, Festivals, Instruments, Journals, Magazines, Jazz, Lied, Leider, Musicals, Opera, Opera Singers, Orchestras, Pianists, Piano Pop Music, Scores, String Instruments, Theory/ Musicology, Vocal, Choirs, Violinists, Wind instruments, and Women in Music.

Hyper Music (Tim Brehaut)

Arranged in several rubrics: History of Classical Music, History of Jazz Music, Musical Instruments, For Teachers, and Miscellaneous. Includes a glossary, links to related Web sites, and more.

Internet Public Library - Music      (University of Michigan, School of Information)

Provides access to numerous Web sites pertaining to music. Perform a keyword search or select a category from among the following sub-headings: Audio Equipment & Technology, Genres, Performance, and Musicians & Composers. For a somewhat different selection of sites, select "Arts and Humanities" from the list of Subject Collections on the left, then click on Fine Arts, then on Music.

Web Links - A Guide for Students at Salisbury University (Salisbury University, UK)

A large selection of links is arranged in these categories: General, Music History, Music Theory, Popular [music], ethnic [music], and world music, Music Instruction, and Sheet Music (i.e. free sheet music).

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Jazz and Blues

Additional links to Jazz and Blues sites can be found on Web sites entered under General Music Resources above.
All About Jazz! The Web's Ultimate Guide to Jazz (All About Jazz.com)

Provides information and opinion about jazz from the past, present, and future. Includes reviews of jazz from around the world and interviews with international musicians. Allows readers to learn about the major developments in a year of their choosing.

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Music History and Literature

Big Bands Database Plus        (Murray L. Pfeffer)

"The BigBands Database: An ongoing project dedicated to Bands; to Jazz and to Swing History, and to the music now known to the world as 'American Popular Song'."

This Day in Music History        (Kevin Lux for DataDragon Information Services)

As the title suggests, this Web site provides information about music related events that occurred on a certain date. Choose any date; default is current date.

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Music History and Literature - Research Collections

The Aaron Copeland Collection: Ca. 1900 - 1990 (American Memory Project, U.S. Library of Congress)

Includes approximately 400,000 items documenting the multifaceted life of the composer, performer, teacher, writer, conductor, commentator, and administrator. It comprises both manuscript and printed music, personal and business correspondence, diaries, writings, scrapbooks, programs, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, awards, books, sound recordings, and motion pictures. The first release of the online collection contains approximately 1,000 items that yield a total of about 5,000 images. These items date from 1899 to 1981, with most from the 1920s through the 1950s, and were selected from Copland's music sketches, correspondence, writings, and photographs.

The Leonard Bernstein Collection ca. 1920 - 1989. (Music Division, Library of Congress)

This collection makes available more than 400,000 items, including music and literary manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, audio and video recordings, fan mail, and other types of materials that document Bernstein's life and career. Includes a selection of 85 photographs, 177 scripts from the Young People's Concerts, 74 scripts from the Thursday Evening Previews, and over 1,100 pieces of correspondence, in addition to the collection's complete Finding Aid.

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1820 - 1860 (American Memory Project, U.S. Library of Congress)

Search by keyword or browse the indexes of authors, subjects, and titles. About 15,000 pieces of sheet music covering popular songs, operatic arias, piano music, sacred and secular vocal music, solo instrumental music, method books and instructional materials, and some music for band and orchestra.

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870 - 1885 (American Memory Project, U.S. Library of Congress)

Search by keyword or browse the indexes of authors, subjects, and titles. Consists of over 47,000 pieces of sheet music registered for copyright during the years 1870 to 1885. Included are popular songs, piano music, sacred and secular choral music, solo instrumental music, method books and instructional materials, and music for band and orchestra.

Music of the American Civil War, April 1861 - May 1865 (Benjamin Robert Tubb)

MIDI files are based on The Civil War Songbook: Complete Original Sheet Music for 37 Songs, selected and with an Introduction by Richard Crawford, published by Dover Publications in 1977.

"Now What a Time": Blues, Gospel, and the Fort Valley Music Festivals, 1938-1943 (Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, U.S. Library of Congress)

Consists of approximately one hundred sound recordings, primarily blues and gospel songs, and related documentation from the folk festival at Fort Valley State College (now Fort Valley State University), Fort Valley, Georgia. Also included are recordings made in Tennessee and Alabama (including six Sacred Harp songs) by John Work between September 1938 and 1941.

Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz - The William P. Gottlieb Collection (American Memory Project, U.S. Library of Congress)

Comprises over sixteen hundred photographs of celebrated jazz artists, documents the jazz scene from 1938 to 1948, primarily in New York City and Washington, D.C. During the course of his career as a writer-photographer, Gottlieb took portraits of prominent jazz musicians and personalities, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Thelonious Monk, Stan Kenton, Ray McKinley, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, and Benny Carter. This online collection presents Gottlieb's photographs, annotated contact prints, selected published prints, and related articles from Down Beat magazine.

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Music Libraries
Music Libraries (Music Web Hunter)

Provides a full selection of links to music libraries both in the the U.S. and internationally.

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Sheet Music Sources

Other sections of this guide include Web sites that offer sheet music (for example: 'Choral Music' above). A search of Google or another Internet search engine will yield a wide variety of sources of sheet music. (Search: "sheet music")
Search the Internet.
Copy-us Internet Music Publishing

An Internet publishing house for contemporary music that offers the works of selected composers free of charge. Provides links to additional Web sites that offer sheet music free or for purchase. For English version, click on British flag icon.

Find Free Sheet Music

Provides links to sources of free sheet music. Select among categories: choral, classical, guitar, piano, and others. Also offers sheet music for sale.

Free Sheet Music

"Browse hundreds of sites offering thousands of files."

The Free Sheet Music Guide

Source of a multitude of links to sources of sheet music of all genres.

Get Sheet Music: Free Classical Sheet Music Downloads & More

Easy to use. Offers some 35 pieces and provides links to other sites that provide free sheet music.

Musicnotes.com

Source of free and for purchase sheet music. Offers free manuscript paper.

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Symphonic Music
The Symphony: An Interactive Guide (Brian Blackwell and Andre Dauwalder)

Presents information on ca. 20 composers and their symphonic works. Topics offered include: Quick Tour (general overview), Composers (alphabetical list), Countries, Timeline, Symphonies, Forms, Orchestra (instruments and layout of a symphony orchestra), Interactive, and Links.

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