Cultural and historical context
Get background information about cultural and historical context of the time period during which the music selection was composed.
The Cambridge History of World MusicCall Number: 780.9 C144bo (3rd floor)
The Oxford Handbook of the New Cultural History of MusicCall Number: 780.9 Ox2fu (3rd floor)
The Lives of the Great Composers by Call Number: 780.922 Sch65sc (3rd floor)Profiles of the world's composers from Bach to Schoenberg and examines the lives, times, and music of each
Great Composers and Their WorksCall Number: 780.9 SL54gr v.1-2 (3rd floor)Provides biographical information on nineteen composers, describes the musical components of their major works, and provides anecdotal background on those works.
Oxford History of Western MusicCall Number: REF 780.9 T179ox v.1-6 (1st floor)
The Heritage of Musical StyleCall Number: 780.9 V289he (3rd floor)
Biographical Sources
Use these sources to find biographical information on your musician/composer:
- Biography Reference Center
A comprehensive collection of full-text biographies on popular and heavily-researched figures. Users can locate biographies of interest by browsing key categories, including occupation, nationality, publication and more than 30 genre categories including actors, artists, athletes, authors, current world leaders, explorers, scientists and many others.
- MLA International Bibliography
Index to scholarly research pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore, 1963-present.
- Literature Resource Center
Includes biographical info, interviews/primary sources, and reviews.
- Literary Reference Center Plus
Includes information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and time frame, as well as the full-text of some plays.
- Oxford Reference E-books
Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource. Titles cover a wide range of humanities, social science, performing arts, and general reference subjects.
Databases for music history
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Coverage includes history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, humanities and social sciences. Some current issues are available now.
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowGrove Music Online, The Oxford Companion to Music, and the Oxford Dictionary of Music.
- Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new windowFeatures hundreds of titles covering Art, Architecture, Design, History, Philosophy, Music, Literature, Theatre and Cultural Studies.
Books about music history
A history of musicCall Number: 780.9 R545hi v.1-2 (3rd floor)Volume 1 covers polyphony to Ars Nova
Volume 2 covers Renaissance and Baroque
Schirmer History of MusicCall Number: 780.9 Sch35ro (3rd floor)Includes music history from all time periods- History of Music and Musical StyleCall Number: 780.9 UL7hi (3rd floor)Includes history of music for all time periods: ancient, Ars Nova, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, contemporary, and American
Music and the moderni, 1300-1350 : the ars nova in theory and practiceCall Number: 780.902 D465mu (3rd floor)
Music in the medieval worldCall Number: 780.902 Se19mu (3rd floor)Includes plainchant, monophony, polophony, Ars Nova
Renaissance Music: music in Western Europe, 1400-1600Call Number: 780.902 At65re (3rd floor)Focuses on the music of the Renaissance, then on the social, political, and economic forces that combined to produce it
Classic and Romantic Music; a Comprehensive SurveyCall Number: 780.9033 B625cL (3rd floor)This book examines the concepts of classical and romantic music in their historical contexts and discusses the varying interpretations they have undergone. For each period, the author surveys the development of style characteristics, the treatment of rhythm, meter, and temp, of harmony and tonality, of motive and theme, genres and forms.
Reclaiming Late-Romantic MusicCall Number: ebook - read online
