Note: Ref. = reference section, Arts Library, 2d floor.
New Grove Dictionary of American Music. 4 vols. 1986. Ref. ML101 .U6 N48 1986
New Grove Dictionary of Opera. 4 vols. 1992. Ref. ML102 .O6 N5 1992
International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. 11th ed. 1985. Ref. ML100 .I57 1985
Biographical information on composers and critical analyses of their works may also be found in surveys of music history, both general and specific by period. For general works, see ML160; for period studies, see ML193 (17th-20th centuries), ML194 (17th century), ML195 (18th), ML196 (19th), and ML197 (20th). A list of some specific starting points follows. Consult the indexes and bibliographies of these books to find information on a particular composer or work:
Donald J. Grout and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. 5th ed. 1996. Ref. ML160 .G872 1996
New Oxford History of Music. 10 vols. 1954-73. ML160 .N44
K. Marie Stolba. The Development of Western Music: A History. 2d ed. 1994. ML160 .S87 1994
Claude V. Palisca. Baroque Music. 3d ed. 1991. ML193 .P34 1991
Philip Downs. Classical Music: The Era of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. 1992. ML195 .D68 1992
Reinhard G. Pauly. Music in the Classic Period. 4th ed. 2000. ML195 .P38 2000
Rey M. Longyear. Nineteenth-Century Romanticism in Music. 3d ed. 1988. ML196 .L6 1988
Leon Plantinga. Romantic Music: A History of Musical Style in Nineteenth-Century Europe. 1984. ML196 .P6 1984
Eric Salzman. Twentieth-Century Music: An Introduction. 3d ed. 1988. ML197 .S25 1988
One way to find relevant journal articles on composers and their works is to consult bibliographies in books or encyclopedia entries on your topic. Another way is to search in periodical indexes. All of the following indexes are accessible from the Indexes and Databases link on the library's home page. They are especially good sources for finding reviews:
In the reference section, see ML105 for general biographical dictionaries of musicians. Especially important are the two works listed below. Don't forget to check the bibliographical references (labeled "Bibl."), which can lead you to other sources of information (books, articles) on a composer:
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. 8th ed. 1992. Ref. ML105 .B3 1991
Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. 1996. Ref. ML105 .H38 1996
Books devoted to individual composers are shelved under ML410, arranged alphabetically by composer. Some books in the ML410 section are primarily biographical, providing information on a composer's life, while others are devoted to critical analysis of a composer's music. Some contain both biographical and critical material ("life-and-works"); to locate critical analysis of a particular work, check the index. Again, remember that bibliographical references (for example, in a "Select Bibliography" at the end) can lead you on to further biographical or analytical literature.
You can also find biographical and analytical works on composers by doing a subject search in PEGASUS, UCSB's online library catalog:
s brahms
s stravinsky
s verdi
For major composers such as Brahms, Stravinsky, or Verdi, a subject search such as those shown above will produce a "subject guide" screen listing many subject headings. Scroll down the list to find books on individual compositions. You may wish to ask a librarian for further help interpreting the subject headings.
Critical analyses of composers' works can be found in many different types of soures, including general works such as encyclopedias and period surveys, biographical studies ("life-and-works"), and periodical literature. See the following bibliographies, which contain citations of analyses in books and journals:
Harold J. Diamond. Music Analyses: An Annotated Guide to the Literature. 1991. Ref. ML128 .A7 D5 1991
_______. Music Criticism: An Annotated Guide to the Literature. 1979. Ref. ML113 .D5
Arthur Wenk. Analyses of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Music, 1940-1985. 1987. Ref. ML 113 .W45 1987
Many analytical guides to musical works are located in the MT section of the Arts Library (2d floor, back wall, north side): MT90, 92 (general); MT95, 100 (opera); MT125, 130 (orchestral works). You can scan the shelves electronically by doing a call number search in PEGASUS:
c mt90
c mt125
The UT Analysis Index, from the music library of the University of Tennessee, is a handy way to search the MT literature by composer. Remember, though, that the call numbers given here will differ slightly from those of UCSB's Arts Library. You will have to search in PEGASUS to find the UCSB call numbers for the books referenced in this index.
The following are examples of the guides you will find in the MT section:
D. Kern Holoman. Evenings with the Orchestra. 1992. MT125 .H62 1992
Jonathan D. Kramer. Listen to the Music: A Self-Guided Tour through the Orchestral Repertoire. 1988. MT125 .K72 1988
Ethan Mordden. A Guide to Orchestral Music: The Handbook for Non-musicians. 1980. MT125 .M72
Michael Steinberg. The Symphony: A Listener's Guide. 1995. MT125 .S79 1995
The following three sources all contain brief reviews of classical recordings. The first is an annual compendium of reviews from Gramophone magazine, an authoritative British periodical (ML1 .G7285).
Gramophone Classical Good CD Guide. ML156.9 .G72
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs. 1999. ML156.9 .M33 1999
Jim Svejda. The Record Shelf Guide to Classical CDs and Audiocassettes. 4th ed. 1995. ML156.9 .S86 1995
Many magazines publish reviews of classical recordings. A good way to find reviews for specific compositions is to use an index. One place to start for reviews published up to 1997 is:
Mark Palkovic and Paul Cauthen. Index to CD and Record Reviews, 1987-1997. 3 vols. 1998. Ref. ML156.9 .I53 1999
Start with the composer index in volume 3. Look up your composer and then the specific work you've chosen. You will see a series of numbers; these are entry numbers for recordings (nearly 37,000 of them!) listed by label in volumes 1 and 2. Each entry gives a citation of a recording followed by one or more abbreviated references to reviews; see the list of abbreviations in volume 1, p. ix. Each reference has a plus, minus, or dot, indicating the overall opinion expressed in the review: excellent, inadequate, or adequate. For example, + ARG 3-4/93: 174 refers you to a review in American Record Guide, the March/April 1993 issue, p. 174; the reviewer's overall opinion was that the recording was excellent. Do a title search in PEGASUS to see if UCSB has American Record Guide and to find the call number: t american record guide. Type hol to see which specific issues the library has.
Don't forget that the periodical indexes mentioned above are also good sources for reviews. MAGS will automatically tell you whether UCSB has a specific periodical, and if so, which issues and the call number. IIMP, MIO, and A&HCI do not give this information; you have to do a title search in PEGASUS (for example, t stereo review). To find reviews of recordings: