Songs: A Finding Guide

Arts Library, UCSB

This guide is an introduction to finding scores and recordings (CDs and records) of songs and arias in the music section (2nd floor) of the UCSB Arts Library. Often, finding a score of a song requires more than a simple title search in Pegasus, the catalog of the UCSB library. To find a recording, a keyword search in Pegasus will often be successful, but for scores, other search strategies may be required. If you would like assistance with your search, please do not hesitate to ask at the Music Service Desk. A reference assistant or the music librarian will be happy to help you. A general guide for music searching in Pegasus is available.

Note: Ref. = Arts Library, 2nd floor, reference area (southeast corner of the stack area). Electronic resources available only on the UCSB campus, or off-campus only via the campus proxy server for persons affiliated with UCSB, are indicated by the icon.

I am looking for a score (printed music).

I am looking for a recording.

SCORES

Finding a published edition of a specific song or aria in a music library is sometimes not as easy as one might expect. The reason is that songs and arias are often not available separately; rather, they are published in collections (anthologies) or as parts of larger works--operas, musicals, song cycles, etc. Consequently, a simple search by song title in Pegasus, UCSB's online catalog, will often be unsuccessful. This is true even if you search by keyword, because most of the Pegasus records for song collections do not list the collection contents. Instead, to find the song you want, you may have to follow a multi-step process, as described below.

Larger Works

If you know that the song or aria you are looking for is from a musical or an opera, and if you know the title of the larger work, search for a vocal score (i.e., a score with melody and keyboard accompaniment) of the larger work in Pegasus. To do this, include the words vocal score in a Keyword search:

Keyword:	bye bye birdie and vocal score
Keyword:	don giovanni and vocal score

If you think the song or aria you are looking for may be from a larger work, but you are not sure which one, try searching in the following resources:

American Song: The Complete Musical Theatre Companion. By Ken Bloom. 1996. 2 vols. Ref. ML128 .M78 B6 1996

If your song may be from a musical, see the song index in volume 2, p. 1585. The number given after the song title refers to the main entry for the musical in volume 1 or the first part of volume 2.

Aria Database

Type the original-language title of an aria in the Quick Search box and click the search button. The result(s) should tell you the title of the opera, which you can then search in Pegasus as described above.

UTK Song Index

A database from the music library of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Type the title of a song or aria in the box, click the Search button, and the database will often (not always) tell you the name of the larger work, whether it is a stage or film musical, opera, song cycle, etc. Then search in Pegasus to see if UCSB has the larger work, and if so, what the call number is. (Note that call numbers given in the UTK Song Index are those of the University of Tennessee music library, not the UCSB Arts Library.)

Cross Index Title Guide to Opera and Operetta. By Steven G. Pallay. 1989. Ref. ML128 .O4 P3 1989

You can use this index to look up an aria having a "popular" title (e.g., the "Glove Aria" or the "Flower Song") and find the larger work of which it is part (Rigoletto, Carmen, respectively). Then search by title in Pegasus for the larger work.

Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. By Richard Boldrey. 1994. Ref. ML102 .O6 B66 1994

See the aria index, pp. 217-280.

The New Grove Book of Operas. Compiled by Stanley Sadie. 1996. Ref. ML102 .O6 N52 1996

See the "Index of Incipts of Arias, Ensemble, etc." (p. 723 ff.) Here you can look up an aria by its opening words (i.e. its title) and find what opera it is from.

Art Songs

Collections of songs by one composer are shelved in the library under M1620, alphabetically by composer. This arrangement allows for easy browsing. For example, if you are looking for the song "Die frühen Gräber" by Schubert, you could try going to the M1620 section, looking alphabetically under S for collections of songs by Schubert, and then scanning the tables of contents. (Caution: When browsing the shelves in this way, remember that many items may be checked out to other patrons.)

The following search in Pegasus:

Keyword:

schubert and fruhen graber not recording

with not recording added to eliminate recordings, may return zero results. Even though the library actually does have this song in collections of songs by Schubert, the individual contents of collections are usually not listed in Pegasus and thus cannot be searched, even using keyword searching. (For Schubert songs, one option is to ask at the Music Service Desk for the Schubert Complete Songs CD-ROM, from which you can print out any of Schubert's 600+ songs.) If you are looking for an art song but are not sure of the composer, try searching in the Index of Titles of The Lied and Song Texts Page, or use "Index of Composers' Titles," a supplementary volume to German Poetry in Song: An Index of Lieder by Larry D. Snyder, Ref. ML128 .S3 S66 1995; you might also try the UTK Song Index or Songs in Collections: An Index, Ref. ML128 .S3 D4. Or, ask at the Music Service Desk for assistance.

For many composers, especially those less prolific than the major art song composers, a Pegasus search will be useful for locating song collections, song cycles or sets, or even individual songs. For example, if you are looking for songs by Ricky Ian Gordon or John Musto, try an author search:

Author (last name first):	gordon ricky ian
Author (last name first):	musto john

Song Indexes

To find popular songs, show tunes, folk songs, spirituals, and many other types of songs, use a song index such as those in the list that follows. In each of these indexes, you can look up a song by its title to find out which published song collection(s) it appears in. The collections are all listed, usually in the front, and Arts Library call numbers have been added for those held by UCSB. If you are looking for a popular song, some good indexes to start with are Popular Song Index, SongCite, Song Finder, The Song Index of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, or the UTK Song Index. See the entries for these resources below.

The Children's Song Index, 1978-1993. By Kay Laughlin, Pollyanne Frantz, and Ann Branton. 1996. Ref. ML128 .S3 C55 1996

Covers 77 collections of English-language children's songs published from 1977 through 1994. Lists 2,654 songs, indexed by title, first line, and subject.

Find That Tune: An Index to Rock, Folk-Rock, Disco, and Soul in Collections. By William Gargan and Sue Sharma. 1984. Ref. ML128 .R6 F56 1984

Intended as an index to rock songs, this book provides access to 4,000 songs in 203 collections published from 1950 through 1981. In addition to the separate title and first-line indexes, there are indexes for composer-lyricists and performers.

Folk Song Index: A Comprehensive Guide to the Florence E. Brunnings Collection. By Florence E. Brunnings. 1981. Ref. ML128 .F75 B83 1981

A song-title index of 49,300 songs in 1,115 collections and journals, as well as on 695 records.

An Index to African-American Spirituals for the Solo Voice. By Kathleen A. Abromeit. 1999. Ref. ML113 .M887 no. 76

An index of 60 collections of spirituals for solo voice in the Oberlin Conservatory Library. In addition to the main title index, there are indexes of first lines, alternate titles, and topics ("death," "deliverance," "heaven," etc.). Some of the indexed collections provide text, melody, and keyboard accompaniment, while others provide only text and melody, only text and chord symbols, etc.; this information is indicated in the main title index. Of the collections indexed in this volume that are in the UCSB library, some are in the Arts Library (music section), some in Special Collections, and some in Black Studies; these locations are indicated in Pegasus.

Index to Song Books. By Robert Leigh. 1964. Ref. ML128 .S3 L45

Indexes ca. 6,800 songs in 111 collections published in the United States from 1933 through 1962. The songs are indexed by title only, "with many cross-references from alternate titles and memorable lines" (p. [3]).

Literature for the Voice: An Index of Song in Collections and Source Book for Teachers of Singing. By Thomas Goleeke. 2 vols. Ref. ML128 .S3 G64 1984

Indexes some of the collections most used in voice studios, including Italian Songs of the 18th Century (M1619 .F8), Twenty-four Italian Songs and Arias of the 17th and 18th Centuries (M1619 .H74 I8), and Classic Italian Songs (M1619 .G55 C52). Gives vocal range and key for each song or aria.

Musical Settings of American Poetry: A Bibliography. By Michael Hovland. 1986. Ref. ML113 .M887 no. 8

This volume indexes "musical settings of the writings of 99 American authors. It includes approximately 5,800 settings, 2,100 composers, and 2,400 titles of literary works" (p. xii). Published editions are listed for each setting where possible, including song anthologies by one or more composers. There is an index of composers and one of literary titles.

POPSI: The Popular Song Index. British Library, Document Supply Centre [DSC]. Ref. ML128 .S3 P67 (index table)

A microfiche song index published by the Music Section of the DSC from 1989-1996. Search by song title on the appropriate fiche, note the song's accompanying anthology codes, then check the list of anthologies in the POPSI notebook to see if the Arts Library owns one or more of the anthologies containing the song. For help with the microfiche, ask at the Music Service Desk.

Popular Song Database

Search by title keywords for popular songs in anthologies held by the music library at the University of Washington. Note that call numbers given are those of the UW music library; search in Pegasus to determine whether UCSB owns a specific anthology indexed in this database, and, if so, what its Arts Library call number is.

Popular Song Index. By Patricia Pate Havlice. 1975-89. 4 vols. Ref. ML128 .S3 H4

The four volumes index hundreds of collections of popular and folk songs published mostly from 1940 through 1987. Titles, first lines (FL), and first lines of choruses (FLC) are given in one alphabetical index.

Song Catalogue. British Broadcasting Corporation Central Music Library. 1966. 4 vols. Ref. ML128 .S3 B7

One of a series of catalogs of the vast holdings of the BBC radio music library. The first two volumes are arranged alphabetically by composer, the last two by song title. Appendixes 1 and 2, toward the end of volume 2, list song anthologies by nationality and subject respecitively; these anthologies are indexed in volumes 3 and 4.

SongCite: An Index to Popular Songs. By William D. Goodfellow. 1995-99. 2 vols. Ref. ML128 .P63 G65 1995

Indexes over 13,000 songs from 449 collections published not earlier than 1988. In addition to the title/first line index, there is an index of composers and of musicals, movies, and television shows.

Song Finder: A Title Index to 32,000 Popular Songs in Collections, 1854-1992. By Gary Lynn Ferguson. 1995. Ref. ML113 .M887 no. 46

Indexes 621 song collections held by the State Library of Louisiana. Like Song Index by Sears (see the following citation), Song Finder includes many different types of songs: folk, children's, religious, pop (rock, country, etc.), as well as television and film theme songs, foreign-language songs, patriotic songs, etc. Unlike some of the other indexes listed here, which allow the user to find songs by composer, first line, etc., access is by title only.

Song Index. By Minnie Earl Sears. 1926-34. 2 vols. Ref. ML128 .S3 S4

The first volume (1926) indexes over 12,000 songs in 177 collections, the second (1934) over 7,000 in 104 collections. Includes a wide variety of song genres and types. Omitted are collections by single composers. Title, composer, and author entires are in one alphabetical list, with cross-references given from first lines (in quotations marks) and title translations.

The Song Index of the Enoch Pratt Free Library By Ellen Luchinsky. 1998. 2 vols. Ref. ML128 .S3 L665 1998

Indexes over 160,000 songs in 2,000 song collections from the extensive collection of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland. The collections were published from the late nineteenth century up to ca. 1990 and represent a wide variety of song types: popular, religious, folk, children's, protest, show tunes, opera arias, etc. Included are single-composer collections of art songs (Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, etc.). Songs are indexed by title, not first line. There is a composer index as well as an index of sources, i.e., titles of musicals, movies, operas, TV shows, etc.

Songs in Collections: An Index. By Desiree de Charms and Paul F. Breed. 1966. Ref. ML128 .S3 D4

Indexes 9,493 songs and arias in 411 collections published from 1940 through 1957. The emphasis is on art songs and arias, though included as well are some collections containing folk and traditional songs, carols, sea chanteys, etc. Omitted are collections by a single composer. Songs and arias are listed by composer, with anonymous songs listed separately by geographic origin; also listed separately are sea chanties and carols. There is a title and first line index and an index of authors.

UTK Song Index

A very useful Web index to ca. 50,000 songs and arias in anthologies held in the music library at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Includes single-composer anthologies. Searching is available by numerous access points, singly or in any combination: song title, title of large work (opera, song cycle, stage or movie musical, etc.), composer, author of text, anthology title, song type (art, folk, patriotic, popular, etc.), first line, type of accompaniment (orchestra, keyboard, unaccompanied, etc.), geographic or ethnic source, language. Note that call numbers given are those of the University of Tennessee music library; search in Pegasus to determine whether UCSB owns a specific anthology indexed in this database, and, if so, what its Arts Library call number is.

Wedding Music: An Index to Collections. By William D. Goodfellow. 1992. Ref. ML128 .W4 G6 1992

Indexes 191 collections of wedding pieces, mostly for solo voice with keyboard accompaniment; also included are organ and piano solos and a few other instrumental pieces. There is a title/first line index and a composer index.

Where's That Tune?: An Index to Songs in Fakebooks. By William D. Goodfellow. 1990. Ref. ML128 .P63 G66 1990

Indexes over 13,500 songs in 64 fake-books. A fake-book is a collection of popular or jazz tunes with chords symbols and often words included, but no piano accompaniment.

RECORDINGS

A library search for a recording of a song, unlike for a score, should begin with a search in Pegasus, because Pegasus often lists the full contents of CDs and records. Go to Advanced Search, do a keyword search on the composer and title, and then limit your search to retrieve only recordings:

Keyword:	schubert and heidenroslein
Limit by format:	Sound Recording

If the song is part of a song cycle or set, search by the original-language title of the cycle:

Keyword:	schubert and winterreise
Limit by format:	Sound Recording

If you do not know whether or not a song is part of a set or cycle, try searching in the Index of Titles in the The Lied and Song Texts Page. For example, if you are looking for a recording of the song "Der Lindenbaum" by Schubert, the index will tell you that this song is part of Schubert's song cycle Die Winterreise. (Search under D for "Der" rather than under L for "Lindenbaum.") Or, search in GroveMusic. In the article on Schubert, go to the "index to the songs," under WORKS in the contents list on the lefthand side; then scroll down the list of songs to "Der Lindenbaum." (Look under D, not L.) "Der Lindenbaum, 911/5," indicates that this song is no. 5 in D. 911. (Here the "D." stands for the catalog by Otto Erich Deutsch in which all of Schubert's works are listed and sequentially numbered: Franz Schubert: Thematisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke in chronologischer Folge [1978], Ref. ML134 .S3 D415.) Then, in the GroveMusic article, go to "songs" under WORKS on the left, scroll all the way down to 911, and you will see that this is the catalog number for the cycle Winterreise and that the fifth song in the cycle is "Der Lindenbaum."

If you would like further assistance finding recordings of songs, please ask at the Music Service Desk.