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Dictionaries & Encyclopedias (Music)

Topics Covered

• Music Dictionaries & Encyclopedias w
• Foreign Language Dictionaries
• Music Pronunciation Dictionaries (e.g., musical terms, works, composers)
• General Dictionaries (e.g., history, psychology, religion, sciences, etc.)
• Find Additional Dictionaries
• Obituaries & Necrologies

Music Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Music dictionaries and encyclopedias provide basic information and terminology about important names, musical works, terms, concepts, places, dates, and style periods. They may also have bibliographic citations leading to other resources.

• Basic glossary of musical forms (Yale)

• Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. By Theodore Baker. ML 105 .B16 1992 Music Ref
  Medium-length articles, some bibliographies, works lists. Good for overview.


• Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music
  Derived from the Oxford Dictionary of Music (listed below). Briefly describes musical terms, works, instruments and their history, composers, librettists, musicians, singers, and orchestras. Includes works lists for major composers.


• Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera
Derived from the Oxford Dictionary of Opera (ML102.O6 W37 1992 Music Ref). Includes plot synopses and first performance details, bibliographies of works about opera, entries on singers (including debuts, career highlights, voice type, style, and reputation), definitions and discussions of technical terms and styles, and historical surveys.
• Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
Contains in-depth essays on distinct musical cultures. Also available in print format at ML 100 G16 1998 Music Ref. Volumes are grouped by geographic region (Africa, Southeast Asia, etc.), each with a detailed index in the back of the paper volumes. (Unlike most encyclopedias, the articles are not in alphabetical order by topic.) Each volume includes an accompanying CD recording in the rear pocket.


• Grove Music Online
  Excellent resource. Has long, scholarly articles; bibliographies; lists of works. Has people, places, styles, instruments, etc. Also check the other New Grove dictionaries (e.g., New Grove dictionaries of opera, instruments, jazz, publishing). Published 2001. Also available in book format as The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. ML 100 .N48 v.1-29 Music Ref.


• Harvard Dictionary of Music. ML 100 .A64 2003 Music Ref
  Basic dictionary of musical terms, with bibliographies at the end of articles. Composers are not included.

• Irvine's Writing About Music (style guide)
  Part I addresses issues of style (capitalization, italicization, punctuation, spelling, typography, citation format, etc.), both general and pertaining to music. Part II is concerned with writing skills. Part III focuses on the treatment of musical topics in a narrative. (Here are other citation and style guides.)

• Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik. 2^nd edn. ML 100 .M987 1994 v. 1-6 (people), 1-9 (subjects) Music Ref
  "A comprehensive music reference work of the highest scholarly merit, written in German" (Duckles, 1997). Even if you do not read German, the works lists and bibliographies are useful. Try using Leuchtmann's Dictionary of Terms in Music (English-German, German-English) (ML 108 .W73 1992 Music Library Ref.) to help with German terms.


• Naxos Music Library
  This database of audio tracks (mostly classical music) includes supporting text such as a glossary, pronunciation guide, opera synopses and libretti, music fundamental terms, repertoire, histories, and CD liner notes. See also Naxos's free glossary of musical terms.


• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. ML 100 .N48 v.1-29 Music Ref. Also online as Grove Music Online.
  Excellent resource. Has long, scholarly articles; bibliographies; lists of works. Has people, places, styles, instruments, etc. Also check the other New Grove dictionaries (e.g., New Grove dictionaries of opera, instruments, jazz, publishing). Published 2001.



• Oxford Companion to Music Also ML 100 .S37 2002 Music Ref
  Includes concide definitions of musical ideas and terms, as well as extended surveys of musical forms and styles. Places music in social and cultural context, and covers current research in and approaches to music, including analysis, theory, ethnomusicology, and performance practice. Includes jazz, popular music, and dance. Arranged alphabetically; no bibliographies. Good for quick reference.


• The Oxford Dictionary of Music. By Michael Kennedy. ML 100 .K35 1994 Music Ref. See also the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music.
  Briefly describes musical terms, works, instruments and their history, composers, librettists, musicians, singers, and orchestras. Includes works lists for major composers. Often includes dates of new compositions, debuts, first performances, and deaths.

  
  

• Oxford Reference Online
  Has language, grammar, and performing arts dictionaries. Includes The Oxford Dictionary of Dance, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, Who's Who in Opera, and The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Other topics include quotation books, history, religion, law, mythology, folklore, literature companions, the sciences, and more. See complete title lists.

• Work Numbers for Composers (Yale) -- Thematic catalog names/abbreviations

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Foreign-Language Dictionaries

Foreign-language dictionaries are in the Music Reference section in the P's (near the end of the row).

Music-specific foreign-language and pronunciation dictionaries are in the Music Reference section in the ML 108's.

Common terms used in German publications and thematic indices (Yale)

Glossary of bibliographic information by language : German

Initial Articles Listed by Language (Yale)

LEO English-German Dictionary

Names of Instruments and Voices in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish (Yale)

Names of Keys in French, German, Italian, and Spanish (Yale)

Names of Numbers in French, German, Italian, and Spanish (Yale)

YourDictionaries.com -- collection of several online foreign-language dictionaries and grammars.

Finding Translations and Phonetic Readings of Vocal Music Texts (PDF)

This is a list of selected resources in UConn Music/Drama Library. Includes search strategies for finding others.

BabelFish -- Instant translations (English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, and more)

To look up other foreign language dictionaries in HOMER, do a Subject Heading search in HOMER as follows:

[original language] language--Dictionaries--[resulting language]
Example: French language--Dictionaries--English (finds French to English dictionaries)

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Music Pronunciation Dictionaries

Pronunciation on the Web...

Czech Music: A Pronunciation Guide

Ever-Controversial WWUH Jazz Pronunciation Guide

Merriam-Webster Online -- Anglicized pronounciations, practical, has canonical terms and major composers.

Operas & Composers: A Pronunciation Guide (see also Opera Terms)

Say How? A Pronunciation Guide to Names of Public Figures -- Includes several composers, playwrights, performers, and other artistic figures. Compiled by the Library of Congress's Talking Books for the Blind Recording Studio. LC uses the individual's preferred pronunciation over the public's use (e.g., Louis Armstrong preferred a hard "i-s" rather than the public's use of "Louie").

Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary

WOI Radio Group Pronouncing Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Pronunciation guide (from agogô to zabumba, in mp3) to accompany the book, Music in Brazil: Experiencing Music, Expressing culture, by John P. Murphy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006). ML 3487.B7 M85 2006 Music Library

 

Pronunciation Books...

Music Lovers' Encyclopedia. ML 100 H892 1947 Music Ref

 

Oxford Companion to Music. 10th edn. (Later editions omit the pronunciation guide at the end of the book.) ML 100 S37 1970 Music Ref

 

Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of Music. ML 109 M43 1973 Music Ref

Schirmer Pronouncing Pocket Manual of Musical Terms. 4th ed. ML 109 S35 1995 Music Ref

Scholes Music Handbook. ML 109 S36 1935 Music Ref

Singing Early Music: The Pronunciation of European Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance. MT 883 S56 1996 Music Stacks

 

Well-tempered Announcer: A Pronunciation Guide to Classical Music. ML 109 F73 1996 Music Ref

Find older pronouncing dictionaries in HOMER by doing a Keyword search on pronouncing dictionar? music. You can also try ______ (the desired language) languages pronunciation.Also see the Vocal Music page for diction guides.

General Dictionaries

• English Language Online Reference -- Find dictionaries with definitions, usage, idioms, proverbs, grammar, and more.

• Online Reference Books Collection -- Find dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference books online (you’ll need a proxy account to access them if you are off campus). Topics range from World War II to Zoology to Medicine to Theater to Celtic Mythology.

• Oxford English Dictionary -- Traces the evolution of words, giving the earliest quotations of a word through more recent usage.

• Find additional dictionaries and encyclopedias on many topics (pyschology, religion, geography, World War II, etc.) at the Homer Babbidge Library.

Find Additional Music Dictionaries or Encyclopedias

• Strategy 1: Browse the reference section (ML 100s)

• Strategy 2: Do a Subject Heading or Keyword search in HOMER for dictionaries specific to your topic (e.g., dictionaries on Canadian composers, early music, specific instruments, or women musicians).

Example: Subject Heading search on the words music--dictionaries (also try "encyclopedias").
Example: Subject Heading search on percussion (find dictionaries in the resulting list).
Example: Keyword search on dictionar? percussion

• Strategy 3: Consult a reference book that describes other music dictionaries. Try, for example, Duckles' Music Reference and Research Materials: An Annotated Bibliography. ML 113 D83 1997 Music Ref

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Obituaries & Necrologies

Use these resources to find death dates and citations to obituaries or other death notices. Some entries may provide brief biographical information.

• Music-related Current Necrology (Washington Univ.) -- Updated daily. Browse by name; includes annual indexes for some recent years.

• Obituary Index (Music Library Association) -- Similar to above. Includes entries from the 1966 through 1995 issues of MLA's journal, Notes. For older obits, consult the print version of Notes. Browse by name or nationality.

• Find a Grave -- Assembled by volunteers. Includes birth and death dates and some memorials.

• The library has additional obituary indexes that go back further or include other disciplines. Please inquire.