Home > Music Library > Subject Bibliographies > Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Subject Bibliography: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Comprehensive Encyclopedias | Terminological | Biographical | Opera/Musical Theatre | Popular Music/Jazz | Women and Music | American/Canadian

The following resources are good starting points for research in the field of music. Additionally, they may be consulted for basic informational needs. This list does not include all dictionaries and encyclopedias available in the Music Library.

Comprehensive Encyclopedias

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by Stanley Sadie. New York: Macmillan, 1980. 20 vols. REFERENCE: ML 100 .N48
The standard encyclopedia for the field of music. Articles on terms, concepts, places and figures are generally thorough, include bibliographies and are signed. A second edition is planned for publication soon.

Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine enzyklopaedie der musik. Herausgeben von Friedrich Blume. Kassel: Baerenreiter Verlag, 1949-1967. 17 Vols. REFERENCE: ML100 .M92
The German counterpart to the New Grove, it is indispensable for any serious research in the field. Currently, a new edition is being published and seven volumes have appeared.

The New Oxford Companion to Music. Denis Arnold, editor. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983. 2 Vols. REFERENCE: ML 100 .S37 1983

The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. 10^th edition. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1975. REFERENCE: ML100 .T47 1975

Terminological

The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Edited by Don Michael Randel. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1986. REFERENCE: ML100 .N485 1986

Music Translation Dictionary. Compiled by Carolyn Daub Grigg. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1978. REFERENCE: ML108 .G855 1978

Kaufmann, Walter. Selected Musical Terms of Non-Western Cultures: a notebook-glossary. Warren, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 1990. REFERENCE: ML108 .K37 1990

Musical Thesaurus: a dictionary of musical language. Compiled by Robert Leach. Tapsfield, MA: Newbury Books, 1976. REFERENCE: ML108 .L4 1978

Terminorum Musicae Index Septum Linguis Reductus. Kassel: Baerenreiter, 1978. REFERENCE: ML108 .T476x

Biographical

Slonimsky, Nicolas. BakerÕs Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. 8^th edition. New York: Schirmer Books, 1991. REFERENCE: ML105 .B16 1991

Slonimsky, Nicolas. BakerÕs Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Classical Musicians. Edited by Laura Kuhn. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997. REFERENCE: ML105 .S612 1997

The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Edited by Don Michael Randel. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1996. REFERENCE: ML105 .H38 1996

Contemporary Composers. Brian Morton, Pamela Collins, editors. Chicago: St. James Press, 1992. REFERENCE: ML105 .C75 1992

Opera/Musical Theatre

International Dictionary of Opera. C. Steven Larue, editor. Detroit: St. James press, 1993. 2 vols. REFERENCE: ML102 .O6 I6 1993

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Edited by Stanley Sadie. New York: Macmillan, 1992. 4 vols. REFERENCE: ML102 .O6 N5 1992

Ganzl, Kurt. The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre. New York: Schirmer Books, 1994. 2 vols. REFERENCE: ML102 .M88 G3 1994

Popular Music/Jazz

The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 2^nd edition. Edited by Colin Larkin. New York: Stocton Press, 1995. 6 vols. REFERENCE: ML102 .P66 G85x 1995

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Edited by Barry Kernfeld. New York: St. MartinÕs Press, 1994. REFERENCE: ML102 .J3 N48 1994

Women and Music

Cohen, Aaron I. International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. 2^nd edition. New York: Books & Music, Inc., 1987. REFERENCE: ML105 .C7 1987

The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. Edited by Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995. REFERENCE: ML105 .N67x 1995

American/Canadian Music

The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Edited by H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie. New York: Macmillan, 1986. 4 vols. REFERENCE: ML101 .U6 N48 1986

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. 2^nd edition. Edited by Helmut Kallmann, Gilles Potvin, Kenneth Winters. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992. REFERENCE: ML106 .C3 E5 1992

Missouri State University Home
Copyright © 2007 Board of Governors, Missouri State University
Maintained by webmaster@library.missouristate.edu