FINDING MUSIC MATERIALS IN THE EDUCATION LIBRARY
Education & Music Library guide to resources
This guide is intended to assist students and faculty in locating music materials in the Education Library.
A. DEFINITIONS
Score / Musical Score – Any Piece of printed music.
Full Score – Also known as an ‘orchestral score’. A score which depicts each orchestral part (woodwinds, brass, percussion,
keyboards, voices and strings) on a separate staff. A ‘Miniature Score’ is an orchestral score reproduced in a small-sized
format.
Piano Score – An arrangement in which an orchestral score is reduced to depict only the two staves for piano and any
accompanying lyrics.
Vocal Score – A score depicting all the voice parts with piano accompaniment.
Sound Recording / Music Record – An audio recording on compact disc, phono record or cassette of a music performance.
B. SCOPE OF THE COLLECTION
The music materials housed in the Education Library support the courses offered through the Department of Music at the
University of Saskatchewan. The Music collection is mainly comprised of the standard repertoire of European and North
American classical music. The collection also includes vocal scores and recordings for musicals and other materials to
support the study of music theatre, and a growing collection of jazz recordings.
C. ORGANIZATION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS
The Education Library’s collection of printed music materials and compact discs are organized according to the Library of
Congress Classification scheme. Most music scores and some song books are located in the ‘M’ section of the Education
Library stacks. A complete outline of the Library of Congress classification scheme for music is posted adjacent to the ‘M;
Section. See also the M-Music guide at the end of this document.
Music reference materials (encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, etc.) are located in the M section of the Reference
Collection, which is found near the Information Desk in the Education Library.
The compact discs are fully catalogued. The older Long-Playing 33.3 records are in the order in which they were acquired,
rather than in a browsable subject arrangement such as Library of Congress. You will have to look up a Call Number on the
computer to locate an LP record.
D. LOCATING SPECIFIC SELECTIONS WITHIN LARGER SETS
The following reference books may help to locate specific selections within a composer’s collected or selected works:
Historical Sets, Collected Editions and Monuments of Music (ML113.H61 Educ Lib-Reference)
Heyer’s authoritative two-volume work lists the contents by volume number of “the complete editions of the music of
individual composers and the major collections of music that have been published or are in the process of publication’.
Volume II of this work consists of a comprehensive index of composers, editors and titles. Note: Latest edition is 1980.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. (ML100 .N48 2001 Educ Lib-Reference and ONLINE as
New Grove II)
As well as major articles on musical styles, instruments and compositions, this encyclopedia set provides lengthy biographical
articles for major musicians and composers. These entries include comprehensive lists of the works of individual composers,
divided by type of composition – e.g. orchestral works, chamber music, piano music, choral works etc. These lists identify
works published in standard critical editions by volume number.
Thematic Catalogues (ML134+, Education Library)
Thematic catalogues or indexes are available for most major composers. These are comprehensive lists of a composer’s
works arranged either chronologically or by categories or themes. Call numbers for the thematic catalogues begin with
ML134…and the rest of the call number reflects the name of the composer. They are in the Education Library’s stacks or
Reference area (check catalogue record for location)
E. LOCATING MUSIC SCORES OR RECORDINGS USING THE ONLINE CATALOGUE
In general, information on music can be retrieved by means of an author search (using the composer performer, conductor or
arranger as author), by title, or by subject.
WORD (i.e., keyword) searches are also useful, especially if you want to search 2 or more instruments in the same work, if
you want to find every item which includes your instrument, regardless of its compositional form, or if you are unsure of the
exact title.
Locating a specific item
• Music scores are interfiled with sound recordings on the online catalogue. You may use the ‘Limit” feature to make your
search display only ‘Musical Score’ or ‘Music Record’ items, as follows:
• Perform your basic search by author, title, word, subject heading, etc.. Then select ‘Limit’. In the Material Type box,
choose musical score or music record. The system will then display only those items which are music scores or
recordings. You may also apply other limits such as ‘words in the title’, including thematic index numbers: For example,
to find scores of Mozart’s symphony K.550, first search for the author ‘Mozart’/ Then click on ‘limit’, and select the
‘words in the title’ box, typing in ‘550’ in the blank area. The under ‘Material Type’ choose ‘Musical score’ Your
search results now will show only scores of Mozart’s Symphony K.550!
• For title searches, it is best to use the general or uniform title of a composition, rather than its popular name. for
example, Chopin’s Prelude for Piano, op.28 no.15, in D flat might be entered under Chopin and Preludes, rather than
under its popular title Raindrop. Many nicknames for compositions were added by the original publisher, not the
composer, and are not used consistently between countries. Popular Titles and Subtitles of Musical Compostions
(ML113.B51 1975 Educ Lib-Reference) may help to determine the general title of a particular work. Using generic or
uniform titles such as ‘Preludes’ in combination with opus and key information, helps libraries group the different
versions of the same work together under one uniform title. Please note that Uniform titles and Subject headings are
usually plural (eg., Symphonies, not symphony), so try both ways.
• Do not worry about putting in signs for sharps and flats.
• As a general rule most editions of a particular work are listed under the originally assigned title, although you may have
to search under more than one title in order to retrieve all available editions of a particular work. for example,
Mendelssohn’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ might also be listed under the German title ‘Ein Sommernachtstraum’;
Couperin’s harpsichord suites might be listed under ‘Pièces de clavecin’. Music Titles in Translation: a Checklist of
Musical Compostions (ML111.H7 Educ Lib-Reference) provides the original or English language translation of the
original title
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., and New Grove II ONLINE also includes the original
titles of compositions in the lists of works which follow articles on major composers.
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Locating music scores by particular instrument or by genre
To locate music of a particular type, consult the 4 volume Library of Congress Subject Headings, located adjacent to the
Reference Collection. This source provides a guide to subject headings which can be used in a subject search. If you
require assistance , please ask at the Information Desk.
M 1 - 5000 Music
2 Collections of musical scores
3 Collected works of individual composers
5 - 1490 Instrumental music
6 - 175.5 Solo instruments
177 - 990 Two or more solo instruments
Including chamber music not orchestral
1000 - 1366 Orchestral music
1000 - 1075 Orchestra
1100 - 1160 String orchestra
1200 - 1269 Band
1366 Jazz ensembles
1473 Electronic music
1495 - 5000 Vocal music
1497 - 1998 Secular vocal music
1500 - 1527.8 Dramatic music
1530 - 1610 Choral music, part songs, etc.
1611 - 1626 Songs for one voice
1627 - 1998 Songs (Part and solo)
1627 - 1853 National music
Including primitive, folk, traditional, patriotic, political, and
typical music, with or without accompaniment, and with
or without words
1999 - 2199 Sacred vocal music
1999 Collections
2000 - 2017 Orations, masses, services, etc.
2018 - 2101.5 Cantatas, anthems, part songs
2102 - 2114.8 Songs for one voice
2115 - 2146 Hymn, psalm, and choral books
2147 - 2188 Liturgy and ritual
2198 - 2199 Temperance, revival, rescue, and gospel songs
5000 Unidentified compositions
ML 1 - 3930 Literature of music
48 - 54.8 Librettos (Texts for music)
110 - 158 Bibliography
155 - 158 Sound recordings
159 - 3799 History and criticism
410 Biographies of individual composers
459 - 1380 Instruments and instrumental music
1100 - 1380 Chamber and orchestral music. Band (Military music).
Electronic music
1400 - 3275 Vocal music
1500 - 1554 Choral music (Sacred and secular)
ML 1600 - 2881 Secular vocal music
Including dramatic music, cantatas, songs (Parts & solo)
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2900 - 3275 Sacred vocal music
Including church music, oratorios, cantatas
3400 - 3465 Dance music
3469 - 3541 Popular music
3544 - 3776 National music
3800 - 3923 Philosophy and physics of music
Including physiology, psychology, color and music, aesthetics,
ethics, therapeutics
3928 - 3930 Juvenile literature
MT 1 - 960 Musical instruction and study
40 - 67 Composition
Including rhythm, scales, melody, harmony, modulation,
counterpoint
68 Improvisation
70 - 86 Orchestra and orchestration, conducting, etc.
90 - 146 Analytical guides, etc. (Hermeneutics)
Here are classes of works on how to listen to and how to
understand special musical compositions. For historical,
biographical, critical, or aesthetic works, see ML410 under
the composer
170 - 810 Instrumental techniques
820 - 949 Singing and voice culture
955 - 960 Production of operas. Music in theaters
RB
Aug. 2002
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