Chamber Music Research at Harvard
Image: Johann Andreas Amon, Principal viola part, String Quartet op. 18, no. 1. Manuscript, between 1802 and 1825. Merritt Room Mus 613.651.348 (available online)
This guide provides quick access to the Harvard Library resources that will be most helpful for program notes assignments in Music 189r: Chamber Music Performance. Look here for links to encyclopedias and bibliographies, tips on finding scores and recordings, and tools to help you credit your sources and save you time.
Would you like personalized help? Contact a music librarian by email, schedule a virtual or in-person reference consultation, or use the chat button on this guide.
- Kerry Masteller: email or schedule an appointment
Video Tutorials
Get some quick tips from these short videos:
- Chamber Music Research: Oxford Music OnlineWhy use Oxford Music Online? It's useful for background information, and many of its articles include bibliographies that you can use for further reading.
- Chamber Music Research: Finding Musical AnalysesLooking for books and articles about a piece of music? Learn how you can search HOLLIS efficiently, and how to view and request the sources you find.
Start Your Research
HOLLIS is Harvard's main library catalog: use it to find books, articles, scores, recordings, and more in one search.
- Pick the Library Catalog dropdown to exclude articles from your search (or use Everything to keep them)
- Enter keywords like the composer's name and words from the title (or instrumentation)
- Use opus or thematic catalog numbers if you know them (eg. op. 48, BWV 1001, K. 504)
- Try adding keywords like criticism, analysis, or interpretation
- Use filters to limit your results by format, language, library, etc.
- Sign in to make requests, pin favorites, and see articles visible only to Harvard users
Learn more tips in our HOLLIS Help guide.
- Oxford Music Online/Grove Music OnlineGrove Music is the main English-language music encyclopedia. It's great for background articles (and bibliographies) about people, genres, area studies, music history, and music theory.
- RILM Music EncyclopediasA full-text, international collection of current and historical music encyclopedias (1775-present), covering major people and topics in historical musicology and ethnomusicology, plus specialized encyclopedias dedicated to popular music and musical theatre, opera, instruments, blues, gospel, recorded sound, and women composers.
The Literature of Chamber Music by Call Number: Loeb Music Library Mus 279.163An encyclopedia of chamber music organized by composer, with short, program note-like descriptions of each piece.
Bibliographies like these save you time by giving you an annotated list of citations to check.
Once you've found a book or article that interests you in one of these bibliographies, search for it in HOLLIS to find our copy.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: MusicAnnotated bibliographies on subjects in musicology, including musical genres & forms, instruments, and composers. Includes bibliographies on chamber music, the string quartet, and brass, woodwind, and string instruments.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Chamber MusicAn annotated bibliography covering the history of the genre, with sections for major instrument groups and ensemble types (string quartets, piano trios, etc.)
Chamber Music: A Research and Information Guide by Call Number: Loeb Music Library Aldrich Room ML128.C4 B37 2002This bibliography lists works on the history of chamber music, repertoire guides, analytic studies, performance practice and performers.
String Quartets: A Research and Information Guide by Call Number: Loeb Music Library Aldrich Room ML128.S7 P37 2005This bibliography lists works on the history of the string quartet, repertoire guides, analytic studies, performance practice and performers.
Bibliographies like these will help you find scholarship focused on music theory and analysis.
Once you've found a book or article that interests you in one of these bibliographies, search for it in HOLLIS to find our copy.
Analyses of Nineteenth- And Twentieth-Century Music, 1940-2000 by Call Number: Loeb Music Library Aldrich Room ML113.H695 2007A bibliography of 9,000+ analyses of works by composers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Note the dates! For analyses of pre-19th century works, look in Diamond. For the most recent scholarship, check HOLLIS or RILM Abstracts of Music Literature.
Music Analyses: An Annotated Guide to the Literature by Call Number: Loeb Music Library ML128.A7 D5 1991A bibliography of analytical literature on music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Published in 1991: for more recent scholarship, supplement with HOLLIS or RILM Abstracts of Music Literature.
- RILM Abstracts of Music LiteratureAn international bibliography of music articles, collections, and books covering 10,000+ journals from the 1800s to the present. Especially good for finding book chapters and conference proceedings in addition to journal articles.
- UT Analysis IndexAn index to program notes and descriptions/analyses in books owned by the University of Tennessee Music Library - does not duplicate the entries in Diamond.
- Music Periodicals DatabaseAn index of over 400 scholarly and popular music periodicals (1874-present), plus full text for around 140 journals. To find performance and recording reviews, limit Document Type to "review." (Formerly known as IIMP, International Index to Music Periodicals.)
- Music Index OnlineAn index of over 800 music periodicals, with strengths in popular music, ethnomusicology, and reviews. Music Index Online covers articles published from 1970-present; earlier volumes are available in print.
- Lean Library ExtensionInstall this browser extension to get quick access to digital content purchased by Harvard Library. It will automatically detect when you're on a website that contains content the library subscribes to.
Find Online Scores and Recordings
- IMSLPIMSLP (The International Music Score Library Project) holds thousands of digitized scores from collections around the world. IMSLP is free to all, but use this link with your HarvardKey to skip the download delay.
- Classical Scores LibraryFull, study, piano, and vocal scores of music from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, available for use online or printed/saved to PDF.
- BabelScoresOnline music library featuring creative contemporary composers from the last decades.
- Naxos Music LibraryClassical, world, jazz, and folk recordings, with biographical information, opera synopses and libretti, glossaries and pronunciation guides.
- Music OnlineSound and video recordings, digital scores, and reference books: everything from documentaries to world music to opera. Great for interdisciplinary topics, and for quickly finding a wide variety of high-quality performances online.
- medici.tvA collection of classical music videos, including concerts, operas, ballets, documentaries, and artist profiles. Some performances are available as live webcasts and for a limited time through delayed streaming.
Cite Your Sources
Save yourself time and keep your research organized with a citation management program like Zotero:
- Collect the information you'll need to cite your sources (author, title, publication year, etc.) with one click
- Quickly create citations and bibliographies in almost any citation style
- Organize, tag, and annotate your sources
Harvard librarians teach classes in the basics of Zotero and Endnote. Learn more and check the class schedules: Citation and Research Management Tools.
- Chicago Manual of StyleThe full text of the 17th edition, plus quick style guides and FAQs.
- Harvard Guide to Using SourcesWriting and citation guidelines from the Harvard Writing Program.
- Senior Thesis Style GuideExcerpts from the Music Department's citation style guide for senior theses.
