Bibliographies and Resources
Music Resources
The Sibelius Academy, a conservatory in Helsinki, Finland, provides a list of music sites that would rival a Vienna guidebook. It not only links you to jazz, blues, rock, and pop pages but covers famous composers, gospel, instruments, research, theory, and opera as well. The site's only graphic is a diminutive Finnish flag, but with such an array of music you don't need much else."
This portion of the
Internet Public Library
contains sections on
Composers
and
Operas
and
Musical performers
as well as
Musical collections
It is both browsable and searchable. As with the rest of the IPL, the site is very accessible and easy to navigate. All citations are well annotated.
The Mutopia Project
This is a collection of several hundred classical music scores available in various text formats, some with MIDI audio files. Browse by composer, instrument, or musical style, or search by keywords. All music in the Mutopia Project is free to download, print out, perform and distribute.
allmusic
While navigating this site could be easier, it is worth the effort. This is "a complete online database of recorded music." It has a search engine that allows searching by artist name, album title, song title, label, and musical style. Biographies, full discographies, and album reviews are available for artists. Essays and a glossary are provided. Registration is required.
DW3 Classical Music Resources
"DW3 (Duke World Wide Web) Classical Music Resources is a comprehensive collection of classical music resources on the Web with links to more than 1,600 non-commercial pages/sites in over a dozen languages. The site is comprised of 107 well organized, subject-specific pages and features a powerful, easy-to-use internal search engine.
Batanga: Free Latin Music, Music Videos, Albums, CD & Songs
A source for a wide variety of Latin music genres ranging from popular to Norteño/Banda/Corridos, to Cubanísimo. Contents include interviews, reviews, videoclips, and links to radio broadcasts. Available in both English and Spanish.
Odd Music-Experimental music, unique unusual musical instruments, weird strange musical instruments,mp3s,music resources, HAPI Drums
This site provides resources and information for "anyone interested in unique, unusual, ethnic, or experimental music and instruments." Provides descriptions and sound clips for the theremin, didgeridoo, balalaika, clakamore, and dozens of other instruments. Other resources include a discussion group, a glossary of musical instruments and styles, and creative and experimental music links.
Performing Arts Encyclopedia from the Library of Congress: Ragtime
Presentation on ragtime, "a genre of musical composition for the piano, generally in duple meter and containing a highly syncopated treble lead over a rhythmically steady bass." Features audio and video clips, essays, artist biographies, interviews, and other material about this musical genre.
The Poetics of Hip Hop
High school classroom materials focusing on the analysis of hip hop lyrics to "provide students with a greater understanding of rhythm, form, diction, and sound in poetry." Includes activities, readings, and links to related lesson plans and websites. From the National Arts and Education Network (ArtsEdge), a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project
Digital collection of over 6,000 cylinder recordings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "Cylinder recordings, the first commercially produced sound recordings, are a snapshot of musical and popular culture in the decades around the turn of the 20th century." Searchable by keyword, or browsable by performer, title, issue number/label, or year of release. Includes a history of cylinder recordings and cylinder radio shows. From the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
Classical Music
Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Magnificent Master
This Web site presents information about the life and works of classical composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. It features a lengthy biography, a list of his works organized by genre, an image gallery, creation histories, and commentary from musicians and music critics. Also includes sections on Beethoven's relationship to other composers, artists, and thinkers and to other opera composers.
The Prokofiev Page
This Web site is dedicated to the life and work of twentieth century composer and pianist Sergei Prokofiev. It has a biography, photographs, a descriptive list of works, and a list of recordings with reviews of recommended ones. The site also has a list of upcoming Prokofiev concerts, notes about musicians who have "championed" his works, interviews with musicians and others who knew him, a bibliography, and annotated links to related resources. The site, however, could be more accessible and is somewhat crowded with advertising.
The Hector Berlioz Website
Features information on Berlioz's life, music, writings, and career in London and Paris. Includes texts, musical scores in MIDI format, and an annotated bibliography about Berlioz and his predecessors and contemporaries. Provides news, events, concert schedules, and reviews of recordings and performances. Available in French and English.
Essentials of Music
Whether you're a casual listener or a serious music student, here's the site for basic information about classical music. Created in cooperation with W.W. Norton & Company, it's built around "Essential Classics," the series specially designed to introduce you to the best music of every period. All through the site you'll find almost 200 excerpts from major classics. You'll also find Overviews of the six main periods in music history -- Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Twentieth Century. Brief biographies of nearly 70 composers are also featured as well as a glossary of 200 definitions with numerous musical examples.
Classical Net
Classical Net features more than 6500 files including more than 4700 CD/SACD/DVD/Book reviews and over 5500 links to other classical music web sites. The site features a "composer index" and a search capacity.
John Cage Links
Hosted by a musician, the site contains a list of Cage’s works, discographies, interviews with Cage, his writings, articles about him, samples of his visual art, as well as sound and video files.
Joseph Haydn
Compilation of material commemorating the 200th anniversary in 2009 of the death of Austrian composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Provides details about Haydn's life and works, Haydn sites in Vienna and other Austrian cities, video, a podcast series documenting Haydn's life, anniversary events in Austria, and related features. From the Austrian National Tourist Office.
The Nutcracker Ballet
This site focuses on the ballet of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky with special emphasis on
The History
and
The Music
Beethoven Digitally
Biographical details, exhibits, and other material about composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Features audio clips, a glossary, and other research materials. Most documents available in English, with a few only in German. From Beethoven-Haus, a museum and research center located in Bonn, Germany, the birthplace of the composer.
Medieval and Renaissance Instruments
Images and descriptions of medieval and Renaissance instruments such as the bagpipe, harp, dulcimer, harpsichord, lute, viol, hurdy-gurdy, and recorder. Some sections include sound clips and related links. From the Iowa State University Department of Music.
NPR Music: New Music, Music Reviews and Music News : NPR
"NPR Music presents the best public radio music programming from NPR shows and public radio stations across the country. Discover new and overlooked music in many genres through live streams, listening lists, interviews, reviews, podcasts and blogs, all with the high quality reporting and naration that are the hallmarks of public radio. Listen to it all for free, on demand. "
Musical History
Lyrical Legacy: 400 Years of American Song and Poetry
"Lyrical Legacy helps teachers explore eighteen American songs and poems from the digital collections of the Library of Congress. Each song and poem is represented by an original primary source document, along with historical background information and, in many cases, sound recordings and alternate versions." Songs are listed by time period (early America through 1968), and include titles such as "Yankee Doodle" and "You're a Grand Old Flag." From the Library of Congress.
Song of America
commemorates the history of song composition in America.
Learn about 10 composers, including Charles Ives ("In
Flanders’s Fields"), Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna"), and
Francis Hopkinson -- the only American-born composer known to
have written songs before 1800. Hear and see the music for
nearly 20 songs, including "Shenandoah" and "Danny Deever."
Jewish Music WebCenter
The purpose of this site is "to provide an online forum for academic, organizational, and individual activities in Jewish music." This searchable site includes annotated links to Web resources (browsable by topic or title) and a guide to scholarly research of Jewish music. A discography, which currently lists Yiddish artists, is expected to expand to
other areas of Jewish music. Developed by a librarian at Brandeis University.
Annotated Bibliographies for Musical Theater
A brief, although highly useful, list of bibliographies for the American musical theater.
Musicals101.com: The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical
This site's purpose is to be "a reliable educational resource celebrating the history of musical theater, film, and television." Offers detailed histories, bibliographies, chronologies, a show rights index, reviews, biographical sketches, script samples, and a calendar of memorable events. Specific musicals, people, and other topics are highlighted in special features. Searchable, with a site map. Maintained by John Kenrick, a musical theater history expert.
Benny Goodman
Official website for Benny Goodman, jazz clarinetist and bandleader, who was born on May 30, 1909. Features a chronology, fast facts, photos, discography, quotes, links to tribute sites (such as for the famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert), and related material.
Somewhere a Voice Is Calling: American Irish Musical Interpreters, 1850-1975
MANY TYPES OF IRISH-INFLUENCED MUSIC, song, and dance are flourishing in the United States today, from the ancient wire-strung Irish harp tradition to old-time Appalachian fiddling, from ballad singing to Riverdance. The Irish contribution to American music, song, and dance is vast, and this exhibit can only offer a hint of its diversity in the public sphere. Features essays, images, and sound clips of music by P.S. Gilmore, John McCormack, Michael Coleman and James Morrison, Francis O'Neill, Annie "Ma" McNulty, and the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. From Boston College University Libraries.
Sephardic Music: A Century of Recordings
This website showcases over 100 years of recorded Sephardic music, from the 78 rpm era to the present. It first explores in detail the earliest Sephardic recordings, the artists that made them, and their repertory and performance practices. The site next covers the next half century of recorded Sephardic music, touching on the amazing outpouring of Sephardic recordings and the diverse performing styles used in these recordings. The site "focuses on the music of the Jews descended from those exiled from the Iberian Peninsula." It presents an extensive discography browsable by label, song, and artist.
Leroy Anderson
Official website for this American composer born in 1908 and known for works such as "Sleigh Ride," "The Syncopated Clock," and "Blue Tango." Features a biography photo gallery, and sound clips from dozens of pieces. Also includes information about Leroy Anderson centennial events during 2007-2009.
Stephen Foster
This is the text page to a companion to a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) American Experience program about 19th century songwriter Stephen Foster, who composed some 200 songs, including "Oh! Susanna," "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair," and "Camptown Races." Features an illustrated timeline, a gallery of printable sheet music and associated audio clips, an essay on blackface minstrel shows, and more. Also includes a teacher's guide.
Dolly Parton and the Roots of Country Music
This site, from the Library of Congress, features pages on
Appalachean Music
and
Bluegrass Music
that provide excellent overviews and resources regarding these genres.
Afro-American Music
Black Music Research
The Center for Black Music Research is devoted to research, preservation, and dissemination of information about the history of black music on a global scale. The site contains excellent capsule definitions including African American styles such as blues and jazz, as well as African Music and Afro-Caribbean styles." The site also includes extensive bibliographies. Includes a podcast. The site is especially accessible.
Ragtime
presents sheet music, essays, video and sound clips related to this distinctly American music that appeared during the 1890s mainly in the South and Midwest. Learn about Scott Joplin. Hear segments of his "Maple Leaf Rag," which helped spread the ragtime craze across the U.S. and to Europe.
Heart and Soul: A Celebration of African American Music
The site assembles an accessible corpus of information on the most famous African American musicians and the impact they have made on different forms of music." Includes brief histories and descriptions of spirituals, jazz (from early to modern), blues, rock (including soul and rap), and classical music. Biographies of influential artists and audio samples are provided for each music style.
Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag/A Ragtime Timeline
A history, complete with a timeline and audio files, of ragtime music in the 20th century, primarily focusing on Scott Joplin. Hosted by Minnesota Public Radio.
Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
When we think of jazz musicians, it’s usually first and foremost of performers who take the stage and improvise on songs or instrumentals. But it is composers who work offstage and behind the scenes to create a repertory for performers to play that are at least equally important. Two of the greatest composers of jazz were Duke Ellington (1899– 1974) and Billy Strayhorn (1915–1967), and they collaborated on hundreds of works. Find biographies of Ellington and Strayhorn, and an examination of two jazz standards: "'Caravan,' written in 1936 by Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol, and 'Take the "A" Train,' composed in 1941 by Billy Strayhorn." Includes audio and video clips. From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Music Instruction
Learn to Read Music
This site provides simple step-by-step instructions on how to read music, what the host calls "the world’s simplest language."
MusicForTheBlind.com
Through the use of these "Intro to" courses a beginning student can learn the basics needed to play by ear. The number of "Intro to" courses has reached a dozen and the "by ear" song lesson list keeps growing from its current 500+ mark. Almost all of Mr. Brown’s offerings are available through the National Library Service as well. On this site, which is solely dedicated to the needs of those with visual impairments, you will find all of the "Intro to" courses as well as the titles from the ever-growing "by ear" libraries.
How can musicians who are blind make use of computers to notate, read and record music?
This brief article from the University of Washington outlines the major ways that blind musicians can notate and record music. The most important and widely used are the following:
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