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Music Resources

Searching for Scores

For the most accurate catalog search results, use the Advanced Catalog Search feature. 

Music Scores can be divided between the scores with musical forms in their titles (e.g., sonatas, concertos) and scores with distinctive titles (e.g., Rite of Spring or Don Giovanni).  Therefore, searching for a Vivaldi concerto is a different search than looking for Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring. Use the following examples to practice catalog searches with form titles and distinctive titles. 

Example #1: Music Forms as title - symphonies, concertos, sonatas, etc.

Symphony No. 35 in D major, K385 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  1. Go to the UH Library Catalog Advanced Search Page 
  2. Enter Mozart AND Symphonies AND 35
  3. Limit your search by material type to MUSIC SCORES.

Tip: When searching for a musical form such as a sonata, symphony, etc., use the plural form of the word; the specific instrument is useful, but not essential.

Example #2: Distinctive Titles - Marriage of Figaro, Rite of Spring, etc.

The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  1. Go to the UH Library Catalog Advanced Search Page
  2. Enter Marriage of Figaro 
  3. Limit your search by material type to MUSIC SCORES.

Tip: By limiting your search to MUSIC SCORES at the outset, you can avoid sifting through a.) many, many sound recordings and b.) other forms of "The Marriage of Figaro", such as the popular play on which it is based by Beaumarchais.

Web Resources

Historical Sets, Collected Editions, & Monuments of Music

Historical editions are large, multi-volume sets of past musical repertory.  Two common types of historical editions are collected editions and monuments of music.

Collected Editions

A collected edition contains the collected works of a single composer. Some of the collected editions available at the Music Library include:

  • Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Claude Debussy
  • George Frideric Handel
  • Joseph Haydn
  • Franz Lizst
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Gioacchino Rossini
  • Arnold Schoenberg
  • Dmitri Shostakovich
  • Franz Schubert
  • Robert Schumann
  • Giuseppe Verdi
  • Richard Wagner

Monuments of Music

Monuments of Music are collections of closely related musical repertory. Monuments of Music available at the Music Library include:

  • Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich
  • Denkmäler Deutscher Tonkunst

Searching Historical Editions

The Library Catalog does not detail every piece within most historical editions. To see if a musical work is part of an historical edition, use one of the following books in the music library: