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Books ~ scores ~ periodicals

The Music Library currently contains more than 125,000 books and scores. The book collection covers a range of subjects and includes biographies of composers, performers, and others involved with music; general surveys as well as in-depth studies of the history of music by geographical area, chronological period, or genre; librettos; collections of essays and Festschriften; catalogs of exhibits of music materials or music collections; and writings on the philosophy and aesthetics of music. In addition, the library contains dictionaries and encyclopedias, bibliographies, catalogs and indices of the works of a particular composer, writings on computer music, music psychology and perception, music theory, and analysis. Although the Music Library has a small collection of rare books and scores, most of Stanford's rare music materials are located in the Department of Special Collections.

The Library's musical scores collection contains Western art music from all periods and includes composer collected editions (i.e. a set containing all works of a particular composer); performance editions of instrumental, vocal and choral music; study and full scores of orchestral works; and vocal and full scores of operas and large choral works. In addition, there is a selection of popular song books, vocal selections from Broadway musicals, and a limited amount of folk and jazz music.

The Music Library maintains over 300 periodical subscriptions. An increasing number of music journals are also available electronically through the SULAIR e-journals page.

Some books on music are located in Green Library, and an increasing number are stored off-site at SAL3. You may page SAL3 titles via SearchWorks.

Books, scores, and periodicals in the Music Library are arranged by the Library of Congress classification system (M classification schedule, displayed in detail on the Indiana Universty Music Library site), which groups them by type and by subject. A print copy of the schedule is shelved in the stacks at the start of the M section (see M1.A1).

View/download sheet music for Stanford songs here.

Sound recordings ~ video recordings

~ Music Library ~

Contains 20,000+ circulating CDs, primarily of Western classical music, and including increasing amounts of jazz, popular, and non-Western musics. All CDs can be searched in SearchWorks, which provides details on contents, performers, and recording issue. Ask for CDs by MCD call number at the Circulation Desk. CDs circulate to all borrowers for 7 days.

~ Archive of Recorded Sound ~

The ARS collection of over 300,000 items spans sound recording history from its beginnings to the present day. Almost all formats developed to record sound are represented including wax cylinders; shellac, acetate, aluminum and vinyl discs; magnetic wire and tape recordings; and compact discs. Because recordings are handled only by Archive staff, listening appointments are required. The audio playback room can accommodate small classes or seminars. Research copies of audio files may be obtained under certain circumstances. While many recordings can be found in SearchWorks, the majority require discographic information to be identified. Archive staff are happy to assist.


~ The William H. 'Cigar Bill' Nieman Sr. Collection of Historical Recordings ~

The collection includes over 1500 pre-1920 cylinder recordings, cylinder players and supporting peripheral equipment and materials. The recordings include classical, popular, folk, spiritual and march music, Vaudeville routines and speeches.


~ Green Library Media & Microtext Center ~

Green M&M has approximately 2000 CDs covering a wide variety of genres.

~ SAL3 ~

Upwards of 15,000 sound recordings in older formats, primarily LP (vinyl) discs are stored in climate-friendly conditions in Stanford Auxiliary Library 3. These items can be found and paged in SearchWorks. Expect a 2-3 day delivery time to either the Music Library or Green Media & Microtext Center.

~ Hoover Institution Library and Archives ~

Provides access to and preservation of radio and broadcast tapes from the 1920s through the 1950s as well as other spoken word recordings, including speeches presented to the Commonwealth Club of California and William F. Buckley's Firing Line television program. Contact the Hoover Library for details on accessing these collections.

~ Video in the Music Library ~

The video collection contains opera and other performances, biographical works on composers, programs on musical instruments and the music of a specific time or place. It is enhanced by the much larger collection in Green Library's Media-Microtext Center.

Dissertations & Theses

~ Finding & viewing ~

Stanford Music doctoral dissertations, D.M.A final projects, and other student-authored work can be found in SearchWorks under author/composer name. Many are shelved in the stacks, though an increasing number are stored off-site.

ML29       D.M.A. projects
ML29.1    D.M.A.final projects
ML29.2    M.A. projects and theses
ML29.3    Senior Honors projects
ML29.4    Doctoral dissertations

New in 2010, Stanford’s Electronic Dissertations and Theses Project allows dissertations to be submitted directly in electronic format. Digital copies of most dissertations will be available through a direct link in SearchWorks and from Google.

Find non-Stanford dissertations owned by the Music Library in SearchWorks with an author/title search.

Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology Online lists completed dissertations and new dissertation topics.

Search “doctoral dissertations in music” in SearchWorks for a list of print indexes to aid in discovery of music dissertations; please note that some are included in DDM Online.

WorldCat is an excellent tool for locating dissertations for most colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and a great many from around the world. Some may be available for borrowing via InterLibrary Services.

Dissertations produced in foreign countries are often listed in their respective national, regional, or cooperative library catalogs.
See also:



~ Purchasing ~

Full-text PDF files of most dissertations completed at Stanford (1989- 2009) are available to Stanford users from Dissertations and Theses @ Stanford University, hosted by ProQuest.

Non-Stanford patrons who wish to purchase copies of Stanford dissertations done before 2010 may do so via ProQuest’s Dissertation Express. Select DMA final papers are also available.

Dissertations written at British institutions may be available for purchase from the British Library's Electronic Theses Online Service.


~ Borrowing ~

Stanford borrowers may request dissertations not owned by Stanford Libraries through the Interlibrary Services Office.

Independent (non-Stanford) researchers, please note:

Stanford doctoral dissertations (post-1953) do not circulate via interlibrary loan services except to RLG ShaRes members or University of California libraries. Requests must originate from your home institution. See the Interlibrary Services Lending page for details.
Stanford doctoral dissertations in music (post-1953) may be purchased through Proquest. Stanford does not provide copies for direct sale.

Master's theses and projects and DMA term projects are strictly for in-house use only. Due to the uniqueness of these unpublished items, we cannot provide them for loan.  In addition, the Library does not hold the copyright for these items and therefore cannot provide photocopies or digital reproductions. Researchers interested in obtaining copies are directed to contact the author or their estate for assistance.




 

 

Endowed funds

The Music Library is very fortunate to have several endowed book funds which substantially increase the amount of money available to us for purchasing music materials. In addition, they have given us the flexibility to make purchases that would otherwise not have been possible, particularly for antiquarian materials and costly facsimile editions and microform sets. These funds include:

harris plate The Lucie King Harris Books For Music Fund

Lucie King Harris, born in Sonoma in 1883, was an arts patron, a philanthropist, and an ardent horsewoman. She helped found the San Francisco Opera Association in 1922 and was a governor of the San Francisco Symphony Association, as well as a founder of the San Francisco Choral Society. After her death in 1974, her son Lawrence W. Harris, Jr. and his wife Jane chose to honor her through a book fund for music materials. The Lucie King Harris Books for Music Fund was the first endowed fund in Music at Stanford.

Because of Mrs. Harris’s fondness for opera, the fund has largely been used to purchase materials relating to opera – current books and scores, cds, dvds, as well as rare books, manuscripts and printed scores, facsimile editions and microform sets. More recently, Mr. Larry Harris asked that the fund also be used to support undergraduate education. Thus, chamber music scores and recordings are purchased with the fund as well.

Three of Lucie’s sons graduated from Stanford. Larry, a 1932 graduate, faithfully comes to homecoming activities every year and busily attends to alumni affairs. He and his wife Jane attend the San Francisco Opera, sitting in what were Lucie’s seats.



Abercrombie plate The Mary K. Abercrombie Book Fund

[description forthcoming]


cagle plate The Allen B. Cagle Book Fund

[description forthcoming]


kibler morgan plate The Belva Kibler & Donald P. Morgan Memorial Fund

[description forthcoming]


rosenbaum plate The Hattie Clark Rosenbaum Library Fund

[description forthcoming]


von schlegell plate The von Schlegell Family Fund

[description forthcoming]


sharps plate
The Susan & Ruth Sharp Fund

[description forthcoming]

Music special collections

Please contact the Music Library to arrange for use of these collections.

Lully Lully Archive

[view the inventory list]

The Lully Archive is a repository of primary sources on microfilm originally gathered in support of publication of the complete works of Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687). The acquisition of the materials was funded by two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grants also supported the cataloging of sources, although this was not fully completed.



scores Women's Philharmonic Collection

The Women's Philharmonic was a professional orchestra from 1981 to 2004 based in San Francisco for the promotion of women composers, conductors, and performers. It has presented works by more than 160 women composers, including 134 premieres and 47 commissioned works. This incomparable collection includes over 25 linear feet of music scores to orchestral works, many of which were performed by The Women's Philharmonic at concerts and at the New Music Reading Sessions, and music scores to chamber works. Among the 500 composers represented in the collection are Wilhelmina von Bayreuth, Francesca Caccini, Lili Boulanger, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Florence Price, Camilla de Rossi, Germaine Tailleferre, Libby Larsen, Ellen Taafe Zwillich, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Amy Beach, Gwyneth Walker, and Joan Tower. The collection contains 1250 cassette and DAT recordings, over 40 reel-to-reel tapes, 95 video recordings, and CDs of The Women's Philharmonic concerts, New Music Reading Sessions and pre-concert talks, along with approximately 30 LP recordings of works by women. Materials may be found in SearchWorks by doing a subject search for "women's philharmonic collection." Approximately 100 linear feet of archival materials related to the planning, promotion, production and press coverage of The Women's Philharmonic concerts and other events from throughout the organization's history, including correspondence with composers, publishers, conductors and others, program notes about the works performed, documentation of Board meetings, press clippings, newsletters, photographs, posters, awards, and etc. will be available for study at Stanford's Department of Special Collections.


kronos Kronos Quartet Collection

[search the database]

The Kronos Quartet has donated part of their collection of chamber music to the Music Library. Some of the scores are integrated into the collection but can be identified in SearchWorks by doing a subject search, “kronos quartet collection.” A large part of the collection has been inventoried and is stored offsite.

~ Please allow 2-3 business days for items to be paged and delivered to the Music Library ~



cowell
Henry Cowell Collection

[view the inventory list]

Mrs. Sydney Cowell donated published scores and recordings of her husband’s music to the Music Library. Cowell lived in nearby Menlo Park for many years. The scores are integrated into the collection and can be found in SearchWorks by doing a subject search, “henry cowell collection.” A small collection of print materials is housed in the Music Library Locked Stacks.

The portrait at left hangs in the Music Library Reference Room:

Anne Parker Wigglesworth. Portrait of Henry Cowell. 1964. Oil on canvas, 92 x 60 cm. Gift of Henry Cowell Coolidge Wigglesworth.



lute Ben Schmidt Collection of Music for Lute

[view the inventory list]

The Schmidt Collection contains primarily photocopies of original and transcribed music for lute from a variety of libraries and archival repositories. These materials are not represented in SearchWorks, and are available for in-house use only.

~ Please allow 2-3 business days for items to be paged and delivered to the Music Library ~



placeholder George Antheil Correspondence

[view the finding aid]

Dates range from 1920 to 1959. All but one of the letters are photocopies.

~ Please allow 2-3 business days for items to be paged and delivered to the Music Library ~



placeholder Julio de Osma Collection

[view the finding aid]

The collection includes over one hundred music manuscripts by Spanish composer Julio de Osma, three publications of his songs, and several dozen photocopied documents dealing with his family history and professional life.

~ Please allow 2-3 business days for items to be paged and delivered to the Music Library ~



harris plate Lucie King Harris Collection of Sheet Music

[view the inventory list]

Lucie King Harris, born in Sonoma in 1883, was an arts patron, a philanthropist, and an ardent horsewoman. She helped found the San Francisco Opera Association in 1922 and was a governor of the San Francisco Symphony Association, as well as a founder of the San Francisco Choral Society. After her death in 1974, her son Lawrence W. Harris, Jr. and his wife Jane chose to honor her through a book fund for music materials. The Lucie King Harris Books for Music Fund was the first endowed fund in Music at Stanford.

This collection of piano/vocal and solo piano music belonging to Lucie King Harris is held in the Music Library Locked Stacks.



Underwood Florence Underwood Collection

[view the finding aid]

Florence Underwood studied with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in the 1940s. In February of 1953, her composition "The Hopi Indian Legend" was premiered by the San Diego Philharmonic Orchestra. Several of her compositions were performed by local orchestras, and she also composed original music for amateur theater groups in the San Francisco Bay and Portland areas. She taught piano and composition privately and at Multnomah College in Portland.

The Underwood collection consists primarily of Florence Underwood's written music and research conducted to write the music. In addition, scrapbooks, personal and legal papers make up a portion of the collection.

~ Please allow 2-3 business days for items to be paged and delivered to the Music Library ~


Memorial Library of Music

donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti. Excerpt from Betly (La capanna svizzera). Original manuscript. 1836. MLM 264


The Memorial Library of Music, housed in Green Library's Department of Special Collections, is Stanford's premiere music collection, and contains over 1,500 printed and manuscript scores of operas, symphonic, chamber, and choral works by major composers from the 17th to the 20th centuries. A catalog of the collection was compiled and published by Nathan Van Patten in 1950 and may be consulted in the Music Library Reference Room: ML136.S8 S8 1950. A partial guide has been converted to electronic form (Internet Explorer required). Materials added to the collection after publication of the catalog may be found in SearchWorks.

Other rare/archival collections of interest to music researchers are administered by the Department of Special Collections; some of these collections currently have online finding aids available.

To obtain copies of these materials, and for further inquiries, please contact the Department of Special Collections.

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