Opera Aria and Art Song

Search Strategy

 Information you need:
Before you come to the library, please try to have as much of the following information (items 1-6) as possible. The more you have, the easier your own search will be, and the Reference Staff will be able to help you more quickly and efficiently, should you require any assistance. 

1. Composer and correct title of song

You must have this information for a quick and efficient library search. Please pay particular attention to the spelling of titles in foreign languages. 

2. Title of the larger work (e.g. song cycle, opera, oratorio, cantata) which contains the song or aria

 Use the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians [Index table or online] or Thomas R. Nardone, Classical Vocal Music in Print [ML113M87 MUR] to help determine this information.

 3. Opus number or other identifying number

 Often indicated in the New Grove or in the thematic catalog of the composer. Thematic catalogs are located in the Reference Books section in ML134.

 4. Correct title of song anthology or collection if you know the song is included in a collection. 
PLEASE NOTE: knowing only the publisher's name is usually not enough.

 5. Key and instrumentation

 These are helpful, but usually not crucial for a quick library search.

6. Are you looking for printed music or sound recording?

IMPORTANT:

You music search both the online catalog and
the card catalog to do a complete search.

Use a song index to find the name of the collection that contains your song:

 a. Printed music: Indexes especially useful in finding art songs and operatic excerpts are:

de Charms, Desiree. Songs in Collections: An Index. Identifies songs in collections and their location in the library. ML128.S3 D32S6 At Reference Desk.

Goleeke, Tom. Literature for voice: An Index of Songs in Collections. ML128.S3 G64 2 vol MUR

Sears, Minnie Earl. Song Index. ML128.53 S32 Also at Reference Desk.

For additional indexes consult Vincent H. Duckles and Ida Reed, Music Reference and Research Materials: an Annotated Bibliography, 5th ed. (New York: Schirmer, 1997). Located in the Ready Reference section at the Information Desk ML113 D83 M8 1997.

b. Sound recordings:

Consult a discography such as Stahl, Dorothy. A Selected Discography of Solo Songs ML156.4 V7S8 MUR

Use OCLC First Search WorldCat: Available from the first computer in the Reference Area. This is a database of millions of bibliographic records and includes many scores and recordings. Follow the directions on the screen to search by composer and/or song title.

Once you have identified the print or recorded collection that contains the song or aria you need, consult the both the card catalog and the online catalog using the title of the collection to see if the Music Library owns the collection. If we don't appear to own the collection, search other libraries in the state of Illinois using the ILCSO online catalog or come and see a Reference Staff member to help you locate the collection via Interlibrary Loan.

Search UIUC Online Library Catalog and/or the card catalog

 a. In UIUC Online, select Guided Keyword Search from the Online Library Catalog. Enter the composer's name and a word or two from the song title or the title of the larger work:

Composer--Song title
example: Schubert Erlkonig (hint: don't worry about the diacritics)

Composer--Title of larger work
example: Mahler Knaben Wunderhorn

In the card catalog, you must look
under the title of the larger work first within a composer's name.

b. If you do not find your song or aria, enter the composer's name and one of the collective titles listed below.

Composer--Songs
example: Schumann (author) AND songs (subject)

Composer--Vocal music
example: Brahms (author) AND  vocal music

Composer--Works, vocal [used in card catalog only]
example: Bach, Johann Sebastian
[Works, vocal]

Composer--Operas
example: Cavalli (author) AND Operas (subject)

Composer--Arias
example: Mozart (author) AND Arias (subject)

 Composer--Lieder
example: Strauss (author) AND Lieder (subject)

You may also browse a list of the composer's works by selecting Quick Search from the UIUC Online Library Catalog menu. Select Browse Prolific Author/Composer from the drop down menu.

 Locating printed music for early works:

 For individual songs and vocal works which occur separately in large collections, look in Heyer, A. H. Historical Sets, Collected Editions, and Monuments of Music, vol. 2 (Index) M113 H49 1980 Reference Desk], under the composer's name. Then refer to volume 1 (Text) under the appropriate collection title or editor's name. Volume 1 shows the contents of each collection and the call numbers of collections owned the Music Library. Also useful: George R. Hill and Norris L. Stephens, Collected Editions, Historical Series & Sets & Monuments of Music: A Bibliography (Berkeley, CA: Fallen Leaf Press, 1997). (Also located at the Information Desk ML113 H54.)