Quick Links
- Music Library HomeCentral web site for music research at UCLA.
- Listen OnlineListen online to jazz, opera, classical, popular songs, and more.
- Indexes to Music JournalsIndexes to articles in music journals, MPA: Music and Performing Arts Online is best for this class.
- Arts LibrarySee links for Art History and Film, Theater, and Television.
- Off-Campus (VPN or Proxy Server) Access to Library eResourcesHow to access licensed online content from off-campus.
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Still need help with your research? In-person research assistance is available in the Music Library.
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Matthew Vest
Contents of the Guide
This guide provides links to internet resources specifically for music research at UCLA.
"Licensed for UCLA" resources are available to UCLA students, faculty, and staff on campus, or off campus via the VPN or Proxy server (see Connect from Off-Campus below).
These resources may be accessed by anyone regardless of their affiliation to UCLA while in a campus library or logged in to the campus network via Eduroam.
"Freely Available" resources are free to anyone, anywhere.
You may suggest additions to this guide by contacting the guide author.
A to Z List of Music Resources
A-Z List of all internet music resources mentioned in the Music Library guides.
- 19th Century American Sheet Music(University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) A unique collection of American music material.
- 19th Century California Sheet Music(UC Berkeley) A virtual library of some 2,700 pieces of sheet music published in California between 1852 and 1900, and related materials.
- African American Sheet Music: 1850-1920(Library of Congress) Part of the American Memory series of digital collections.
- Afrocentric Sounds RadioA free, online radio station featuring classical music written and/or performed by the African diaspora.
- American Folklife Center. Library of CongressAmerican vernacular songs and stories from the Library of Congress collections.
- Analysis IndexIndex of analyses or program notes for musical compositions in books owned by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The call numbers for the books should be the same or similar to those used in the UCLA Music Library.
- Aria DatabaseIndex to arias and songs in opera. Search by composer, role, voice range, etc.
- ASCAPAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP): a not-for-profit performance-rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music. Provides a database of works registered to ASCAP.
- Avalon This link opens in a new windowAvalon houses streaming audio and video collections at UCLA. Content is restricted to UCLA users and requires additional UCLA authentication for use both on and off campus via the "Sign in" link.
- Beethovenhaus Bonn. Digital Archives...contains the unique collections of the Beethoven-Haus: Music manuscripts, first editions, letters and pictures and many recordings.
- Belfer Cylinders Digital Connection(Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive. Syracuse University) Access to 22,000 cylinder recordings.
- Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall This link opens in a new windowThe Digital Concert Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra transmits the concerts of the Berlin philharmonic orchestra to the internet for registered users to access on demand. Users must register as an Institutional User at the site for access.
- BMIDatabase of copyright or license holders of musical compositions registered with BMI. BMI is the bridge between songwriters and the businesses and organizations that want to play their music publicly.
- British Library Sounds(British Library) English accents, oral histories, drama, literature, music.
- Cambridge Companions to Music This link opens in a new windowE-books of the Cambridge Companions series.
- CHARM: Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music(Royal Holloway, University of London; King's College, London; University of Sheffield) Library of "ex-copyright recordings," discographies, recording history, and recording analysis tool.
- Chopin Early Editions(University of Chicago) The Chopin collection at the University of Chicago Library includes over 400 first and early printed editions of musical compositions by Frédéric Chopin.
- Choral Public Domain LibraryBegun in December 1998, CPDL is one of the world's largest free sheet music sites. You can use CPDL to find scores, texts, translations, and information about composers.
- Contemporary Music Score Collection, UCLA Music Library This link opens in a new windowPublished by the UCLA Music Library in eScholarship, the Contemporary Music Score Collection includes the digital, open access scores from the Contemporary Score Edition series, the first open access edition of new music published by a library, and scores from the Kaleidoscope 2020 Call for Scores, an open access collaboration with the UCLA Music Library.
- Contemporary MusiciansProvides short biography, photo, discography and sources for mostly popular musicians.
- Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project(UC Santa Barbara. Davidson Library. Department of Special Collections) Historical recordings before 1923 or music in all genres.
- Dance Online: Dance in Video This link opens in a new windowDance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the twentieth century; includes ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational dance as well as forerunners of the forms and the pioneers of modern concert dance.
- Daniels' Orchestral Music OnlineDaniels' Orchestral Music Online is based on the David Daniels's Orchestral Music: A Handbook. You can browse the classical repertoire and find basic information on composers and instrumentation. You can also search opera arias, duets choruses, and more using the opera excerpts finder.
- Danish Digital Music Archive(Royal Library of Denmark) Selected works from the Music and Theatre collections in digital form.
- DDM: Doctoral Dissertations in MusicologyDDM-Online is an international database of bibliographic records for completed dissertations and new dissertation topics in the fields of musicology, music theory, and ethnomusicology, as well as in related musical, scientific, and humanistic disciplines.
- Digital Archive of Popular American Music(UCLA Library. Performing Arts Special Collections) American popular songs in the form in which they were originally published.
- Diction PoliceIncludes text readings of songs and arias, phonetic transcription (IPA), translations into several languages, video tutorials, podcasts, webinars, diction tips, and diction lessons. Look under the "In Depth" tab for free content.
- Digital Audio ReservesAssigned listening for UCLA classes; each class is password protected.
- D. K. Wilgus Folksong Collection(UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive) American folk music, stories, and and field recordings.
- DMS: Dissertationsmeldestelle der Gesellschaft für MusikforschungMusicological and pedagogical theses registered from institutions in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
- DRAM (Database of Recorded American Music) This link opens in a new windowRecordings and scholarly resources on modern and contemporary American art music ("new music").
- DRM: Digital Resources for MusicologyThis website provides links to substantial open-access projects of use to musicians and musicologists.
- Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new windowIndexes journals and magazines from the film and music industries, including Variety, Billboard, Spin, and others.
- Ethnographic Video Online: Foundational Films This link opens in a new windowDocumentary footage focused on the study of human culture and behavior, including music, ritual, dance, etc.
- Filmakers LibraryDocumentary films, click on Subjects to find films about music.
- Folkstreams » The Best of American Folklore FilmsA National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures - streamed with essays about the traditions and filmmaking. The site includes transcriptions, study and teaching guides, suggested readings and links to related websites.
- Arhoolie Foundation's Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American RecordingsApproximately 40,000 recordings of music from the border regions of Mexico and the United States. These performances document many types of popular lyric songs, including the first recordings of corridos (narrative ballads on topics of the day), canciones, boleros, rancheras, and sones, including the first recordings of norteno and conjunto music.
- Global Music Archive(Vanderbilt University. Wilson Music Library) A multi-media reference archive and resource center for traditional and popular song, music, and dance of Africa and the Americas.
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A repository of scanned books contributed from academic institutions across the United States, including UCLA. Books still in copyright are scanned and searchable, but the full text scans will not become available online until their copyright expires.
- Hoagy Carmichael Collection(Indiana University) Digitized materials from the Hoagy Carmichael Collection.
- IMSLP: International Music Scores LibraryAttempts to create a virtual library containing all public domain musical scores, as well as scores from composers who are willing to share their music with the world without charge.
- International Encyclopedia of DanceArticles written by scholars from 50 countries, the Encyclopedia covers the full spectrum of dance—theatrical, ritual, dance-drama, folk, traditional, ethnic, and social dance. Cultural and national overviews are accompanied by entries on dance forms, music and costumes, performances, and biographies of dancers and choreographers.
- IPA SourceInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and literal translations of opera arias and song texts.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowProvides access to several, but not all, important music journals. NOTE: The most recent five to seven years of any title is not in JSTOR; JSTOR is for access to back issues only.
- The Josquin Research ProjectSearch, browse, and analyze scores of polyphonic music, ca. 1420 - c. 1520.
- Judaica Sound ArchivesThe Judaica Sound Archives is a major center for the collection, preservation and digitization of Judaica audio recordings. The JSA is located in the Wimberly Library on the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University.
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowOn-demand streaming video service for educational institutions with thousands of documentaries, training films and theatrical releases across diverse subjects and disciplines. More information on Kanopy access and use available on this guide.
- Medici.tv This link opens in a new windowVideo of opera, concerts, recitals, and documentaries about classical music and musicians.
- Medieval Music Digital ArchiveA portal to worldwide collections of medieval polyphonic music manuscripts. The music and the manuscripts date from approx 800 to 1500, and the original documents are kept in libraries and archives around the globe. Access is free to anyone, but you must register.
- Met Opera on Demand: Student Edition This link opens in a new windowOnline streaming access to more than 650 full-length Metropolitan Opera performances.
- MGG Online - Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart This link opens in a new windowA general encyclopedia of music. In-depth articles on every aspect of music as well as many related areas such as literature, philosophy, and visual arts. MGG Online contains the second print edition of MGG, published from 1994 to 2008, as well as current, continuous online updates and additions.
- Music for the American Nation: Sheet Music 1870-1885(Library of Congress) Part of the American Memory series of digital collections.
- Music ID (Industry Data) This link opens in a new windowMusic ID delivers the narrative of music in its cultural, economic and social context. International sales of all artists across 74 countries for all genres are displayed in vivid graphs and representations.
- Music IndexUCLA no longer subscribes to Music Index. Please use RILM Abstracts of Music Literature or International Index to Music Periodicals.
- Music Online: African American Music Reference This link opens in a new windowE-book collection of reference books, biographies, chronologies, sheet music, images, lyrics, liner notes, and discographies which chronicle the history of African American music.
- Music Online: American Music This link opens in a new windowAmerican popular song of all genres, 19th century to the 1960s.
- Music Online: Classical Music Library This link opens in a new windowClassical recordings from a variety of labels.
- Music Online: Classical Scores Library This link opens in a new windowA series of four volumes with a mission to provide a reliable and authoritative source for scores of the classical canon, as well as a resource for the discovery of lesser-known contemporary works. The collections encompass all major classical musical genres and time periods from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. With full, study, piano, and vocal scores, this comprehensive collection will enhance the study of music history, performance, composition and theory for a variety of scholars.
- Music Online: Contemporary World Music This link opens in a new windowWorld music from every region, from the Arctic and Bollywood to Yoruba and Zeeland.
- Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online This link opens in a new windowContains the full text of the 10 volume print encyclopedia (originally published in 1997). Each volume contains an overview of a geographic region, a survey of its musical heritage, and a description of specific musical genres, practices, and performances. Includes photographs of musicians, musical instruments, and the cultural context of dances, rituals, and ceremonies; drawings; maps; and musical examples for further study.
- Music Online: Smithsonian Global Sound This link opens in a new windowAmerican and world folk music from Smithsonian recordings.
- Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowProvides indexing and abstracts for several hundred international music periodicals from over 20 countries, plus full text for more than 140 of the indexed journals. Former database title: International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP) Full Text.
- Music Treasures Consortium(Library of Congress; Harvard University; Juilliard School) Online access to the world's most valued music manuscripts and print materials, held at the most renowned music archives, in order to further research and scholarship.
- Musical America This link opens in a new windowMusic industry news and directory of artists, managers, festivals, etc.
- Musical Theatre Scores(Univeristy of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Opera and musical theater scores (G&S, Kern, Sousa, Herbert) via the Internet Archive.
- National Juke Box(Library of Congress) Historical recordings of American music in all genres.
- New Mozart Edition: Digital Edition(Neue Mozart-Ausgabe) The Mozart complete works edition in digital form.
- Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new windowStreaming audio recordings of mostly classical music from Naxos, Marco Polo, Da Capo, and several other major labels.
- Naxos Music Library Jazz This link opens in a new windowStreaming access to jazz recordings from Naxos, Fantasy, and other major labels.
- Opera and Ballet Sources OnlineScores, libretti, and other original sources for opera, operetta, and ballet. From Brigham Young University.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Music This link opens in a new windowAnnotated bibliographies for topics in the field of Music. Combines encyclopedia-style introductions with expert recommendations of the most important reference works, books, journals, and primary sources on the topic.
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowOxford Handbooks provide review articles which summarize and analyze current research and trends in a given discipline. UCLA subscribes to most Oxford Handbooks Online (including music titles), excluding a few individual titles.
- Oxford History of Western Music This link opens in a new windowFull text of Richard Taruskin's The Oxford History of Western Music with notes, bibliographies and further readings for all 69 chapters. Includes a great deal of content on classic Western dance and its relation to music, especially ballet.
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowOxford Music Online is the access point for Grove Music Online and other Oxford music reference resources, including The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition (2001), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (1992), and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd Edition (2001) and updates.
- Oxford Reference (Music Reference Books)Access to Oxford Companions, Dictionaries, and other Reference works. See Oxford Music Online for Grove Music.
- PhonobaseEarly gramophone records and cylinders from France and Europe.
- Project MuseFull text of current issues (from about 1990) of scholarly journals published by university presses, chiefly in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new windowDatabase of dissertations. Use the code "0413" as a Subject to limit your search to music dissertations only. Many University of California dissertations are available for free download.
- RIPM - Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals This link opens in a new windowEighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century periodical literature dealing with music.
- RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new windowIndexes scholarly music journals, essay collections, music articles in non-music journals, dissertations, and non-English resources. UC-eLinks provides access to online content if it is available.
- RISM: International Inventory of Musical Sources after 1600A cooperative effort to identify and describe the world's pre-1850 musical sources, to record what primary sources exist and where they can be located.
- Rock's Backpages This link opens in a new windowFull text articles of rock and roll criticism from various publications, 1970's to current.
- SCHUBERT OnlineManuscripts, letters, and prints of Franz Schubert from the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
- Sheet Music ConsortiumSearch the digital sheet music and print collections of UCLA, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, and Duke University.
- Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Online(Eastman School of Music. Sibley Music Library) "Scores and books in the public domain, many .... unique to the Sibley Music Library collection.
- UC Press Ebook Collection (Music)UC Press books on music published through 2014 available as ebooks.
- Victorian Popular Culture: Music Hall, Theatre and Popular EntertainmentResearch portal for the study of popular entertainment in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This segment focuses on the variety stage, vaudeville and theatre, and also includes magic lantern shows, early cinema and dioramas.
- Virtual GramophoneFrom the Library and Archives Canada; early recordings from Canada.
- Virtual Library of MusicologyPortal for digital scholarly collections from around the world hosted by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.
- Virtual Music Rare Book Room(University of North Texas) Digital collection of early opera scores, particularly Lully and other French composers.