MRU Library Website: Music: Background & General Resources

Why You Want Background Sources

Don't know much about your topic? Not sure where to start your research?

Background or reference sources (encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.) are an excellent way of getting background on your topic, finding key people, understanding key concepts and locating other readings.

Oxford Music Online
offers more than 8,000 articles on composers, performers, conductors, instruments and notation, forms and genres, and individual works

The Canadian Encyclopedia
Can search for Canadian music topics.
The Canadian Encyclopedia includes biographies of Canadian musicians and histories of organizations. Topics covered include: Inuit music, piano building, awards, education, instrument collections, folk music. Also includes bibliographies, discographies, lists of compositions, and cross-references to other articles.
Oxford Reference - Performing Arts
This subject page provides access to 15 titles (encyclopedias, companions and dictionaries) to music, theatre, and dance.

Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
Includes composers, performers, music theorists and instrument makers from the days of praise chants to the bop and pop of today. Emphasizes classical and art music but also covers jazz and blues, rock and pop, and hymns and show tunes across the ages with special focus on the twentieth century.
Harvard Dictionary of Music
Includes entries on all styles and forms in Western music; comprehensive articles on the music of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Near East; descriptions of instruments enriched by historical background and articles on popular music, jazz, and rock.
New Penguin Dictionary of Music
An A-Z dictionary of over 1,000 years of Western music history (from medieval plainchant to contemporary minimalism), theory, and jargon. Also includes biographies of composers and performers.
Oxford Dictionary of Dance
Dancers, choreographers, teachers, composers, technical terms, major works, important films and organizations involved in the dance world, from both traditional and new movements.

Canadian Music Industry Resources

Music Canada
See Resources for helpful links.
CIMA (Canadian Independent Music Association)
See Resources for helpful links.
Canada Council for the Arts
Find grants, prizes, and resources.
Canadian Music Publishers Association
See resources for helpful links on organizations, associations, publishing, copyright, and licensing.

Erik Christiansen

Contact:

Email: echristiansen@mtroyal.ca
Phone: 403.440.5168
Office: EL4423D