How to Find an Art Song
in the UNC-Chapel Hill Music Library

Remember that not all material in the Music Library can be found online.
Always check the card catalogs as well!!

Within this page:  Finding a Score or Sound Recording || Song Texts & Translations || Analysis || Browsing the Shelves / Catalogs || Purchase

FINDING A SCORE or SOUND RECORDING

If the song was published individually (not in a collection) and the Music Library owns it, you will find it in the online or card catalog under the title or composer's name. But most songs are published in collections and may not be indexed in the card or online catalogs, so you will most likely need to follow the steps below.

Make sure you have the correct song title before you start looking! If the song is part of a larger work (eg. a song cycle such as Dichterliebe, or an opera such as Marriage of Figaro), search the online or card catalog under the title of the larger work, or under the composer's name and the larger work. For example, Kennst du das Land by Schubert is the second of the Mignon songs on texts by Goethe and is found more often under the latter title. If you're not sure of the title, see the composer's WORKS list at the end of his/her article in the Grove Music Online on the Music Library web site: www.lib.unc.edu/music or in print in the Reference Room: Ref. ML100.N48 2000. Another useful resource is the Appendix B of the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, an index of first lines of arias, duets and other ensembles and choruses from opera.  Ref.  ML102.O6 N5 1992 vol.4.

STEP 1:  Search the online catalog for the song.  In ADVANCE (KEYWORD) SEARCH, combine the most distinctive words in the title. DO NOT do a TITLE SEARCH for the song!  It won't work!

If you don't find the song using ADVANCED SEARCH, and you are confident in your search strategy, then

STEP 2: Look up the song title in the Song Index (drawers outside the Viewing Room). It contains title and composer cards for individual vocal works (mostly solo song) in published collections.  The UNC-Chapel Hill call number of the collection is on each card.

If you don't find the song in the Song Index, then

STEP 3: Look in the published song indexes, near the Song Index.

SONG TEXTS and TRANSLATIONS

• http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/: The Liede and Song Texts Page contains thousands of public domain, original language texts of Lieder and other art songs. You can search by composer, first line, title, or poet. Many translations are available as well. Also, the award-winning Aria Database: http://www.aria-database.com/. Also, http://ipasource.com/ provides many word-for-word translations with I.P.A. transcriptions.
• Liner notes accompanying recordings are good sources of translations.
• Translations of vocal texts are classes ML49 - ML54.6, both in the Reference Room and in the stacks. We have a large collection of these. Also see the English Translations of Vocal Texts guide in the rack outside Diane's office.

ANALYSIS

In the online catalog, type in this SUBJECT search:
songs analysis appreciation
 
-- or --
 
songs interpretation

to find books containing in-depth discussions of songs.

BROWSING THE SHELVES / BROWSING THE CATALOGS

Because printed music and books are classified -- that is, grouped with similar items on the shelf -- browsing can be an effective method for finding what you want.  So if you're looking for music in a particular medium, these Library of Congress classifications can guide you in the stacks (this is NOT a complete list!):

• Vocal music can also be found in the DEWEY score collection in the stacks under M784+

BROWSING in the online or card catalogs is also a good way to search for repertoire. Look under "songs" as a SUBJECT to see lists of songs by medium (ex. high voice and piano), by geographic area or ethnic group (ex. songs from Korea), songs by type (ex. drinking songs, lullabies, etc.), or by language (ex. songs in French).

TO PURCHASE sheet music, look in Worldcat on the Library's web site to find a recent edition that may be owned by another library and can still be purchased or borrowed. Also try:

• Burrage Music in Raleigh (800-662-7318) www.burrage.com
• Brodt Music in Charlotte (800-438-4129) www.brodtmusic.com
• Colony Music in New York City (212-265-2050) www.colonymusic.com
• www.ClassicalVocalRep.com (800-298-7474)
• Patelson Music House in New York (212-582-5840) www.patelson.com/
• T.I.S. in Bloomington, IN (800-421-8132) www.tismusic.com/

DLS 8/06