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Finding music scores and popular songs

How to locate sheet music for opera, popular songs and classical music. Information on finding music criticism

Using Oxford Music Online for finding scores in Collected Works

Oxford Music Online is an online database including full text drawn from the:

  • Grove music online
  • Oxford dictionary of music
  • Oxford companion to music

Coverage includes a wide range of musical styles, composers, performers, terminology, and works. Indexes to collected works of classical composers are also included.

  1. Search for composer on Oxford Music Online using Advanced search
  2. Scroll down to Works
  3. Do a keyword search of our catalogue for the references indexed in Oxford Music Online. Initially restrict to 'Find on Shelf' for best results
  4. In Oxford Music Online locate relevant work and note volume details
  5. From our catalogue record sign in and order appropriate volume

Click on the images below to replicate search.

Finding scores using Oxford Music Online
Catalogue search
Finding items using Oxford Music Online

Further tips

  • the Oxford Music Online database does not comprehensively index the complete works of all composers
  • if the list of works under specific composers does not give sufficient details of the location of a piece, you may need to try the printed index Historical sets, collected editions, and monuments of music : a guide to their contents (1980) (2 vols.) This publication includes Library catalogue numbers which makes locating an item much quicker.
  • searching for a composers complete works on the catalogue can be difficult. Try a search using the composers name and the term 'collected works'. To broaden the search, just try 'works' with the composer's name. 'Complete works' will be include many volumes.

Example

I am looking for Venite sitientes ad aquas, a song by Monteverdi.

When I search our catalogue using keywords monteverdi venite I find this item that includes the song Venite videte but not the song I am after.

If I am in the Library I can then search the song card index. For a well known composer like Monteverdi, though, it is likely that we hold a complete or collected works.  

I can go to Oxford Music Online (see box on this page) and in the entry Monteverdi (Biography) I can choose 'Works'.

I find the song with the following reference, Venite sitientes ad aquas, S, S, bc, 1624²; M xvi, 467.

At the top of the 'Works' page I find that the letter 'M' in the citation indicates the source is Claudio Monteverdi: Tutte le opere, ed. G.F. Malipiero (Asolo, 1926–42, 2/1954–68) [M].

I can check the catalogue and find that the Library holds this resource.

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