Music 1104 - American Music - Paoli, Ponce, Siriano: Library Assignment Two

Library Assignment Two

From the Assignment: "Using a musician that is the subject of your research, you will locate biographical articles, illustrations, musical examples and bibliographic information from this authoritative resource (Oxford Music Online)."

Grading

This assignment must be submitted before you can submit your research paper.
For proof of your research supply the following:

1. The first page of the article on the composer or subject.
2. The first page of the Bibliography section on the composer or subject.
3. One page of a bibliographic topic like the Debussy “Piano Works” example below.
4. Research Summary: write a concise paragraph (on one page, double spaced) demonstrating how this dictionary will be of use in your research essay. Include this paragraph with the other information required for this assignment.

Items 1-3 will need to be copied and pasted into a Word document. At the end of your document, complete the 4th step, writing your paragraph using the same model example as you had with Library assignment 1. When you have everything complete in one email, send it to your instructor(include your full name in the subject line).

Assignment Procedures

Accessing the Oxford Music Online Database

To learn how to use the Oxford Music Online Database, complete the following:

• Go to the Oxford Music Online database
  • NOTE: To access Oxford Music Online from off-campus you will need to log in using your MyAccess username and password.
• On the Oxford Music Online homepage click on the "Tools and Resources" at the top of the page. Then, click on "Grove Music Online User's Manual" on the left side of the page. This will give you an overview of how to use this database.
  • 
• Return to the Grove's homepage and enter your composer name into the Search box in the upper right hand corner of the page. You may search all of the sources or just the Grove Dictionary.

 

 

As an example, a search for Debussy will yield several articles, including entries from the Grove Dictionary of Music and the Oxford Companion to Music. Click on the article for the subject of your search and you should be taken to a page that contains an outline of the article as example shown below:

Debussy, (Achille-)Claude

( b St Germain-en-Laye , 22 Aug 1862; d Paris , 25 March 1918 ). French composer . One of the most important musicians of his time, his harmonic innovations had a profound influence on generations of composers. He made a decisive move away from Wagnerism in his only complete opera Pelléas et Mélisande, and in his works for piano and for orchestra he created new genres and revealed a range of timbre and colour which indicated a highly original musical aesthetic.

The article contains extensive entries on the following sections:

• Childhood and studies.
• The 'bohemian' and symbolist years.
• 'Pelléas et Mélisande'.
• 'Debussyism'.
• The last years.
• Debussy and currents of ideas.
• Models and influences.
• Sources and interpretation.
• Theatre works and projects.
• Musical language.
• Orchestration and timbre.
• Reception and influence

WORKS
EDITIONS
WRITINGS
BIBLIOGRAPHY

The left hand side of the page will have a breakout box that will include a breakdown of the individual genres of the composer.
The tool bar at the top of the Article page will have links to: Works, Multimedia and Related Content.

• The Works page provides a list of musical works, categorized by type.
• The Multimedia page will contain pictures and musical examples from the article as well as musical examples (where available).
• The Related Content contains links to other articles that mention or refer to the subject or their works in the dictionary.

The Article page includes a number of resources and features:
Search Within This Article allows you to search for a term in the article.
Article Contents allows you to go directly to a specific section of the article
The Bibliography section of the article will take you to a page with additional bibliographic breakdown as displayed below:

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• catalogues, bibliography, iconography
• correspondence
• monographs
• other general literature
• studies of individual works

This is an excellent place to examine for basic bibliographic sources for almost any musical topic or musician. For instance, if you were researching the piano music of Debussy an examination of the “piano works” section under the “studies of individual works,” would yield the following information:

Piano Works
N. Boulanger : 'Lectures on Modern Music', Rice University Pamphlet , xiii/2 (1926), 113–95 [on the Préludes]

A. Jakobik : Die assoziative Harmonik in den Klavier-Werken Claude Debussys (Würzburg, 1940)

R. Schmitz : The Piano Works of Claude Debussy (New York, 1950, 2/1966)

R. Réti : 'Claude Debussy: La cathédrale engloutie', The Thematic Process in Music (New York, 1951/R), 194–206

M. Long : Au piano avec Claude Debussy (Paris, 1960; Eng. trans., 1972)

F. Dawes : Debussy Piano Music (London, 1969)

R. Howat : 'A Thirteenth Etude of 1915: the Original Version pour les arpèges composés', Cahiers Debussy , new ser., no.1 (1977), 16–23

R. di Benedetto : 'Congetture su Voiles', RIM , xiii (1978), 312–44

Mme G. de Romilly : 'Debussy professeur, par une de ses élèves', Cahiers Debussy , no.2 (1978), 3–1

C. Rosen : 'Where Ravel Ends and Debussy Begins' Cahiers Debussy , no.3 (1979), 31–8

R. S. Parks : 'Pitch Organization in Debussy: Unordered Sets in Brouillards', Music Theory Spectrum , ii (1980), 119–3 4

R. Orledge : 'Debussy's Piano Music: Some Second Thoughts and Sources of Inspiration', MT , cxxii (1981), 21–7

W. J. Peterson : Debussy's Douze Etudes: a Critical Analysis (Ann Arbor, MI, 1981)

R. Howat, ed.: Claude Debussy, Préludes, Book I: the Autograph Score (New York, 1987)

R. Howat : 'Debussy and Welte', Pianola Journal , no.7 (1994), 3– 18

R. Howat : 'En route for L'isle joyeuse: The Restoration of a Triptych', Cahiers Debussy , no.19 (1995), 37–5 2

P. Roberts : Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy (Portland, OR, 1996)

R. Howat : 'Debussy's Piano Music: Sources and Performance', Debussy Studies , ed. R. L. Smith (Cambridge, 1997), 78–107

Need help accessing resources listed in the bibliography?  Contact Reference Services or Humanities Librarian Ken Orenic.