Research by Subject: Music: Reference Sources

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Oxford History of Western Music
The Oxford History of Western Music online offers an account of the evolution of Western classical music by one of the most prominent musicologists of our time, Richard Taruskin. Since its original publication in print, Taruskin’s landmark study has received universal acclaim and numerous awards.
Harvard Dictionary of Music
This classic reference work provides entries on the styles and forms in Western Music, descriptions of instruments, and short articles about international and contemporary music.
Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
This companion to the Harvard Dictionary of Music contains biographies of composers, performers, music theorists, and instrument makers from throughout history.

Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
This database contains biographies from reference sources as well as full-text articles from periodicals, allowing you to search for people based on one or more personal facts such as birth and death year, nationality, ethnicity, occupation or gender. It is a useful source of information on the great musicians and composers of the past as well as contemporary musical artists.

Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
This online portal allows for simultaneous searching across several reference sources – including Grove Music Online, the Oxford Dictionary of Music, the Oxford Companion to Music, and the Encyclopedia of Popular Music – to find summary articles on musicians and composers, musical periods and styles, musical instruments, and a range of other topics relating to western and non-western music.