Race, Politics, and Gender in American Music 
AMTH 020
Georgetown University

Resources in American Music

Below you will find a number of reference works in American Music. This list is in no way comprehensive and should not be used as a replacement for your own research. It will, however, give you some ideas of places to start. Remember that whenever you encounter a new source, you should check its bibliography. This will give additional places to look for information. Please also look over the information on musical resources on the library's webpage at:

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/guides/music/index.htm

General Reference Works

New Grove Dictionaries

The New Groves dictionaries are actually not dictionaries at all, but rather encyclopedias that serve as the primary music reference works. There are actually several different Groves dictionaries that you may find useful. In many cases a single composer or topic may be listed in several of these, and you should be sure to check in each appropriate source.

• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
  [LAU Ref Stacks ML100 .N48] [Available online]
• The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
  [LAU Ref Stacks ML102.O6 N5 1992] [Content included in the New Grove online version]
• The New Grove Dictionary of American Music
  [LAU Ref Stacks ML101.U6 N48 1986b]
• The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz
  [LAU Ref Stacks ML102.J3 N48 1994]

Bibliographic Tools

International Index to Music Periodicals
Covers nearly all aspects of music since 1993. Current content from more than 375 scholarly and popular music periodicals from over 20 countries.
[Available online]

Repertoire International de Litterature Musicale
Indexes music journals since 1969. Much more complete than the International Index to Music Periodicals, RILM covers all aspects of music, including historical musicology, ethnomusicology, instruments and voice, dance, and music therapy. Do not be shocked by the title, RILM includes abstracts in English.
[Available online]

American Music Histories

Crawford, Richard. The American Musical Landscape: The Business of Musicianship from Billings to Gershwin. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. [LAU Stacks ML200 .C68 2000]

Hamm, Charles. Music in the New World. New York : Norton, 1983.
[LAU Stacks ML200 .H17 1983]

Hamm, Charles. Yesterdays: Popular Song in America. New York: Norton, 1983. [LAU Stacks ML3477 .H35 1983]

Hitchcock, H. Wiley. Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1988.
[LAU Stacks ML200 .H58 1988]

Nicholls, David, ed. The Cambridge History of American Music. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1998 [LAU Stacks ML200 .C36 1998]

© 2001 Patrick Warfield