Music

Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music

http://www.enotes.com/music-encyclopedia/

Noted country artist Roy Acuff and modern American composer John Adams don’t often find themselves in close musical company, but in the Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music they are only separated by four entries. Offered as part of the eNotes site, the Encyclopedia is a good resource for both students and others who wish to brush up on any number of composers, musical terms, performers, and so on. Visitors can browse on through alphabetically, and they may wish to read the brief "Foreword" offered as a way of establishing the focus and intent of this publication. From Sun Ra to the Sabre Dance, visitors will want to dip into this encyclopedia on multiple occasions. [KMG]

Edward MacDowell Piano Music Online

http://aurora.wellesley.edu/macdowell/contents.cfm

As perhaps the best-known American composer of the late nineteenth century, Edward MacDowell wrote a wide range of descriptive short pieces for solo piano. His work was inspired by the New England countryside, and he also drew on a love for fairy tales and poems. This digital collection from the Wellesley College Library presents digitized versions of his sheet music. Visitors can get started by browsing the opus titles, or they can also look through the illustrated covers. Also, visitors can elect to download the files and they may wish to share them musicologists, local music societies, and piano players with a penchant for the lyrical qualities of these works. [KMG]

Gospel Music History Archive: Center for Religion & Civic Culture

http://crcc.usc.edu/initiatives/gmha/

With key support from a number of organizations, the Gospel Music History Archive at the University of Southern California (USC) is working "to preserve the legacy of gospel music in a state-of-the-art digital archive." This website is part of their long-term work, and visitors can view videos of gospel performers, look through their photo galleries, and much more. The initiative is part of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) which was created in 1996. The site also includes helpful links to material about the religious makeup of California, a calendar of events, and their own compelling in-house publication, "The Wire". Finally, the site is rounded out by information about their upcoming events, conferences, and meetings.[KMG]

Historic Sheet Music

http://oregondigital.org/digcol/sheetmusic/

If you're looking for compelling sheet music from decades gone by, this website from the University of Oregon Libraries is just the ticket. Initially created to showcase sheet music from the Oregon Music Collection, their digitization work continues apace, and there are already over 650 pieces of sheet music available here. Visitors to the site can browse the collection by title, composer, or topic. Perhaps the most unique items here are those pieces composed by Oregonian women, such as Amy Beach, Marion Bauer, and Liza Lehmann. Not surprisingly, the collection is also strong in the area of Western Americana, as attested to by songs like "Broncho Buster", "Oh you round up, let 'er buck", and "The Gray Haired Pioneer".[KMG]

Jazz Old Time Online [Real Player]

http://www.jazz-on-line.com/index.htm

For fans of jazz, the Jazz Old Time site will be a fun way to listen to few well-known chestnuts from the early days of this musical idiom. Of course, those who don't know much about jazz will appreciate listening to a few new artists as well. The site features over 18,000 songs in the public domain, and visitors can browse through the selections by artists or take a look at a few sample playlists. As one might suspect, artists like King Oliver, Meade Lux Lewis, and Louis Armstrong are featured prominently, though early recordings from later artists, such as Stan Getz, are also available. The site might also be recommended to students in a music appreciation course.

The March King: John Philip Sousa [Real Player]

http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/sousa/sousa-home.html

Arguably the most well-known marching band leader of all time, John Philip Sousa's music can be found in a number of likely places, such as 4th of July parades, and a number of less likely places, including the humorous introduction to Monty Python's flying circus. During his long life, Sousa composed hundreds of marches, fifteen operettas, and seventy other separate vocal works. This prodigious amount of work fits with Sousa's work ethic, which he summed up by saying, "When you hear of Sousa retiring, you will hear of Sousa dead." His work and legacy can be explored in this rather lovely online digital collection created from materials held by the Library of Congress. Visitors can browse over 100 photos, vocal scores, instrumental parts, librettos, and other printed materials on the site. The site also features 57 audio recordings, and visitors should listen in to such lesser- known works like the "Ye Boston Tea Party" march, performed by Sousa's own band. Finally, the site also includes a Sousa timeline, a discography of the Sousa Band, and several articles on Sousa's work and contributions to American culture.

Music Consortium Treasures

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/treasures/treasures-home.html

The Library of Congress has launched a Music Consortium Treasures website that gives online access to some of the world’s most valued music manuscript and print materials from six esteemed institutions. The aim of the site is to further music scholarship and research by providing access in one place to digital images of primary sources for performance and study of music. Items digitized include manuscript scores and first and early editions of works from such composers as Bach, Mozart, Wagner, and Debussy.

Samuel Barber at the Library of Congress

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200183698/default.html

Samuel Barber is perhaps best known for his "Adagio for Strings", and he demonstrated many talents in writing for string ensembles, choral groups, and piano. Barber was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania in 1910 and he studied at the Curtis Institute. During his long career, he was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes and he had a long-standing relationship with the Library of Congress. Barber's String Quartet was first performed at the Library in 1938 and he premiered his song cycle, Hermit Songs, at the Library in 1953. This digital collection from the Library of Congress contains performance manuscripts of Barber's works, along with select correspondence and video of noted vocalist Thomas Hampson performing songs by Barber on the Library of Congress Song of America Tour. [KMG]

Science of Music: Exploratorium's Accidental Scientist [Macromedia Flash Player]

http://www.exploratorium.edu/music/index.html

How do opera singers sustain those high C's in "La Fille Du Régiment"? Is a birdsong music? These are but a few of the many questions explored, and answered, on this delightful site. Visitors can consider these and other queries through interactive exhibits, a "questions" section, and movies offered up by the Accidental Scientist Music site, created by staff members at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. To start, visitors should browse through the "Online Exhibits" area. Here they can join an online drum circle, explore the world of step dancing, and even create their own remixes. The "Questions" area provides multimedia answers to queries that include "Why does some music give me goose bumps?" and "Why does sad music sound sad?" Finally, the "Movies" area contains a selection of short films that cover everything from the tuning of musical instruments to the blues.[KMG]

Red Hot Jazz Archive [Real Player] (Last reviewed in the Scout Report on May 9, 1997)

http://www.redhotjazz.com/

When we last reviewed the Red Hot Jazz Archive in the spring of 1997, the site was pretty hot, and it has continued to heat up over the past decade or so. The Archive is primarily concerned with documenting the world of early jazzmen, so visitors will find ample information on Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Kid Ory, Bunk Johnson, and many others. Visitors can start their journey through the site by clicking on the "Bands" area. Here they will find an extensive list of the bands from the "hot" era organized alphabetically. When visitors click on a band's name, they will be presented with a short summary of the band's accomplishments, and in many cases, some sample recordings. Moving on, the "Films" section is a real treat, as it contains information about some short films made about jazz bands in the late 1920s and early 1930s. What's even better is that four of the films are available in this section, including a version of "St. Louis Blues", as sung by Bessie Smith. Also, the site contains a series of essays by experts like Scott Alexander and George Avakian on the early days of jazz. [KMG]

UCSC Electronic Music Studios: Technical Essays

http://arts.ucsc.edu/ems/music/tech_background/tech_background.html

If you don't know analog from digital, you may wish to spend a few hours reading up on the nuances of electronic music right here. Created by the University of California at Santa Cruz Electronic Music Studios, this site features over a dozen illustrated essays that explore different subjects related to the production of electronic music. The subjects covered here include "Sound Propagation", "Hearing and the Ear", "Basics of Digital Recording", and "Simple Harmonic Motion". Actually, a good starting place is the "Microphones" essay. Here visitors will learn the basics of how microphones work, along with specifics on they way they pick up sound patterns and the "microphone mystique". Overall, it's a good site for anyone who enjoys music or who might be a budding audiophile. [KMG]