Hot Topics
Brass Band Music
Celtic Music
Flute Music
Guitar Music
Jazz
Middle Eastern Music
Musicals
Opera
Percussion
Piano Music
Pop/Rock Music
Songs and Singing
String Music
Key Resources
Collections
Music and Performing Arts Library, Perth, Western Australia
On 2 March 1965, the Central Music Library opened in Perth, Western Australia. The library was Australia's first public music library and has carefully developed its music collections of scores, sound recordings, books and journals. It has evolved to become the Music and Performing Arts library for in 1996 the library assumed responsibility for the performing arts - theatre, dance, film, television, radio and sport.
WA Musical Memories Online
Developed as part of the Australia-wide MusicAustralia project, WA Musical Memories Online gives access to 59 digitised scores held in the Music and Performing Arts Library. Many of the scores are written by West Australians, including the three-time Governor of WA, Sir William Robinson. As all of the scores are out of copyright, you can even print off your own copy of the music!
Major References
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The eagerly awaited second edition of the New Grove has now arrived at the Music and Performing Arts Library. It is the first new edition for twenty years. The statistics are impressive. There are 29 volumes including for the first time an index volume; 25 million words; 29,000 articles and 6,000 contributors. The dictionary is the most frequently consulted resource for classical musicians working in the tradition of Western art music. Its biographical articles and well-researched 'works lists' for composers are central to music research. The new edition has incorporated more articles on world music and popular music.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
This eight volume encyclopedia was released in 1998 and chronicles the fortunes and times of artists considered to be pivotal to the growth of popular music in western culture.
Popular Music, 1920-1979
This three volume reference tool by Nat Shapiro and Bruce Pollock contains annotations for over 18,000 American popular songs with details of composers, lyricists, publishers and premiere performances. Supplemented by single year volumes, the coverage is extended to the most part of the twentieth century, 1900 to 1986.
R.E.D. Music Master Service
A continually updated reference tool used by the pop and rock retail industry that contains details on almost 100,000 recordings available in the United Kingdom. Entries are arranged by composer, and each album contains details of tracks where available. A companion catalogue, Music Master Tracks Catalogue cross references individual song titles back to artist entries.
Analyses of Musical Classics
Standard analyses of the classical canon are available in this four volume set by Annie Warburton. Primarily intended for students, the coverage ranges from 16th and 17th century composers such as Byrd and Corelli to early 20th century repertoire from Ravel and Elgar.
Directories
EID : Western Australian Entertainment Industry Directory
Published by X-Press Magazine, EID lists resources available to West Australian pop and rock musicians, such as venues and agents.
British Music Yearbook
A directory of musical organisations, artists, agents, venues, competitions, scholarships and services for classical musicians in Britain.
Journals
24 Hours
This magazine matches ABC radio - FM Stereo and Radio National as well as ABC concerts. It includes a monthly radio guide as well as reviews and feature articles.
Billboard.com
The web version of Billboard magazine. Includes the Billboard top 100 as well as reviews, news, shopping, classifieds, tour guide, games etc.
Gramophone : Compact Disc Digital Audio News and Reviews
For decades, the archetypal record review journal for classical music. Emanating from the UK, the reviews are always considered, tasteful and seldom opinionated. Visit its excellent web site with reportedly the largest repository of CD reviews on the web.
Rolling Stone
This influential magazine reflecting the popular culture of American youth by way of the music industry is available in both its fortnightly American format as well as the monthly Australian incarnation.
Jazz Journal International
Each monthly issue provides news, latest releases, reviews and artist profiles on the international jazz front.
Abstracts & Indexes
A Shakespeare Music Catalogue
A five volume catalogue by Bryan Gooch and David Thatcher enumerating over 20,000 musical compositions bearing a relationship to the works of The Bard. Full operas, art songs and incidental music are covered in a work which led the researchers to scrutinise major and minor institutions in both Europe and the Americas.
The Mercury Labels
This discography traces the history of the pre-eminent jazz record label, Mercury Records for the period 1945 to 1991. Each entry notes the recording dates and personnel involved with the sessions as well as master numbers and issue numbers.
Jazz Discography
Following the pioneering work of earlier discographers, Tom Lord has now published the full 26 volumes of Jazz Discography. The set is arranged in artist order and extensively cross referenced.
Musicals! : a Complete Selection Guide for Local Productions
An aid to anyone wishing to produce a musical for school or community groups. Each entry contains a brief synopsis of the plot and an estimation of the size of the cast required. Most importantly, the US licensing agents are listed for contact on the theatrical rights of each property.
Services
Australian Music Centre
One of the premier national bodies for and about Australian composers of classical music. This site includes biographical information on over 300 Australian composers as well as services and resources available from the Centre.
The Australian Music Therapy Association
Official web site of the Australian Music Therapy Association. An excellent site for anyone interested in becoming a music therapist with information on training, conferences, research, links etc.
APRA
The Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) have joined forces (whilst maintaining separate boards) and manage just one web site.The explains licence schemes relating to the performance of musical works. If you are a performer or a composer, explore this site as it contains detailed explanations of schemes, costs and services. Gives full coverage of the reproduction rights eg: copying sheet music.
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Australia's union for workers in the media, entertainments, arts and sports industries. Including coverage for musicians, the site provides contact information for the Alliance as well as information on pay rates for freelance workers.
MusicAustralia
This online exhibition of Australia's musical culture includes a wide range of digital technologies to supply online visitors with delicious experiences of the nation's musical heritage. You can hear Waltzing Matilda as sung by renowned performers such as folklorist and singer Arthur Buchanan, or Peter Dawson, or George Trevare's Jazz Group. You can view and print the full sheet music to Marie Cowan's much loved piano and voice version of the song. And, with the right sophisticated software, you can have Karaoke Matilda as you listen to a sound recording while your eyes follow a green line travelling across the published sheet music - and, thanks to MIDI technology, you can even transpose the key up or down to suit your own requirements, or play the piece back at a slower tempo to enable you to read as many notes as you possibly can.
Music Council of Australia
The MCA's aim is the advancement of Australian musical life. The MCA web site provides networks including the MCA Net and Community Music Australia Network as well as online discussion. News bulletins are available to MCA members and there is an on site index to Music Forum a journal that is held by the Music and Performing Arts Library. A link list page for like-minded international organisations and a broader range of of Australian music sites are posted. Policies and projects are documented on the site. There is also a facility to join online.
PD Info
Helps identify public domain songs and music without infringing copyright. It provides an alphabetical list of song titles with the composer, lyricist and copyright date recorded. There are useful links to the score that the song is published in. A handy list of Christmas songs in public domain is included. Recommended by Choice, the American college book review journal.
Awards
Music Awards in Australia
Find out about the different competitions, awards and scholarships available to music students in Australia.
Education
Music Education in Western Australia
Find out about the many music education opportunities available in Western Australia.
Music Education in Australia
Check the opportunities in music education in the eastern states.
Festivals
Music Festivals in Western Australia
Festivals occur throughout the year in Western Australia, catering for a wide variety of musical tastes.
Interest/Support Groups
Western Australian Music Groups
Infolink, the Government and Community database provides a comprehensive listing of musical groups and musical appreciation societies in Perth from A Cappella Go to the West Australian Wind Orchestra. Each entry describes the aim of the group, annual fees, meeting places and contacts.
Fellowship of Australian Composers
Official web site of the Fellowship of Australian Composers.
Professional Associations
Music Arrangers' Guild
The Music Arrangers' Guild is an affiliation of musical arrangers and copyists. The Guild aims to maintain high standards of arranging and copying.
West Australian Music Teachers' Association
This association endeavours to protect working conditions for music teachers.
Government
ArtsWA
Look here for information about government policy on the arts, investment in the arts and a whole host of links to arts agencies, companies, festivals and artists.
Australia Council
The Australia Council is Australia's principal arts funding and advisory body. Look for information on grants, arts marketing, partnerships and commissions, and links to other arts industry organisations, and international arts councils.
ArtsInfo
Find information on cultural support programs, grants, gallery space, training programs by all levels of Government and non-government organisations. The resources page on this web site contains links to arts organisations across Australia and the world.
Culture and Recreation
This network provides access to Australian arts, music, literature, theatre, history, natural and built heritage, festivals, new media, film and dance.
Net Links
All Music Guide
An excellent database of compact discs searchable by artist, title, song title, styles and labels. Lists different styles of popular music including definition, discography and key artists.
Australian Music World Wide Web Site
A national reference to artist info, discographies, biographies, news and links to over 1,200 sites covering popular, rock, jazz, acid, folk, bluegrass radio and television music. Find links to businesses that provide musical products and services.
Andante
A very stylish online classical music site in a magazine format. The site is comprised of six sections: magazine, calendar, reference, musicroom, directories and boutique. The reference section and the directories are only available by annual subscription. The reference collection includes 'Concise Grove Dictionary of Music', 'New Kobbe's Opera Book', 'New York Review of Books', 'Music in Print' etc.
Bigbands database
A wealth of biographical databases on British, European, American and Canadian big bands as well as composers and lyricists. Aims to be the biggest source of popular music information on the internet.
Classical Net
2,400 CD reviews, 5,700 files and 4,000 links. Includes a guide on establishing a classical CD collection. Recommended by Choice, the American college book review journal.
The Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Search the catalogue of the largest collections of music in the world. Their Internet resource page gives links to indexes and music resources on the web, links to music publishing and copyright sites, and other music libraries.
Worldwide Internet Music Resources
Collection of links on all things music - journals, genres, composers, research, performance and the commercial world of music. (Note: the site has not been updated since June 1999 so some links may not be viable).
Musicsearch.com
A search engine just for music. A multi-award winner.
Best Information on the Net - Music
Another list of links covering classical music, general music resources, music education, popular music and jazz reference. These links are chosen by the librarians at the O'Keefe Library, St Ambrose University, Iowa.
CD-ROMs
International Index to Music Periodicals
Use this product to browse references to music journal literature between 1981 and 2000. Hard copy editions of this journal are also available from the beginning of publication in 1949.
CPM Plus
Find here the whole catalogue of printed music in the British Library, the most comprehensive collection in the world. It provides instant access to over 755,000 entries for music published between 1503 and 1996.
Overseas Collections
Historic American Sheet Music: 1850-1920
'Has anybody seen our cat?' is just one piece of sheet music in this marvellous site. You can view the whole piece of sheet music from the cover to the back page. Historic American Sheet Music: 1850-1920 is a selection of over 3,000 digital pieces of American sheet music drawn from collections at Duke University. The site includes a history of the collection. You can search the digitised sheet music by keyword; or browse by subject or name. Recommended by Choice, an academic book review journal.
The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music
There are an impressive 29,000 pieces of sheet music in the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library of The John Hopkins University. The collection ranges from 1780-1960. All pieces are indexed but only those published before 1923 (and in the public domain) are available to view on the web site. The site includes a biography of Lester S. Levy and a history of the collection. There are good instructions on how to search the collection. The collection is searchable by title, composer, first line, plate number, publisher etc. Recommended by Choice, the American college book review journal.
The Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Search the catalogue of the largest collections of music in the world. Its Internet resource page gives links to indexes and music resources on the web, links to music publishing and copyright sites, and other music libraries.