Looking for a specific piece of music?

Search by TITLE

It’s best if you enter your title search in the original language of the work, for example:

• Dreigroschenoper (for Kurt Weill’s “Three-Penny Opera”)
• Ma Mere L’Oye (For Maurice Ravel’s “Mother Goose” ballet)
• Cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione N.1-4 (for Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”)

Many pieces of music go by their form title, for example:

• Sonatas Piano No. 14 Op. 27 No. 2 C Minor (for Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”)
• Symphonies K. 551 C Major (for Mozart’s “Jupiter Symphony”)
• Concertos, piano, orchestra, No. 5, op. 73, Eb Major (For the “Emperor Concerto”)

In these examples you can see a pattern for form titles: Form, Instrumentation, Numbering, Key.

If you are searching for a piece within a larger work, type the name of the larger work first, then the name of the work within:

• Tosca. E lucevan le stelle.
• Rigoletto. Donna e’ mobile.
• Schöne Müllerin. Des Baches Wiegenlied.

 Use this searching method for finding songs within song cycles or arias within operas.

Looking for a particular composer or performer?

Search by AUTHOR

Enter the last name first:

• Albeniz, Isaac
• Schubert, Franz
• Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich
• Callas, Maria
• Horowitz, Vladimir

Note: a search for prolific composers like “Mozart, Wolfgang” will yield too many results, so you can LIMIT the search by words in the Title, such as “Divertimenti.”

You may also limit such a search by Material Type, like scores or compact discs.

Looking for a particular type of music?

Search by SUBJECT

Often the subject of musical pieces reflects the form and its instruments. For example:

• Choruses (Mixed voices, 4 parts), Unaccompanied
• Songs (High voice) with Harp
• Sonatas (piano)
• Suites (bassoon and piano)
• String quartets
• String sextets (violins (2), violas (2), violoncellos (2))

Note: You do not have to enter punctuation like parentheses in a subject search. Type as much of the subject as you wish and browse the list of results.

Subjects for a solo instrument and not in a particular form are simpler:

• Guitar music
• Flute music
• Bagpipe music

Sample searches for popular music:

• Country music
• Blues music
• Rock music
• Rhythm and blues music

If you want music from a particular country or state, you can include it in your search:

• Folk music Ireland
• Blues music Mississippi

Looking for a particular format?

After you perform a search on author, title, or subject, you can LIMIT by Material Type.

• Choose Audio CD for compact discs.
• Choose Music Score for scores.
• Choose Audiocassettes for tapes.
• Vinyl connoisseurs may wish to choose LP Records.

Looking for a particular recording by publisher’s number?

Most recordings are organized using the publisher name and number, for example:

• Deutsche Grammophon 136 224
• Decca 414 383 2
•  

If you know the publisher’s name and number for the recording you want, you can search by Local Call #. Alternatively, you can just type in the number using an ISN search:

• 136 224 (this ISN search will give you the Deutsche Grammophon recording above)
• 414 383 2 (likewise, this ISN search gives you the Decca record above)