Composer Research Guides & Bibliographies

The research guides listed below are an excellent place to start when searching for information about a composer and his/her works. These guides/bibliographies provide a biographical sketch of the composer, a descriptive list of his/her compositions, and a bibliography of publications by and about the composer and his/her music. Two publishers, Routledge and Greenwood, specialize in these publications. Greenwood Publishers' biobibliographies focus on contemporary composers. Routledge's research guides extend retrospectively to include composers such as Wagner, Britten, and Rachmaninoff. If you are interested in information regarding a particular subject in the field of music, there might be a research guide that overviews the literature of that subject. See Research Guides by Subject.

These guides are located at either the Kulas Music Library (Haydn Hall, CWRU) or at the CIM Music library. Some titles are held by both libraries. The location and call number are indicated adjacent to the composer's name in the table below. This list is not complete because the collection is continually expanding. Check the library's online catalog, EuclidPlus, for composers not listed here. You may also browse your library's reference and circulating collections at the call number ML 134.

Location Key: CIM=Cleveland Institute of Music ; Kulas=Kulas Music Library ; Ref.=Non-circulating (reference) collection