Women in Music
MUSC 398

Books | Journal Articles | Websites | Citing Sources

• Search RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
  

FINDING BOOKS

See the Music Research Guide on Finding Books.

Using Subject Headings

Search by Keyword and look for Subject Headings in individual records.
To modify a search:

• Use words from the Subject Heading in a Keyword search
• Click on the Subject Heading itself

Examples of Subject Headings:

• Feminism and music
• Gender identity in music
• Women composers
• Women jazz musicians -- United States
• Women musicians
• Women singers

Background Sources
Annotated by the 2006 Women in Music class

• Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians
  Ref.ML105 .B16 2001
  Centennial Edition, Nicolas Slonimsky and Laura Kuhn (Baker’s Series Advisory Edition). Schirmer Books, New York, 2001
  This six-volume dictionary, which includes around 2,300 short biographies, tried to pay special attention to musicians of the 1990’s, since in previous musical reference works, such contemporary musicians could not appear. They also include many musicians from the popular realm, not just the classical. As a complementary feature to searching for modern composers and musicians, they also tried to include lost musicians from past eras. Each entry contains a brief biography, a list of works, sometimes a discography, some of their writing that is available to the public and a bibliography. This would be a good source to start with, but not detailed enough for actual research. The entries they include for popular artists and groups and pretty comprehensive, however, they only include major artists, so several important but less applauded artists are left out.
   
• Current Biography
  Ref. CT 100 .C8
  Current Biography provides well-documented, succinct articles about key figures worldwide in every profession. A new volume is added each year, the earliest volume being 1940. The articles range from around one to five pages, and are easy to read. Most articles include a photograph of the individual being written about, an address they can be reached at, and a short biography. After the biographical articles, obituaries are given. An index is given at the back of each volume listing entries alphabetically under professional categories.
  This source would be useful for looking up well-known musicians and composers, but not for finding lesser-known individuals since the series is not specifically music-oriented. Biographical entries are long enough to get important information on the individual one is interested in researching.
   
• Encyclopedia of popular music
  Ref. ML102.P66 G84 1998
  Encyclopedia of Popular Music aims to provide “serious” documentation of popular music from 1900 to the present, asserting that it is as valid as classical and operatic music. Very short entries are given about every individual or group that has made a contribution to popular music within the time-span covered; generally, entries are a paragraph each.
  This source would be good to find obscure musicians or composers of the popular music genre, but would not be useful if one is looking for any in-depth information. A brief discography is given at the end of entries when appropriate where each album is given a rating on a five-star scale. This feature is useful if one is searching for music by a particular composer who may be obscure.
   
• Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers
  Ref. ML105 .N38 1995
  Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel. The Macmillan Press Limited, London, United Kingdom, 1995.
  They have a useful timeline at the beginning that has the chronology of important dates in musical history, including those that do not pertain to women. It is useful to see what innovations were occurring and which famous male composers were alive during the lives of the women in this dictionary. Each entry has a short biography, a list of works and writings when available or applicable, a bibliography and photos of the composers and their families when available. This is not a good reference to use when researching any kind of popular artist, the women are basically all in the classical realm with a few entries of women who worked in blues or jazz.
   
• International encyclopedia of women composers
  Ref. ML105 .C7 1987
  Second Edition, Aaron I. Cohen. Books & Music (U.S.A.) Inc. New York, 1987.
  This is a two-volume work compiled after the vision and editing of one man who wished to learn more about women composers. There is a section of general notable facts about certain women composers from the encyclopedia. It would be a quick way to find useful or fun facts that might not be included in a typical biographical entry. There is a small section of quotes about women composers or women and music. Then there is a short biography of the composers including a bibliography, list of works, list of publications when applicable, and sometimes a discography or photographs. This encyclopedia is interesting, and contains a great deal of interesting, helpful information, but it is fairly old and compiled by a man without a particularly strong background in music or musicology.
   
• New Grove dictionary of music and musicians
  Ref. ML100 .N48 2000
  Also online: http://0-www.grovemusic.com.ariadne.kzoo.edu/ < about >
• New Grove dictionary of opera
  Ref. ML102.O6 N5 1992
  Also online: http://0-www.grovemusic.com.ariadne.kzoo.edu/ < about >
• New Grove dictionary of jazz
  Ref. ML102.J3 N48 2001
  Also online: http://0-www.grovemusic.com.ariadne.kzoo.edu/ < about >
  These are the authoritative encyclopedias of music. The Dictionary of Music and Musicians and Dictionary of Jazz have their own comprehensive and lengthy overview of women’s participation in the respective genre, but an article on women in opera is curiously missing. Similarly, each covers well-known and even moderately well-known women extensively (e.g. Clara Schumann, Fanny Hensel, Francesca Caccini, Hildegard von Bingen, Billie Holiday, Mary Lou Williams). However, their offerings fall short when searching for lesser-known composers/musicians or contemporary composers/musicians (e.g. Nancy Van de Vate, Marie Bigot, Anne Amalia, Luisa Tetrazzini). Annoyingly, each has its own gaps within the mainstream (e.g. Alma Mahler, Germaine Tailleferre, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Leontyne Price). Nonetheless, the bibliography for each of the articles is useful in itself for locating primary source literature. In short, this is a great preliminary resource and starting-point for a research paper, but simply because the New Grove Dictionaries do not list a specific topic or have a lengthy article does not imply that there is no research out their on it.
   
• Women and music in America since 1900 : an encyclopedia
  Ref. ML82 .W625 2002
  An encyclopedia of women in music and topics and organizations relevant to women in music. Articles are generally short, and include some further reading. Many performers and composers both popular and classical are included.
   
• Women composers : music through the ages
  Ref. M2 .W88 1996
  Women Composers: Music through the Ages is a twelve volume, annotated series that covers exceptional female composers of the ninth century through the twentieth century. Volume 1 contains women born before 1599 and Volume 2 contains women born between 1600 and 1699. Volumes 3, 4, and 5 contain women of the eighteenth century and are divided by genre (instrumental, vocal, and mixed). Volumes 6, 7, and 8 contain women of the nineteenth century divided using the same genres, and volumes 9, 10, 11, and 12 contain women of the twentieth century, divided using the same genres with the added experimental genre.
  The entries given are lengthy and include music by the composer that is being written about. Biographical information is given, as well as analyses of the pieces included. A bibliography is also provided after each entry. The series is not comprehensive—only including exceptional composers.
  This source would be useful for finding detailed information about (relatively) well-known female composers. It would also be good for obtaining musical works by female composers as the pieces have been standardized into easily readable scores. Also, the bibliographies at the end of the entries would be useful for finding more places to read about a particular individual. This source would not be useful in finding more obscure female composers.
   
• Women composers, conductors, and musicians of the twentieth century : selected biographies
  Ref. ML82 .L46
  A three volume set of in-depth biographies of selected women in music in the twentieth century. The biography references many publications written about each woman’s career and life, followed by a list of selected compositions and a discography.
  Volume 1 includes: Victoria Bond, Antonia Brico, Radie Britain, Ruth Crawford (Seeger), Emma Lou Diemer, Margaret Hillis, Jean Eichelberger Ivey, Betsy Jolas, Barbara Anne Kolb, Wanda Landowska, Thea Musgrave, Pauline Oliveros, Eve Queler, Marga Righter, Louise Talma, Rosalyn Tureck, Nancy Van De Vate
  Volume 2 includes: Beth Anderson, Dalia Atlas, Sarah Caldwell, Pozzi Escot, Vivian Fine, Kay Gardner, Miriam Gideon, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Doris Hays, Frederique Petrides, Marta Ptaszynska, Daria Semegen, Susan Smeltzer, Julia Smith, Elinor Remick Warren, Judith Lang Zaimont, Ellen Taaffee Zwilich
  Volume 3 includes: Grazyna Bacewicz, Betty Beath, Anne Boyd, Sylvia Caduff, Ann Carr-Boyd, Gloria Coates, Selma Epstein, Nicola Lefanu, Priscilla McLean, Elizabeth Maconchy, Mary Mageau, Ursula Mamlok, Priaulx Rainier, Shulamit Ran, Ruth Schonthal, Margaret Sutherland, Joan Tower, Gillian Whitehead
  

• Thea Musgrave: A Bio-Bibliography
  Ref. ML 134 . M967 H6 1984
  Donald L. Hixon. Greenwood Press, Westport, 1984.
  This reference work begins with a longer biography than one would find in a general encyclopedia or dictionary. It lists Musgrave’s works and performances by genre, and then includes a discography and a very long bibliography. This is followed by an alphabetical list of her works and a chronological list of her works. The biography, though longer than an entry in a longer reference source is still pretty direct. A downside to this bio-bibliography is its age; since it was published over twenty years ago, there will probably be more recent research done on Musgrave and more relevant sources than those included in the bibliography.
   
• Violet Archer: A Bio-Bibliography
  Ref. ML 134 . A68 H3 1991
  Violet Archer aided the compiler/author of this book, which lends much credibility to its listings. In the preface, a list explains the main parts of the book and the goals of each part. It then begins with a short (9-page) biography and list of Violet Archer’s accomplishments until the date of publication (1991). An exhaustive list of works and performances—listed by genre—occupies the next sixty pages. Included in the listing are scoring, publication/premiere date, commissioner, and length. Following this is a ten-page discography of recordings of Ms. Archer’s works, regardless of print status, listed in alphabetical order by name of work. Finally, a thorough (50-page) bibliography of print material regarding Ms. Archer and her works completes the book. Each entry in the bibliography includes a short description and all the publication information, listed in alphabetical order by title of cited work. Appendices list her works in alphabetical and chronological order to aid in location of a specific work. The book is also fully cross listed (i.e., Ten Folk Songs for Four Hands listed as work W270 directs you to B123 in the bibliography and D45 and D46 in the discography). A big limitation of this work is its age: she was still alive for the book publishing, thus it does not cover the last ten years of her life. Despite this drawback, this book is still a wonderfully thorough resource on Violet Archer.
   
• Women composers : a handbook
  Ref. ML105 .S7
  Be sure to read the introduction and note the publication date (1978) to gain a grasp of this books scope and limitations. The book begins with a listing of source material for the handbook (the main section of the book). Following that is the actual handbook listing women composers, dates, major genres (see introduction for definitions), sources. The book also includes a “supplementary handbook”, which lists composers about whom very little is known. A supplementary bibliography then concludes the book, which lists articles which speak of women composers without listing any specific ones. This book is by far not an exhaustive listing of women composers, but it comes very close especially considering the supplementary handbook. It is also a useful tool to grasp the changing lexicon of women composers who could be under a number of names. The one drawback is its publication date, a more recent edition would be more useful, but this is still a good place to start.
   
• Women in American music, a bibliography
  Ref.ML128.W7 S6
  A collection of articles, chapters, and books dealing with women in American music, spanning the years 1776-1976. The book is split by time periods of 60-30 years, with an index for names of people but not subjects.
   
• Women in music : a biobibliography
  Ref. ML105 .H6
  Women in Music: A Biobibliography is an index to find where one can find biographies written about women musicians of all time periods. The index only includes classical musicians, omitting the popular genre. Entries include name, birth and death place and date, field (i.e. pianist, composer) followed by a coded lists of entries whose details can be found in the code index at the beginning of the book. An index of individuals included is given alphabetically by field at the end of the book.
  This source would be useful to find other sources for further research on a woman musician. It would not be useful for any actual information about a musician.
  

Don't forget to use bibliographies contained in reference books, annotated bibliographies, circulating books, and journal articles!

See How to Find Journal Articles and the Research Guide on Finding Articles.

Journal Lists:
List of Music Journals in Kalamazoo College Library
Includes print and online journals

Indexes

Indexes will lead you to article citations that include author, article title, journal title, volume number, publication date, and page number. Citations do not include the entire article. You must locate the journal once you have a citation.

See the Music Research Guide: Using Indexes and Databases to help select an index.

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature < about >
Journals on music and related fields.
Produced by Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale, New York.
Covers publications from 1967 to the present.

Humanities Abstracts < about >

Arts and Humanities Search < about >

Contemporary Women's Issues < about >
Good for popular music research.

America: History and Life < about >
Covers articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.

Historical Abstracts < about >
Covers history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada).

Resources at WMU:
Western Michigan University subscribes to both Music Index and RILM, two indexes for music journals. See WMU's Music Indexes and Databases page for more information. You can only use these resources from Western's campus.
[How to get to Western]

Full-Text Resources

Full text databases include citation information as well as the text of the article itself.

Proquest Research Library < about >

Infotrac General Reference Center Gold < about >

Wilson Select Plus < about >

JSTOR < about >
Some of the music titles in JSTOR
JSTOR now includes several major music journals. To search these journals, enter JSTOR and click SEARCH. Check the box next to MUSIC and enter your search terms.

Project MUSE < about >
Some of the music titles in Project MUSE:
Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture (2004-)
Early Music (2004- )
Music and Letters (2004- )

Types of Periodicals

Scholarly Journals (Women of Note Quarterly)

• Authors are scholars or researchers in their fields.
• Authors cite their sources in footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies.
• Individual issues have little or no advertising.
• Articles must go through a peer-review process.
• Articles usually report original scholarly research.
• Most illustrations are charts, figures, or graphs.
• Authors use the specialized language or jargon of the discipline.

Popular Magazines (Rolling Stone)

• Authors are free lance writers or magazine staff members.
• Authors may mention sources, but rarely cite them in notes or bibliographies.
• Individual issues contain many advertisements.
• There is no peer review process. Articles are reviewed by editors or publishers.
• Illustrations are numerous and colorful.
• Articles are meant to inform and entertain an educated audience.
• Language is written for the general adult audience (no specialized jargon).

  Scholarly or Not?
  Use Ulrich's Online < about >
  Document Type MUST say "Academic/Scholarly Publication" to be considered scholarly!

Don't forget to use bibliographies contained in reference books, annotated bibliographies, circulating books, and journal articles!

For Search Engines and Search Tools, see Finding Web Sites on Music.
See also Web Indexes and Directories and Web Sites by Subject.

When evaluating sources, pay attention to:

1. Accuracy
How reliable is the information? Are there editors and fact checkers?
2. Authority
What are the author's qualifications? Is the publisher reputable?
3. Objectivity
Is the author trying to sway opinion? Is the information free from bias?
4. Currency
Is the publication date indicated? Is the source up to date?
5. Coverage
Does the site cover the topic comprehensively, or are there information gaps?

Guides for Evaluating Web Sites:

• Evaluating Web Resources
  Widener University Library
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
  Johns Hopkins University Library
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Resources
  New Mexico State University Library
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
  UCLA College Library

See: How to Cite Sources

Examples of Citations in MLA Format:

Book citation:

Orgel, Stephen. Impersonations: The Performance of Gender in Shakespeare's England. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996.

Journal Citation:

Gilman, T. "Why Seems It So Particular with Thee? Hamlet Among the Revisionists." Hamlet Studies: An International Journal of Research on The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke 17.1-2 (1995): 78-93.

Chapter in a Book:

Cohen, Walter. "The Merchant of Venice and the Possibilities of Historical Criticism." The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare. Ed. Martin Coyle. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998. 251-300.

ALWAYS check the style manual!! DO NOT rely on other guides!

Plagiarism: copying or stealing another’s work or ideas.

To avoid plagiarism, you must cite:

• spoken and written quotations
• ideas and opinions
• facts that are not general knowledge
• paraphrases of all of the above

See Plagiarism: What it Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It
(Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University)

When in doubt, ask your instructor!