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Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture

in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

General Sources at Duke

Women in Music: A Pathfinder for Sources

sheet music cover page

Reference Works
Frequently Cited Texts
Musical Anthologies
Periodicals
Searching The Catalogs At Duke

Reference Works

General Reference:

Sadie, Stanley and Alison Latham, ed. The Norton Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 1988.: A concise version of the 20 volume New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. A comprehensive and portable source which will answer just about any question a person new to music could ask. Music Reference

Abstracts and Indexes:

The Music Index Detroit: Information Coordination, 1949-present.: A source published monthly and arranged alphabetically which features citations of articles (including reviews) from roughly 400 periodicals, but does not include abstracts. It is also available on CD-ROM with articles indexed from 1981-1991. Searching for terms like "women musicians" will give a more useful list than "women and music" which yields well over a thousand (though they are worth the effort if one has the time!) Music Reference
R'epertoire International de Litterateur (RILM). New York: RILM. 1967-present.: Includes abstracts on musical literature contained in articles from roughly 100 periodicals, books, essays, dissertations, and editions of music. Also includes reviews of materials in the field of music. It is international in scope and is divided into section such as music history, theory, or performance.

Women and Music Reference Sources:

Block, Adrienne Fried. Women in American music : A Bibliography of Music and Literature. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1979.: A bibliography with sections on reference materials, collected works, and historical studies whose materials range from colonial times to 1978. The works listed cover general literature, women composers, performers, educators, patrons, and members of music clubs as well as an "art music discography". Music Reference
Cohen, Aaron I.. International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. New York: Books & Music (USA), c1987.: Music Reference
Ericson, Margaret D. Women and Music 1987/1988: a Bibliography on the Collective Subject of Women in Music (updated for 1988/1989 and 1989/1990 editions). M. Ericson, 1991.: Three small folders filled with information on the subject of women and music in the form of a bibliography citing monographs, periodicals, newspaper articles, audios, videos, catalogs and more. Compiled originally for the 1988 Music Roundtable of the Music Library Association to enable music librarians and others interested to survey recent activities of women in music. Music Library
Grattan, Virginia L. American Women Songwriters : a Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1993.: A collection of short biographical sketches of American women in music including pop/rock, motion pictures, musicals, blues, jazz, folk, country, early women songwriters, hymns, and gospel. Includes a song index as well as a comprehensive general index. Music Reference
Hixon, Donald L. Women in Music : a Bio-Bibliography. Matuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1975.: A general bibliographical and biographical resource about women composers and songwriters, women musicians, and other women involved in music. Music Reference -- CALL NUMBER: 780.071 H676W, 1975
Jackson, Barbara Garvey. Say Can You Deny Me : A Guide to Surviving Music by Women From the 16th Through the 18th Centuries. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1994.: A comprehensive guide to works known to survive in European and American libraries in the renaissance, baroque, and classical periods. It offers biographic detail as well as a guide to the music itself (scores and sound recordings). Music Reference
Reich, Nancy B. and Adrienne Fried Block, ed. Women's Studies, Women's Status. Boulder, CO: College Music Society, 1988.: An annotated bibliography of recent writings on women in music by Reich with a statistical report by Block compiled as a continuation of the work of the Committee on the Status of Women in Music (1984-1986). With a preliminary check-list of films and videos featuring women in music. Music Library
Sadie, Julie Anne & Rhian Samuel, eds. The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. New York ; London : W.W. Norton, 1994.: Music Reference

Frequently Cited Texts

Bowers, Jane and Judith Tick,ed. Women making music: The Western Art Tradition, 1150-1950. Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c1986.: Includes bibliographical references and index. Music Library
Citron, Marcia J. Gender and the Musical Canon. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1993.: Describes women and their relationship to canon formation within the context of music. Divided into sections on canonic issues; creativity; professionalism; music as a gendered discourse; reception; and the canon in practice. Music Library
Cook, Susan C. and Judy S. Tsou. Cecilia Reclaimed: Feminist Perspectives on Gender and Music. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1994.: A collection of essays on the themes of feminism in musicology and feminist music criticism with a focus on gender, the body, sexuality, and the politics of representation. Mostly concerning formal music. Music Library
McClary, Susan. Feminine Endings : Music, Gender, and Sexuality. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1991.: A book which treats constructions of gender, sexual politics, and musical representation of mad women. Runs the gamut from formal music to Laurie Anderson and Madonna. A controversial book that is almost always off the shelf. Music Library
Neuls-Bates, Carol, ed. Women in Music: An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present. New York: Harper and Row, 1982.: A group of readings divided into traditional music categories: Middle Ages; Renaissance; Baroque; Classical Period; along with divisions appropriate to the selections: 1820-1920 and 1921-1982. Mostly concerning formal music, but useful as an introduction to the field of women in music. Music Library
Pendle, Karin, ed. Women & Music : a History. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991.: Essays on women in music starting with Greece and Rome and ending at "Modern Music Around the World" and "Special Roles of Women in Music". A comprehensive guide to the field in accessible prose particularly important for its section on the beginnings of music and women's role therein. Music Library
Zaimont, Judith Lang, ed. The Musical Woman : An International Perspective. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1983; 1984-1985; 1986-1990.: A three volume set that starts with a gazette of events, e.g., conferences, performances, festivals, publications, and recent deaths among other happenings. Part II contains essays on women in the music business/profession, critical appraisals, surveys, music education, and special topics. A brilliant source. Music Library

Musical Anthologies

Briscoe, James R., ed. Historical Anthology of Music by Women. Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c1987.: Contains vocal and instrumental music from the Middle Ages to the present, with introductory essays on each composer. Principally reprints. English, French, German, Italian, and Latin words; includes English translations printed as texts for non-English-language works. Music Library
Schleifer, Martha Furman and Sylvia Glickman, ed. Women Composers : Music Through the Ages. New York : G.K. Hall, 1995-: Annotated, modern performance scores from the ninth through the twentieth centuries. Also contains explanatory essays, bibliographical references, and index for composers born before 1599. Music Reference

Periodicals

Heresies. New York: Heresies Collective, Inc. 1980. Special Issue on Women and Music: Issue 10.: An idea oriented journal (extant in the 70's and early 80's) devoted to a feminist perspective on arts and politics. This issue published on women and music contains interviews, profiles, and articles pertinent to the subject with photographs and drawings throughout. Music Library
International League of Women Composers Journal and Newsletter. Arlington, VA: The League, 1979-present.: Founded in 1979, the League publishes the journal three times a year while the newsletter comes out seasonally. They contain reviews, reports, festival information, announcements and press releases, messages, opportunities, and queries. There is a special issue of the journal called "Women in Music" published in December, 1991. Music Periodicals
Music Educators Journal. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference, 1938-present. Special Issue on Women in Music: March, 1992.: Articles and illustrations on how to include women in the music curriculum. With profiles of prominent women in the field past and present, well-known and forgotten. Music Periodicals
The NATS Journal: The Official Magazine of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Oberlin, OH: The Association, 1985-present.: "New Directions" is a regular column written by Sharon Mabry which has appeared in this publication since the mid 80's and regularly addresses issues relevant to the field of women and music, for example "Finding music by women composers" in the January/February 1992 edition. Music Periodicals
Paid My Dues. Milwaukee, WI: Woman's Soul Publications, May-Oct., 1975 and Autumn, 1977-Winter, 1978.: Established in 1974, this was a quarterly journal of women's music written by feminists involved in the women's movement of the 1970's. The Rubenstein Library -- CALL NUMBER: E Pam q#546 and the ALFA Periodicals Collection
The World of Music. Journal of the International Institute for Traditional Music. Wilhelmshaven, Germany: Edition Heinrichshofen, 1957-present. Special Issue on Women and Music: Feb. 1991.: An English language periodical concerned with international or ethnic music. Feminist musicologists Marcia Herndon and Susanne Ziegler edited an issue devoted to women. Includes papers and reviews of books on the subject of women in music. Music Periodicals

Searching The Catalogs At Duke

When using the online catalog, a keyword search is the simplest approach. If the researcher is interested in a particular composer or performer, that person's name can be used in an author search. Doing a subject search requires the correct Library of Congress subject headings. Here are some suggestions.