Music Research
Symphonies: A Starting Guide
Part I: Where to Find Symphonies in the UNLV Music Library
- Full orchestra: M1001
- String orchestra: M1101
See also The Symphony, 1720-1840 : a comprehensive collection of full scores in sixty volumes. Barry S. Brook, editor-in-chief ; Barbara B. Heyman, associate editor. New York : Garland Pub., c1979-c1985.
M1001 .S97x 1979
- Orchestral music arranged for piano solo: M35
- Orchestral music arranged for piano, 4 hands: M209
- Orchestral music arranged for 2 pianos, 2 performers: M215
- History and criticism of the symphony: ML1255 (Lied Main Stacks)
Works about the symphony can also be found in MT125-130 (Lied Main Stacks), consisting of analyses of orchestral music generally. Works on symphonies of specific composers can also be found interspersed with biographies of composers, in ML410 (Lied Main Stacks).
See also our list of Major Orchestral Works (Compact Discs) in the UNLV Music Library on this site.
Part II: Representative Subject Headings for Symphonies
- Symphony (works about the symphony)
- Symphonies
- Symphonies (String orchestra)
- Symphonies (Chamber orchestra)
- Symphonies (Band)
- Symphonies (Organ)
- Symphonies (Piano), Arranged
- Symphonies (Piano, 4 hands), Arranged
- Symphonies (Pianos (2)), Arranged
- Symphonies--Thematic catalogs
See also Orchestra studies as a subject heading, for excerpts from symphonies as well as other orchestral works for individual instruments. For more specific search results, use the name of the instrument followed by "orchestra studies" as a search; for example Bassoon--Orchestra studies.
Part III: Useful Sources
Blackwell, Brian and Andre Dauwalder. The Symphony: an Interactive Guide.
Internet Access: http://library.thinkquest.org/22673/
Brown, Peter A. The Symphonic Repertoire. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2002-.
Lied Book Stacks ML1255 .B87 2002
Cuyler, Louise Elvira. The Symphony. Warren, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 1995.
Lied Book Stacks ML1255 .C9 1995
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Online). London: Macmillan Reference; New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 2001-
Internet Access
The Nineteenth-century Symphony. Edited by D. Kern Holoman. New York: Schirmer Books; London: Prentice Hall International, c1997.
Lied Book Stacks ML1255 .N5 1996
Steinberg, Michael. The Symphony : a Listener's Guide. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Lied Book Stacks MT125 .S79 1995
Part IV: Periodicals
Note: These periodicals are not devoted exclusively to the symphony as a musical form, but do often include articles about specific composers and their symphonies.
Journal of the American Musicological Society
Lied Periodicals ML27.U5 A83363
Musical Quarterly
Lied Periodicals ML1 .M725
Symphony
Lied Periodicals ML1 .A7283