MUSIC 690

Research Exercise #4: Music Bibliographies

a.

Rimbault, Edward F. Bibliotheca Madrigaliana. New York: Burt Franklin,

1847(reprint).

This bibliography provides information regarding musical and poetic works

published in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries under the
titles of madrigals, ballets, aprs, canzonets and other names where specified. The
listings are organized by year, starting with 1588 and ending in 1638. Each entry
includes the original title page of the collected works from that year, the publisher
and where they were sold. The entry then further describes the collection by listing
the voice parts and any other pertinent information included such as dedications.
Lastly is a listing of the contents of each collection by title. The annotations seem to
be detailed enough for the time, some even going into great detail describing the
location of the publisher. Index of songs in the back.

Example:
b.

Hoffman, Frank. The Literature of Rock, 1954-1978. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1981

Introduction includes a brief historical survey of rock literature. Annotated

bibliography starts with the development of rock and its stylistic antecedents
followed by genres in chronological order with some obvious overlap. Final section
deals with related topics to rock like drugs, festivals, humor and social/political
significance. Back dedicated to references and topical index. Annotations are short
and direct with little commentary, which is enough to determine the sources
usefulness.

Example:
c.

Charles, Sydney Robinson. Josquin Des Prez: A Guide to Research. New York:
Garland, 1983

This bibliography begins with some pictures followed by a brief biography and list
of major life events. The bulk of the book is a list of his compositions and the
sources from which they were acquired, followed by examples in theory treatises
and intabulations. Next is a discography of Josquin works recorded organized by
record label, followed by a true bibliography and topical index. This bibliography
was not well-annotated and merely gives a list of works, recordings and scholarly
writings to peruse.

Example: