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Research Guides
THE HARPIST'S GUIDE to RESOURCES at the UNIVERSITY of OREGON'S KNIGHT LIBRARY
ENCYCLOPEDIAS and SPECIAL RESOURCES on INSTRUMENTS
Rensch, Roslyn.
The harp; its history, technique and repertoire.
New York, Praeger Publishers [1969]
[MUSIC ML1005.R42]
Rensch, Roslyn.
Harps and harpists. Rev. Ed.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2007.
[MUSIC ML1005 .R43 2007 + Doug. Circ. COMPACT DISC CX14809]
Sadie, Stanley, ed.
The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments.
London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1984.
[Has large signed articles with great bibliographies.]
[MUSIC REF. ML 102 .I5 N48 1984]
Indexes to Articles about Harps and Harpists
(For information about the instrument and performers; teaching methods; literature - Use music indexes; for teaching methods and school music- use education indexes as well as music indexes.)
Music Indexes:
Music Index
[MUSIC REF. ML 118 .M84 & on the UO Library web (for 1979 - present) through Articles, Databases & Indexes
Music Article Guide
[MUSIC REF. ML 118 .M842]
RILM
[MUSIC REF. ML 118 .R4 & on the UO Library's web, through Articles, Databases & Indexes]
Education Indexes
[Note: the following index is searched by using the ERIC thesaurus terms, which are very broad - i.e. Music; Music Education; Orchestra. You can also do a free-text search on the ERIC web site, then follow through on the descriptors to find more articles about your topic.]
ERIC
1966 - present
Available in paper form and linked from the UO Libraries page under Articles, Databases & Indexes
[Note: any item found in ERIC that lists ED as its accession number is available in the MICROFORMS department in the ERIC microfiche cabinet, filed by the ED number. EJ numbers designate journal articles, and these journals need to be searched in the UO Library's catalog to find whether we own the journals.]
General Indexes that include Harp Articles
[Note: These often provide access to full-text articles- or are indexes to full text resources that include music journals.]
Academic Search Premier
This resource connects you up to online journals by topic.
JSTOR
This is an archive of full-text journals that goes back to the beginning of the journal's life. To search the music journals, go to Browse and click on Music. You can choose the journal to search that might be the most appropriate- or go to Search and put in your terms (harps, names of harpists, etc.)
Periodicals specifically for harps & harpists
[Note: the latest copies of most of the music periodicals are in the Music Services Department on the white shelves- older editions are bound and in our stacks. To find out if the journal is available in an online version, go to the Library's catalog under Journal Titles and type the title of the journal into the search box.]
AHS Teachers Forum.
1997 - 2004
[MUSIC MT540 .A47- later incorporated into the American Harp Journal]
American Harp Journal.
v. 1 (1968) - present) [MUSIC ML 1005 .A4]
Historical Harp Society Bulletin.
[Uncataloged copies in the Music Reference newsletter files]
Historical Harp Society Journal
[This has not yet been cataloged- stay tuned!]
The Instrumentalist.
[ML 5 .I55]
LISTINGS OF MUSIC
Palkovic, Mark.
Harp music bibliography: chamber music and concertos.
Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2002.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.H3 P33 2002]
Palkovic, Mark.
Harp music bibliography: compositions for solo harp and harp ensemble.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, c1995.
[MUSIC REF. ML128.H3 P35 1995 + 2002 supplement]
Zingel, Hans Joachim.
Harfenmusik. Harp music. Musique de la harpe. Harp muziek. Musica per arpa. Verzeichnis der gedruckten und zur Zeit greifbaren Literatur fur Pedalharfe.
Hofheim am, Taunus, Hofmeister (1965)
[MUSIC REF. ML128.H3 Z5]
Browsing the Shelves for Harp Music: A Guide to Helpful Call Numbers
[Note: While browsing the shelves is fun and helps you see all sorts of music, the better way to search for a specific piece of music by a specific composer is to search that composer's name in the Library's catalog. If you don't know how to do this search-or you can't find the piece you need, please see the Music Reference Librarian!]
Call Numbers to Browse:
M115- 123 Solo Harp Music
(hint: most are in M117- Harp concertos in solo are M119)
M142 - Celtic Harp Music
M273- Harp & Piano Music
M293- 2 Harp Arrangements
M682- Harp with Chamber Group
M1036-1037 - Solo Harp Concertos with Orchestra
M1137- Two-Harp Concertos with Orchestra
M1527 - Movie music for solo harp
M1534.5- Harp part with choral pieces
MT545- Teaching pieces for harp & Excerpts
MT546- Orchestra excerpts for Harp
Using Subject Headings to Find Music in the UO Local Catalog
[Note: The terms that our library uses to list books, scores, recordings, and bibliographies in the Subject catalogs are listed in the Library of Congress Subject Headings Books]
Books about an instrument are listed under the name of the instrument:
Harp
Celtic Harp
You can also add the following subheadings:
- Construction
- History
Music for & about that instrument is listed under the name of the instrument, followed by Music:
Harp- Orchestra Studies (an exception)
Harp Music
Harp Music Harps (2)
Concertos , Harp
Sonatas, Harp
-
- Bibliography
- History and criticism
- Instructive Editions
- Teaching Pieces
Other useful headings:
Books about composers are listed in the SUBJECT section of the catalogs.
-
(Search: Last Name, First Name; e.g. (Grandjany, Marcel.)
Finding Music In Print:
- Start with an in-print directory, such as:
- String Music in Print.
[MUSIC REF. ML 128 .S7 F4 1973 + 1984 supplement] - Consult the music publishers' catalogs, in the Music Reference area , near the Music Index table, for current prices/availability.
- If we don't have a particular music publisher's catalogs, the following resources list the current addresses and phone numbers for publishers:
Billboard International Buyers Guide.
[MUSIC REF. ML 18 .B5 - latest year in Music Reference]Musical America: International Directory of the Performing Arts.
[MUSIC REF. ML 12 .M88 - latest year in Music Reference & available on the Music Reserves web site] - Other resources on Music Publishers and Music Distributors can be found on the web at http://library.uoregon.edu/music/coldev.html
One distributor of harp music is: Vanderbilt Music Company, on the web at http://www.vanderbiltmusic.com
Finding Recordings of Harp Music
To find recordings in our library's catalog, search the Author section under the name of the composer, or the name of the performer.
As a UO student, you also have access to our Audio Resources Online, which includes the Classical Music Library, providing access by performer, composer and instrument; the Database of American Music, which includes contemporary composers' works, as well as historical American Music; and the Smithsonian Global Sound, which includes music from all over the planet, including harp music from all the countries that have a form of this instrument.
To access these resources at home, you must be a UO faculty, staff or student, and have your computer configured to be identified as a UO patron.
Web Sites for String Players
String and Music Organizations' Web Pages:
- American Harp Society at http://harpsociety.org/
- American String Teachers Association (ASTA) at http://www.astaweb.com/
- The Historical Harp Society at http://www.historicalharps.org/
- MENC Home Page at http://www.menc.org/
String Pedagogy Pages:
University Music Schools
Oregon Music Source
Music in Oregon can be found at: http://library.uoregon.edu/music/musor.html
Just for Fun Source:
For jokes on all instruments, at http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/jcb/other-instrument-jokes.html)
(A Sample Harp Joke: Why are harps like elderly parents?
Both are unforgiving and hard to get into and out of cars.)
