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The Music Library is currently closed for renovation and scheduled to reopen Fall 2022. Music scores, reference, and books can be browsed on the 4th floor near the children’s literature collection. A selection of CDs is available on the 4th floor stairwell landing area, outside the Music Library. A listening area is available for reservation in study room 355C. Please come to the Brooks Library 1st floor service desk, call 509-963-3682, or email libraries@cwu.edu if you have any questions or need assistance locating LPs, cassettes, or CDs not found in the 4th floor browsing collection.
Collections
The Music Library’s collection of sound recordings, which include compact discs, long-playing records, and cassette tapes, have been purchased to support the CWU Music Department and are primarily classical and jazz recordings, as well as a growing number of world music recordings.
The Music Library also includes reference books and bound periodicals, circulating music books and scores, and specialized music collections, such as the historical sets, authoritative composers’ works, and other collected editions.
CWU students, faculty and staff may recommend titles for the libraries to add to our collection.
Selected reference material
The following are also available from the libraries' database page and older editions can be found in print in the music reference collection:
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (1967 to present) is produced by Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale, and is a comprehensive music bibliography which features citations, abstracts, and subject indexing. It facilitates both focused research and browsing for readers of all levels from classical to popular music, from ethnomusicology to music therapy, from elementary music education to advanced music theory.
Music Index with Full Text provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts covering every aspect of classical and popular music.
Standard music reference books include the following titles held in the music collection:
- The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (ML100 .N48 2001, also available online)
- Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (ML105 .B16 2001, also available online)
- Music Reference & Research Materials (ML113 .D83 1997)
- Collected Editions, Historical Series & Sets & Monuments of Music: A Bibliography (ML113 .H55 1997)
Resources
Resources by studio
The Music Studio Specific Resources research guide highlights material in our collection, arranged by studio.
Discographies
The following music discographies also facilitate access to the sound recordings. Individual cassettes, reel-to-reel tapes, and phonorecords are listed opposite their library call number. Compact discs are listed by title, or author/title.
- Jazz: General (PDF)
- Jazz: Individual Artists or Groups (PDF)
- Jazz: Blues (PDF)
- Jazz: Big Band (PDF)
- Musical Theater (PDF)
- Percussion: Composers (PDF)
- Wind Music CDs (PDF)
- Women Composers (PDF)
Recent Researches
The authoritative guide to the Music Library's collected editions, A.H. Heyer's Historical sets, collected editions, and monuments of music: a guide to their contents (Music Reference 4th Floor, ML113 H52 1980, 2 volumes) was last published in 1980.
The Music Library also has Hill and Stephen's Collected Editions, Historical Series and Sets and Monuments of Music: A Bibliography (Music Reference 4th Floor, ML113 .H55 1997) published in 1997.
Both bibliographies provide helpful indexes to many series, including the Recent Researches series, published by A-R Editions. But because A-R Editions continues to publish volumes at a frequent rate, the Library now has many volumes that are not listed in the bibliographies mentioned above. To allow ease of access into the six sub-sections that make up this series in this Library, the Music Library has produced an interim index.
Use these files to access each of the six sub-sections of the Recent Researches series. Scores range by period from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. The Music of the United States series was folded into the larger Recent Researches in American Music series. (The PDFs were last updated in late 2012.)
- American Music (PDF)
- Baroque (PDF)
- Classical era (PDF)
- Middle Ages and Renaissance (PDF)
- Renaissance (PDF)
- 19th and early 20th centuries (PDF)
Course Reserves
Faculty
Faculty may request to have course materials held at our service desk for short-term checkout. Complete the online form below or visit the library in person to request physical reserves for your course.
Request Physical Course Reserves
The libraries will also scan and deliver articles and book chapters from our collection for faculty to place on Canvas. Find material and place requests through OneSearch. Due to copyright and administrative restrictions we can only offer scanning of reasonable and limited portions of works.
Students
Find material on reserve for your course by searching OneSearch.