Classical Music Library

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"BEST REFERENCE DATABASE OF 2004" WINNER! - Library Journal

Classical Music Library is a fully searchable classical music resource—a comprehensive collection of distinguished classical recordings. It includes tens of thousands of licensed recordings that users can listen to over the Internet. The audio selections are cross-referenced to a database of supplementary reference information. Users browse, search, click, and then listen to the music through their headphones.

The music moves from Medieval to contemporary, from choral works to symphonies, operas, and the avant-garde. We’ve licensed multiple versions of works to enable comparative listening by students—a major bonus for academics. Users can listen and learn at any time from any computer, while simultaneously searching and browsing the reference database. If your library subscribes to online reference works such as Grove’s and Wilson’s, Classical Music Library will link to them as well.

Unlike other resources on the Web, Classical Music Library is the only audio service that is developed exclusively with the needs of librarians in mind. It’s a dedicated library resource offering music licensed from major labels, built on a musically authoritative database that is structured around works and performances rather than CDs, giving users a much more powerful interface for searching and browsing the music.

CONTENT

Works are selected to grow composer repertoires toward completion, to offer the widest selection of fine performances by great artists, and to provide unusual selections required for teaching that may not be available otherwise (oboe solos, for example).

Selections range from the earliest Gregorian chants to works by modern composers—including symphonic music, vocal and instrumental music, choral works, and other forms. Content is published under licensing agreements with more than 30 music labels, including major labels and independents, with ongoing license negotiations adding to the range of available tracks.

There are recordings from major labels such as EMI, with performances by Maria Callas, Sir Simon Rattle, Herbert von Karajan, Andre Previn, Itzhak Perlman, Placido Domingo, Martha Argerich, Arthur Rubinstein, Jacqueline du Pré, Riccardo Muti, among many other major figures. Independent European and North American record labels including Sanctuary Classics, Hyperion, CBC, and others feature additional renowned artists such as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Neville Marriner, Felicity Lott, Glenn Gould, Angela Hewitt, Trevor Pinnock, The Sixteen, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We also license directly with artists and orchestras that publish their own labels, such as the London Symphony Orchestra.

A POWERFUL AND EASY-TO-USE RESEARCH AND TEACHING TOOL

Once users identify the tracks they want, they simply click to hear the music over the Internet through their headphones or speakers. A powerful but easy-to-use interface lets users search by combining multiple fields, including: artist, composer, instrument, genre and sub-genre, period, work or opus number, soloist, ensemble, key, and more. Boolean searching allows for added utility.

The search can be simple—show every concerto by Mozart—or complex. For example, a search for individual movements by Shostakovich in the key of C minor brings back movements 19, 20, 39, and 40 in 24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano, Op. 87, with Tatiana Nikolaveya on piano. A search for Beethoven on the EMI label with Jacqueline du Pré on cello brings back 14 Variations of an Original Theme in E flat, Op. 44, among other works.

The service also offers a unique and powerful feature that allows users to view a composer’s works alphabetically, by year of composition, or by genre. Selecting any work provides a list of the performances available, allowing easy access to comparative listening. Users can also browse lists sorted by orchestral music, chamber, instrumental, stage and screen, vocal and choral, opera and operetta. The ability to move within a track (rather than listening from beginning to end) adds more functionality, and users will be able to select a section within a track and create a customer URL for that section, for putting track excerpts into playlists and course folders.

The service incorporates four key teaching tools designed to help direct students toward course-related music:

• Anthology playlists: Students can listen to associated recordings of works found in the major music history and music appreciation textbooks such as The Development of Western Music (K. Marie Stolba), and Music: An Appreciation (Roger Kamien). Students no longer have to purchase the CDs or wait for them to become available through course reserve.
  
• Course Folders: Librarians and educators can organize and share course music with students in a secure and simple way. This tool can either tie in with an existing digital audio reserve or be used as a standalone access point.
  
• Static URLs: All Course Folders and individual recordings reside at permanent URLs that can be sent to students by email or posted to online teaching applications like Blackboard or WebCT. Soon, even selected sections within tracks can reside at static URLs.
  
• Custom playlists: All users can create and save their own password-protected playlists.
  The service expands a library’s existing collection of classical music recordings while minimizing the problem of damaged or stolen CDs and saving shelf space. Beginning and advanced users will want to use the service for teaching, learning, and research.

Our Advisory Board of music librarians and catalogers ensures that Classical Music Library serves public, school, and university libraries alike. Currently serving are Richard Griscom (University of Pennsylvania), Constance Mayer (University of Maryland), Erin Mayhood (University of Virginia), Edwin Quist (Brown University), Judy Tsou (University of Washington), John Wagstaff (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Matthew Wise (New York University Libraries).

PUBLICATION DETAILS