The Stanford Music Library has several new electronic resources for members of the Stanford community: two databases of recorded music (both of which allow faculty to create play lists and to link from a CourseWork class page) and a new online index to the scores of complete works of composers and scores issued in series.
Recorded Music Databases
- Naxos Music Library: The Naxos Music Library is based on the complete catalogs of the Naxos, Marco Polo, and Dacapo recording labels, and more material is being added by Analekta and Bis. Although Naxos is primarily a classical music label, the database also includes jazz, world music, and various folk musics. It includes over 80,000 recorded tracks. The recordings are streamed at different rates: 64 Kbps for DSL or ISDN (near CD quality), or 20 Kbps for dial-up connections (FM quality). There are several ways to search for music: by browsing through the genre list (classical, jazz, folk, etc.) or the list of categories (ballets, concertos, musicals, etc.), or by using the advanced search feature, which allows the searcher to combine up to ten different categories (composer, performer, title, instrument, etc.) in a single search. By using the New Releases button, it is possible to keep up to date with the latest recordings from Naxos before they are available as CDs. In addition to searching for specific musical works, it is also possible to perform Boolean searches of the full-text of the notes accompanying the recordings.
- Classical Music Library: The Classical Music Library is a similar database of strictly classical music recordings. The database contains 75,000 musical tracks selected from different recording labels including Hyperion, Mode, Bridge, EMI, Vox, BMG, and others. The recordings stream at 22 Kbps making it possible to listen from any Internet connection. As with Naxos, it is possible to browse by genre or category, or to combine several search terms in a single search. In addition to the recordings, the accompanying material contains image files comprised of portraits of composers, biographical material, and a link to the biographical articles on the composers in the New Grove Online.
- Faculty Can Create Playlists: Both databases provide the capability for faculty to create play lists and to link directly from a CourseWork class page to recordings in the databases. Instructions on how to do this are available at the Music Library web site.
Index to Scores
There is a new online index to the scores of complete works of composers and scores issued in series. The Index to Printed Music: Collections and Series is the online replacement for the venerable Historical Sets, Collected Editions, and Monuments of Music: A Guide to Their Contents by Anna Harriet Heyer.
Through this index, for example, one can locate the exact volume and page on which a Mozart Piano Concerto is found in the Neue Ausgabe or in which volume of Denkmäler der Tonkunst in österreich the "Alleluia, Maria haec est haec" by Heinrich Isaac can be found. Searching of the index is done with keywords that can be further limited by composer, editor, or title of the volume. This powerful new searching tool will make finding musical pieces in these important editions easier than ever.
