Music

For your project, you need to find a composition from the Renaissance or Baroque period that either is not written in modern notation or not realized accurately. A large portion of the transcriptions of early music held in Ellis Library are of high quality, so it may be easier to find a manuscript, rather than a transcription done in modern notation but with errors. Manuscripts are usually digitized images of the original scores. These are also sometimes called facsimiles.

Searching in Discover@MU

Strategies to try

• Choose the period you want to target (e.g. 17th century, or Baroque)
• Use Subject Terms to focus your search.
  • For example: Music -- 17th century, or Music – 16th century
  • Combine this term with the subject term manuscripts
• Under the Source type dropdown, filter by Music Scores

click/tap the screenshots to see the search results in Discover@MU:

You can try expanding your search a little by toggling to TX All Text for the search term manuscripts. Some of these scores may, however, include high-quality modern transcriptions of the compositions alongside images of the original manuscripts.

• Remember to limit by Format - musical scores.
• You will not find a lot of music manuscripts to choose from, but among the results should be options for your project.

When using a descriptive term for the period or style, such as Baroque, don’t select Subject Term from the menu:

•  baroque AND manuscripts

Of course, if you have identified a composer whose work you would like to transcribe, you may search for their name (last name, first name), but there is no guarantee that there will be manuscripts or transcriptions of their work that is suitable for this project.

• Tip, if there are no manuscripts, look for a transcription that has an older date and is not a critical edition, which may be more likely to be of poorer quality.

Todini, Michele, Basilio Onofri, & Jacob Reiff. Harpsichord. Italian. 1670, wood, gilt, ebony, ivory, parchment. The Met.

Browsing for scores in the stacks

Many early works are published in large anthologies or collections. Find these in the call number ranges M1 or M2 (4th floor east). M = music scores.

Many include works by lesser known composers and most of the collections are of transcriptions done in modern notation. Browsing in person is the best way to determine if any transcriptions are potentially erroneous, and candidates for your transcription assignment.

Some collections of manuscripts to browse for suitable works to transcribe include:

British Library manuscripts M2 .E65 1986

English Song 1600 - 1975,  British Library manuscripts, part 1

Monumentos de la música española    M2 .M4845

Recent researches in the music of the baroque era    M2 .R238

Search to determine if a modern transcription of the composition you have chosen is accessible. Some strategies.

Try searching for the composition in Worldcat, Discover@MU, and/or in IMSLP.

When using Worldcat or Discover@MU, search for the work name as a title keyword, and the composer as an author keyword:

Thematic Catalogs

Try using a thematic catalogue to determine if the work in modern transcription has been published. A thematic catalogue will list all the locations that a composer’s works have been published.

• Search in Discover@MU using the Subject Term: Composer's name -- Thematic catalogs.
• For lesser know composers, they may not have a thematic catalogue.
• Here is an example of searching for a better known composer’s thematic catalogue: Lully, Jean-Baptiste - Thematic catalogs

You can also search for thematic catalogues using online resources:

Collections and anthologies

Note: some works are hidden in collections.

You can use Grove Music entries for composers available through Oxford Music Online to look up where a piece you have found has been published. See the "works" list in the composer’s entry. This should include the location of each work in collections.