Resources for Singers

Finding a Score of a Song
Sometimes you know exactly what piece you're looking for. But how do you find it in the Music Library? Here are a few search tips:

Click on Classic Catalog on the Libraries' home page; then click on Advanced Search.

For song titles, search using keywords.  For example, suppose you are looking for a score of the Schubert song "Im Dorfe."  Type "schubert" in the first box, "im dorfe" in the second box, and "score" in the third box. Notice that you do not need to capitalize. The catalog displays information for the score of the song cycle Winterreise, because "Im Dorfe" is one of the songs in that work. If you then type "winterreise" in place of "im dorfe" you will see more listings for this song cycle.

Sometimes you will be looking for a song that is not part of a larger work. Usually, individual songs are grouped in anthologies, but the library catalog often does not provide the titles of songs contained in each anthology. If you are having trouble finding a song, please stop by the music librarian's office and ask for assistance.  

 

The library has many operas on DVD and VHS, as well as on CD and LP. 

Click here to browse a list of opera and musical theatre videos.

Click here to browse a partial list of opera and musical theatre CDs.

Click here to browse a partial list of opera and musical theatre LPs. 

Finding a Recording of a Particular Piece

Suppose you want to find a CD of the Chansons de Bilitis by Claude Debussy. A keyword search will probably retrieve the most results. Click on Classic Catalog on the Libraries' home page, and then click on Advanced Search. Type "debussy" in the first box, "bilitis" in the second box, and "compact" in the third box. You will find three CDs containing this work, two with the original version for voice and piano, and one with Debussy's later arrangement for voice and chamber ensemble. If you would like to see both CD and LP recordings of this work, type "sound" in place of "compact" in the third box.   

To find a video of a particular opera, for example, Puccini's La Boheme, type "puccini" in the first box, "boheme" in the second box (Notice that you should omit "la," "una," "the," "a," and other similar words at the beginning of titles.) In the third box, type "video?".  Your search will retrieve five videorecordings of this opera.

The library subscribes to three audio databases, Classical Music Library, DRAM (Database for Recorded American Music), and Naxos Music Library. If you are off campus, log in with your MyBama log in. You can then browse the selections by composer, genre, artist, time period, etc. If you know the composer and title of the piece you want to listen to you can type in the composer's last name and the title of the piece. In many cases you will find that there are several recordings of the piece you're looking for.