Guide to Finding Musical Analyses

Related Links

Definition

A musical analysis is the analytical breakdown of the musical form, style, key signature etc of a piece of music. It is a study tool for understanding and appreciating music. 

Information within the State Library Building

The State Library has excellent resources for finding musical analyses and assisting in doing one’s own analysis of a musical work. Resources include books on the subject, chapters in books, journal articles, program notes, record and CD covers, e-resources and access to websites containing relevant information.

State Library Catalogue

The catalogue is available on all public computers within the building and remotely via the Internet at www.slwa.wa.gov.au 

Keyword Search

Keyword searching is the best place to start searching

• Go to the library’s home page or http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/
• Click Search our Catalogue
• Click Search the entire Catalogue
• Click Keyword
• In the Enter Search Terms box type the composer’s name, part of the title of the music piece with an asterisk to truncate the title, and the word analysis e.g. bach prelude* analysis
• Click Submit search and you will get a list of titles
• This will contain books on the subject combined with some articles and chapters found in journals and books
• Click the first underlined title to find where the book or journal is located
• Scroll through the records by selecting Prev (previous) or Next
• Click Return to Browse to view your original list

Subject Search

A subject search gives a broader look at the specific topics surrounding your chosen piece such as

• musical form being studied  e.g. sonatas, concertos, symphonies, operas, piano music, quartets etc.
• the particular instrument, such as flute or piano
• the composer

All these searches will give you additional material in both books and within journals.

• Enter the catalogue as above
• Click on Subject
• Enter a search term such as sonatas piano or flute or chopin
• In order to remove any scores and recordings from your list, click Limit/Sort Search, go to the Material type box and select books
• Do the same search a second time, this time selecting General Index from the same drop down menu.

Journals

The State Library has a collection of journals that contain musical analyses. Many of these are traceable via the catalogue.

Program Notes

We have an extensive listening collection of compact discs and LPs that can be checked for program notes.  Many orchestras, choral societies and other musical groups have websites that include program notes.

Web Resources

Check these useful Internet sites on musical analysis:

UT Analysis Index
Check the valuable UT Analysis Index, a database of musical analyses, searchable by composer and the name of piece, from the George F. Divine Music Library at the University of Tennessee

Society for Musical Analysis
Homepage of a British society dedicated to musical analysis.

Free Internet access is available on public computers throughout the State Library Building and through the wireless network ENABLEnet.