About Research in the German Lied
Lied simpy means song in German (Lieder is the plural form.) The entry in Grove states:
If there is a meeting-ground for German musical thought starting around the fifth decade of the 18th century, it is a belief in the primacy of song.
Needless to say, a lot has been written about all aspects of Lied. It will be your job to focus on particular aspects, distill what had been written by others, and draw your own conclusions by examining printed music and listening to sound recordings.
Material on German Lied can be drawn from many fields like history, music, gender studies and literature, just to name a few. In addition to consulting catalogs and indexes, be sure to look at bibliographies supplied at the end of relevant articles, chapters, and books, and to search library catalogs for book-length bibliographies.
There is an abundance of scholarly sources in the library. Begin here before going to questionable Web sources. It's also a good idea to consult several sources to get the full picture on any topic.
It's important to think carefully about any information you find in any format, and to evaluate resources for their accuracy, applicability, and so forth. Evaluation of web resources is especially important. You may want to consult this guide to Evaluating Internet Resources, and this guide to hints on evaluation of books and articles. You can often learn a lot about a page (and a site) by parsing the URL. As always, if you have any questions be sure to ask a Reference Librarian.
In LUCIA, the word lied may appear in titles or in notes, but the Library of Congress Subject Heading is songs.
Books about composers
A book about a composer will begin with the composer's name as a subject heading. Try "Subject begins with..." schubert. You will get a browse list of all items beginning with the subject heading "schubert." If you scroll down the list, you will find some books with the subject heading "Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828. Songs." But remember, general biographies may also contain valuable information about his songs.
Books about poets
Searching for books about poets works the same way: A book about a poet will begin with the poet's name as a subject heading. Try "Subject begins with..." goethe. You will get a browse list of all items beginning with the subject heading "goethe." If you see a subject heading that says "musical settings," you will most likely be looking at a score or recording rather than a book.
Scores: In LUCIA, "Search..." Music scores. This will limit your search to any kind of printed music. You can use the keyword songs plus the composer's name.
Recordings:
In LUCIA, "Search..." Music recordings. This will limit your search to any kind of music recording, CDs, LPs or cassettes. You can use the keyword songs plus the composer's name.
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There are a few different kinds of translations: literal, poetic and phonetic.
- A literal translation is often unsingable in the translated language, since the meter and accents may not match the music. Literal translations, however, will give you the best sense of the meaning of the text.
- A poetic translation will closely match the meter and accents of the music and be singable. However, this kind of translation will not give you a true meaning of the text, since the words are chosen to fit the music rather than convey the precise meaning of the poetry.
- A phonetic translation is valuable for exact pronunciation, but is not a translation from one language to another.
There are many books of song translations in the library. The subjct heading is songs texts. Most of these are in the reference collection with the call number ML54.6.
The library also has many German-English dictionaries in case you have to strike out on your own to get a translation. They are in the reference section, PF3640.
Much background information can be found in entries in Grove. The entry on "Lied" would be the obvious place to begin. The entry on "Germany" has a section on "The History of Folk Music."
Composers' entries will also be helpful. Don't forget to look at the biobliography at the end of each section.
In LUCIA, consult books about German music (keywords: germany, music, literature, 19th century or 18th century.
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Finding Music Journal Articles
RILM is the premiere periodical index to use for music. RILM contains not only citations and abstracts of journal articles, but also citations and abstracts for books, book reviews, book chapters, dissertations, etc. Full-text links may be available in RILM, but the lack of a full-text link does not necessarily mean Lawrence does not have access to that item. It may be a book in the collection, or we may have that journal in paper.
The vocabulary used in RILM for subject headings is not the same as Library of Congress Subject Headings used in LUCIA.
Try combinations of keywords and subject terms. Then when you find an entry that seems to match your topic, look for the terms used by RILM to describe that entry. Then use those terms in your next search.
Depending on your particular language skills, you may want to limit your search to entries in English.
Another music periodical index to consider is:
Music Index Online,1976-2006.
Avaiable from the pull-down menu on the Library Research page.
Citations and some full-text links to articles in both scholarly and popular international music periodicals.
The paper Music Index,1949-1997, is located in the Reference area's index section, shelved
alphabetically by title.
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Finding Articles on Other Subjects
Your research may require a look at non-music periodicals articles. Use indexes to find citations, abstracts and sometimes full-text of periodical articles or full-text of books or other documents. These are all available from the pull-down menu on the Library Research page.
Art Abstracts
Leading publications in the world of the arts.
EBSCOhost.
Follow the link for EBSCOhost Web. Searches a single database or multiple databases. Contains broad and
specialized coverage of academic and general periodicals. Use the Go or
Back button on your browser after exiting EBSCOhost to leave the system.
Expanded Academic ASAP.
Broad coverage of academic periodicals from 1980 to the present. Includes full text of some articles.
Historical Abstracts.
Citations, abstracts and some full text from hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of history.
Historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada.)
MLA International Bibliography. 1963-
The leading source for the field of literary studies. Wide ranging index to just about anything of a scholarly nature related to literature and language.
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Definitions of terms and abbreviations:
Ref. = Reference collection, first floor
RRef.= Ready reference, shelves behind the reference desk
Periodicals = Current issues; Level A
Periodical Back Files = Level A
GovDoc = U.S. Government Documents, second floor
Reference Indexes = Alphabetically arranged at the end of the reference collection
Microform Area = Reading room east of the reference desk, near microform drawers
q. = Oversized books: interfiled in reference and scores; at end of classes in other collections
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