- British Broadcasting Corporation. Choral and Opera Catalogue.London:
British Broadcasting Corporation, 1967. 2v. ML128 .V7 B76.
Composer and title lists, with the genres intermixed. Gives publisher and dura-
tion for about 60,000 works.
Numerous library inventories include operatic works along with other kinds of music.
For major examples see IOM0227–0240, 0370–0389, and Duckles,section 7. Spe-
cial notice is due to the outstanding cooperative list for North American libraries:
120.National Union Catalog: Pre–1956 Imprints.London: Mansell, 1968–1981.
754v. Z1215 .U47.
With about 13,000,000 entries, this is the largest bibliographic work ever pub-
lished. It consists of photocopies from the card catalogues of 1,500 research
libraries in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, representing monographs published
before 1956. Sequence of material is alphabetical by author. Musical works
are listed under names of composers; they include all editions, transcriptions,
arrangements, libretti in various languages, and so on. Library locations are
given. To exemplify the scope of the set, there are 182 entries for versions of
Faustand 289 for Don Giovanni.- United States. Library of Congress. Library of Congress Catalog—Music,
Books on Music, and Sound Recordings, 1953–.Washington, D.C.: Library of
Congress, 1953–. Semiannual; annual and quinquennial cumulations. ISSN
0092–2838. Z881 .U52 M8.
From 1953 to 1972 the title was Music and Phonorecords.The title adopted in
1973, National Union Catalog,marked the inclusion of entries from a number
of cooperating libraries. Materials processed in any of the libraries during the
time period of each volume are included. Genres included are music scores,
books about music, and sound recordings whether of music or speech. Since
1991 this title has been issued only in microfiche and as part of the CD-ROM
and online versions of the National Union Catalog(described in GRB).
Other important library catalogues include those of the New York Public Library
(Duckles7.362) and the British Library (Duckles7.258).
Guides to Resources
Guidance to library resources for musical scholarship is offered by a number of
works. A good overview of resource guides appears in Duckles,section 7. NGDO2,
1163–1185, has a strong entry for “Libraries and Archives” by John Wagstaff; it lists
important collections by country and city and notes the writings about each one.
Other useful titles:
122.Directory of Music Research Libraries. Ed. Rita Benton. Kassel: Bärenreiter,
1967–. ML12 .B45.
A sweeping guide to the world’s music libraries, with five volumes published to
date. Issued originally in a “preliminary edition” by Rita Benton (U. of Iowa
Press, 1967–1970; 2v.) and the International Association of Music Libraries;
later assimilated into RISM,Series C. It is a country/city listing of libraries,28 Opera