MUS 3603W: History of Western Music III

Exploring primary sources

Historical newspapers and periodicals can be great ways to conduct reception history research, and exploring how a piece was disseminated and received. Concert announcements, performance reviews, record reviews, and even obituaries can provide insight into how contemporary audiences felt about the music they heard and the productions they saw. The following resources my lead you to useful primary sources for your MUS 3603W project:

  • ProQuest Historical Newspapers is a great place to search for concert reviews, interviews, obituaries, and more, since this database allows you to search a large number of newspaper archives from all over the US (and select cities from other places in the world) at one time. For a wider range of newspaper databases, visit the Find Newspapers and Magazine Articles page of the Music-Related databases page.
     
  • Interested in a composer active before 1966? Explore Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals (RIPM)!
     
  • Working on a jazz-related topic? Check out RIPM Jazz Periodicals! This database includes high-quality scans of historical American jazz periodicals, and currently contains over a hundred jazz journals dating from 1914 to 2010.
     
  • Exploring primary sources like letters, photographs, and other archival materials might give you more context for the information in concert and record reviews. Check out the resources linked from the Music-Related Databases Guide's Find Primary Sources page, or consider exploring one of our on-campus archives - The University Libraries, the Performing Arts Archive, and the Immigration History Research Center Archive (all located on the Twin Cities campus), as well as digital and physical historical collections made available by other institutions can all be incredible resources to give your program note, term paper, or dissertation depth and richness.
     
  • Not finding what you need? Make an appointment to meet with Jessica (jabbazio@umn.edu) to discuss your specific project, and we'll identify a curated group of resources that are right for you!
Last Updated: Feb 8, 2024 4:16 PM