Introduction
Reference sources are a great place to start your research when you need to gather initial information about a topic or get a rough overview of a subject so you can decide what areas to research further. Reference books and online tools are also excellent for looking up a quick fact, definition, or date, and they will often direct you to more sources.
If none of the recommended resources are quite what you're looking for, try a search in the Library catalog for the subject you're researching and "reference", "handbook", "guide", or "companion" to see what reference materials we might have on the subject. Remember that you can always reach out to a librarian for help if your search doesn't turn up promising results!
Reference Material
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Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology This link opens in a new windowThe Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology is the public launch of the 'impossible task' - the replacement for the Dictionary of Hymnology produced by John Julian in 1892, with a supplement in 1907. The Dictionary is the result of ten years' research by a team of editors headed by Professor J.R. Watson, University of Durham, UK, and Dr Emma Hornby, University of Bristol, UK. It is an essential reference resource for scholars of global hymnody, with information on the hymns of many countries and languages, and a strong emphasis on the historical as well as the contemporary. It will be of interest to literary scholars, musicians, church historians, and theologians, and a delight for those who love the hymn as an art form.
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A Dictionary of Hymnology: Setting forth the Origin and History of Christian Hymns of all Ages and Nations; Vol. 1 and 2
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Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ; BV305 J81957This Dover edition is an unabridged republication of the second and last edition, which appeared in a single volume in 1907. A classic resource for discovering information on hymns’ origins, biographical details about composers, and explorations of the development of hymnody in multiple countries and denominations. Available in MPAL Reference or as an e-book via HathiTrust. -
The Hymnal 1982 Companion; Vol. 1-4
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Call Number: MPAL ML3166 H95This four-volume reference work serves as a guide to the history and criticism of English hymns, providing insight into Anglican denominational hymnody, such as that of the Episcopal church. -
Hymnal companion to Worship by
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ; M2119 W6781986Sup.The first companion ever produced for an American Catholic hymnal. -
Analecta hymnica medii aevi
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ; BV468 A52, vols.1-55This 55-volume resource contains the authoritative texts of hundreds of medieval hymns. Analecta Hymnica is available online via HathiTrust or at MPAL in the reference collection.
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Music Reference and Research Materials
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Call Number: ML113 D83M81997This text has been the standard guide to source literature of music and contains critically annotated listings of over 3,500 key sources. -
Encyclopedia of Religion in America
Call Number: Online Resource and Oak St Library Vaults Q. 299.7 En197This authoritative four-volume reference work explains the origins, development, adaptation, influence, and interrelations of the many faiths practiced, including major world religions, new religious sects, cults, and religious movements that originated or had an influence in the United States. -
The Oxford Handbook of Music and World Christianities
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Call Number: Online Resource and MPAL ML3000 .O946 2016The Oxford Handbook of Music and World Christianities investigates music's role in everyday practice and social history across the diversity of Christian religions and practices around the globe. The volume explores Christian communities in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia as sites of transmission, transformation, and creation of deeply diverse musical traditions. -
Encyclopedia Judaica
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Call Number: Q. 296.03 En1922007 (Oak St Library) & Online ResourceProvides an overview of Jewish life and knowledge from the Second Temple period to the contemporary State of Israel, from Rabbinic to modern Yiddish literature, from Kabbalah to "Americana" and from Zionism to the contribution of Jews to world cultures. -
New Catholic Encyclopedia
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Call Number: Q. 282 N4492003 (Oak St Library) & Online ResourceThe first edition of this reference work, called the Catholic Encyclopedia, was published around the turn of the 20th century, with the last revised edition appearing in 1967. This new edition includes the best of the previous entries - many completely revised and updated - as well as new entries, written by subject experts, covering the latest topics of interest. Many thousands of articles are biographical profiles of the people who make up the history of the Catholic Church.
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Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music
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Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ML102.C5 S93H5 2016The dictionary section has more than 800 cross-referenced entries on major types of music, composers, key religious figures, specialized positions, genres of composition, technical terms, instruments, fundamental documents and sources, significant places, and important musical compositions. This book is an excellent reference for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about sacred music. -
Worship Music
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Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ML102.C5 W67The history of Western music is intimately tied to the worship of Christians and Jews. It was the Church and synagogue that provided the context for the development of Gregorian chant, the motet, the cantata, and virtually every important theorist, composer, and performer from Ambrose to Zwingli. Worship Music provides concise information on the people, terms, places, and elements of this worship. Ecumenical in scope and cross-cultural in its perspective, Worship Music focuses on the worship music of English-speaking North Americans. -
The Bible in Music
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Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ML102.C5 L66 2015The authors bring attention to the Bible's impact on popular culture with numerous entries on hymns, spirituals, musicals, film music, and contemporary popular music. Each entry contains essential information about the original context of the work (date, composer, etc.) and, where relevant, its afterlife in literature, film, politics, and liturgy. It includes an index of biblical references and an index of biblical names, as well as a detailed timeline that brings to the fore key events, works, and publications, placing them in their historical context.
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Spirituals : a multidisciplinary bibliography for research and performance
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Call Number: ML3556 .A27S6 2015Located in MPAL Reference
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Bibliographical Handbook of American Music
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Call Number: ML120.U5 K78Located in MPAL Reference and on the shelves at MPAL and the Main Library
Historical Background
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Church and Worship Music in the United States
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Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ; ML128.C54 S53 2017This fully updated second edition is a selective annotated bibliography of all relevant published resources relating to church and worship music in the United States. Over the past decade, there has been a growth of literature covering everything from traditional subject matter such as the organ works of J.S. Bach to newer areas of inquiry including folk hymnology, women and African-American composers, music as a spiritual healer, to the music of Mormon, Shaker, Moravian, and other smaller sects. With multiple indices, this book will serve as an excellent tool for librarians, researchers, and scholars sorting through the massive amount of material in the field. -
Choral Music: A Research and Information Guide
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Call Number: MPAL ML128.C48 S53C4 2011This is an annotated bibliography to books, recordings, videos, and websites on choral music. This book will serve as an excellent tool for librarians, researchers, and scholars in sorting through the massive amount of new material that has appeared since publication of the previous edition. -
The Forms and Orders of Western Liturgy from the Tenth to the Eighteenth Century
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Call Number: Main Stacks 264.02009 H232FAn introduction to the principal forms and orders of Western liturgy between about 900 and 1700, this book explains their nature and basic historical origin, and presents in detail the contents and orders of principal services as well as additional and special forms of worship. -
Music and Religious Education in Early Modern Europe
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Call Number: ML3000 .M885 2023This cross-disciplinary volume of essays offers the first comprehensive set of studies to examine the role of music in educational and religious reform and the underlying notions of music in early modern Europe.
