General biographical sources

  • The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music.1996. Ref. ML105 H38 1996.
  • World Biographical Index of Music. 1995. Ref. ML105 I63 1995 vols. 1-2.
  • Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. 8th ed. 1992. Ref. ML105 B16 1992. Contains over 10,000 entries, many including works lists and bibliographic references.
  • Greene, Composers on Record : an index to biographical information on 14,000 composers whose music has been recorded 1985. Ref. ML105 G78 1985. A valuable index to biographical entries in music dictionaries, encyclopedias, discographies, and other sources.
  • The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Oxford Online. Ref. ML100 N48 2001. Articles include biographical information, works lists (for composers), and bibliographies.
  • Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Ref. ML100 B7 M8. German-language encyclopedia of music. Includes more detail than the New Grove Dictionary for certain entries, including additional works lists.