Recently in New Electronic Resources Category
Temple University Libraries is pleased to announce the addition of new online streaming audio resources.
American Song contains over 50,000 songs in every style, period, and genre. Genres represented include Blues, Tin Pan Alley, Cajun, Cowboy, Ragtime, African-American songs, Bluegrass, sacred, and choral music. One can browse the database by historical events such as D-Day, the Cuban Missile Crisis, or the first moon landing. Also included are presidential campaign songs from 1789-1996.
Contemporary World Music provides twentieth and twenty-first century music from everywhere in the world. Genres include reggae, world beat, Balkanic jazz, African film, Bollywood, and Arab swing as well as more traditional genres such as Indian Classical, fado, flamenco, klezmer, gospel, and more. One can search or browse genre, people groups, instruments, geographic location, and performer.
Database of Recorded American Music (DRAM) is a non-profit initiative funded by the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and other organizations. This database provides streaming audio of American music from New World Records, CRI, Albany, Innova, Cedilla, XI, Pogus, Deep Listening, and Mutable Music labels. A wide array of genres is represented: folk, Native American, jazz, 19th century classical, early rock, musical theater, contemporary, electronic, and more. Searching and browsing by composer, instrument, performer, record labels, and titles of compositions is available.
These databases provide depth and variety to the repertoire offered by Temple’s online audio resources.
For a list of streaming audio resources provided by Temple University Libraries see guides.temple.edu/music.
Please feel free to contact me for further information about these resources.
-Anne Harlow
Temple University Libraries is pleased to announce the addition of Theatre in Video to its online resources. Theatre in Video is an entirely different kind of database, offering streaming video of entire plays. Included in the repertoire are the BBC’s productions of the entire works of Shakespeare, as well as plays from antiquity to modernity, unlimited by geographic origin. In addition to plays, Theatre in Video contains documentaries about notable playwrights and directors such as August Wilson, Bertolt Brecht, Henrik Ibsen, Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Konstantin Stanislavsky, Tennessee Williams, and many more. Productions range in date from 1936 to 2005.
Theatre in Video is easy to access and to use. Viewers can do a general search for a particular play, performer, playwright, or director, or browse lists of productions, documentaries, people, genres, companies, theatres, and dates. Students and professors can make personal playlists of clips which can be shared.
Theatre in Video is an exciting new kind of database, opening a new dimension in online offerings from Temple University Libraries, useful for instruction in many disciplines, as well as for enjoyment.
If you have any questions concerning Theatre in Video, feel free to contact me, Anne Harlow, aharlow@temple.edu.
Temple University Libraries is pleased to announce the addition of Classical Scores Library, a new database containing the digitized printed music of hundreds of works. The current release of 1,075 scores includes works by 49 composers of in-copyright material from Boosey & Hawkes as well as material from the University Music Editions microfilm series. Examples of composers included in this first release are Copland, Britten, Stravinsky, and Rorem, and many others. Upon completion, the database will include the entire UME catalog, manuscript materials, complete works of major composers as well as lesser-known composers, and multiple editions of some works for comparison and analysis.
Access and use of the database are simple and practical. Users can search or browse by composer, genre, instrument, type of score, and time period. Scores can also be searched by duration, language, year of publication, and publisher. The scores are provided in pdf format and can be easily downloaded and/or printed.
An exciting feature of the database is cross-linking online scores to corresponding sound recordings with sister database Classical Music Library. Listeners can easily follow the score online in Classical Scores Library at the same time as listening to the music.
Please feel free to contact me, Anne Harlow aharlow@temple.edu, for further information regarding this new resource
Naxos Music Library / Naxos Music Library Jazz
Temple University Libraries is pleased to announce the
addition of Naxos Music Library and Naxos Music Library Jazz
to our online streaming audio offerings.
The basis of the collection consists of the entire output of
the Naxos Recording Company. The mission of the company is
and has been since its inception in 1987 to provide the
widest possible range of repertoire to the widest possible
audience, resulting in an extremely extensive online musical
library.
All of Naxos’ recordings are available in the online service
whether they are out of print or still available for
purchase, and every new recording is included in the online
database as soon as it is commercially released. The
collection includes classical, jazz, blues, and world music.
The classical repertoire is thoroughly represented,
including unusual and contemporary works that cannot be
heard elsewhere such as the works of Joachim Raff, William
Henry Fry, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bohuslav Martinu, and
others. The strength of the Naxos collection is in its breadth. The
world music collection is particularly strong in the music
of East Asia. The content of the database grows not only by
the production of new recordings, but also by Naxos
negotiating with other recording companies to include
additional repertoire. Their website states that an
average of 39 CD’s per month were added in 2006.
The interface is easy to use and quite intuitive. Plenty of
online help is available, including a FAQ, User Guide, and
User Instructions. One can use the Advanced Search Feature
to search by keyword, disc or composition title, composer,
artist, record label, arranger, lyricist, performing group,
genre or music category, instrument, period, country, year
composed, and by mood or scenarios. In addition, the
collection is browsable by genres such as Classical,
Jazz/Contemporary, World/Folk, New Age, Chinese, Pop and
Rock and also by categories such as Ballet, Chamber Music,
Sacred Choral, Secular Choral, Composers, Concertos,
Educational, Film Music, Instrumental, Musicals,
Opera/Operetta, TV Music, Vocal, and Collections.
Naxos provides podcasts such as Classical Music Spotlight,
Choral Music of Thomas Tallis, American Jewish Music from
the Milken Archive with Leonard Nimoy, and interviews with
performers and composers.
Faculty can create folders for shared playlists for use in
classes, and provide persistant links to sound recordings in
course management software such as Blackboard .
Sound recordings provide an additional and enjoyable layer
of depth to the understanding of culture and history. The
Naxos Collection is invaluable for teaching history, ethnic
studies, world cultures, and African-American studies as
well as for music, dance, and theater.
Enjoy!
Anne Harlow
