General Scope The music collection primarily supports the instructional and research needs of undergraduates, master’s level graduate students and faculty in all areas of music, including interdisciplinary needs (i.e., area studies, anthropology, comparative literature, drama, modern languages, and physics). The collection is also heavily used by the general student and faculty bodies and by the Dartmouth community and the community at large for recreational and avocational purposes.
Audience The first courses in music were offered by Musical Director Charles Henry Morse in 1901, and in 1915 Morse was offered faculty status. Institutional interest in the arts heightened in the 1920’s, although resources for the arts were slender between the world wars. By 1940, the Department of Music had four full-time faculty, and offered eight courses, and by 1950 a music major was first offered. The Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts was built in 1962, which ushered in a new era of musical activity for the Dartmouth community and the Upper Valley area. Since the early 1960’s, enrollments in music courses have increased dramatically, and the department has seen such developments as the founding of the Bregman Electronic Music Studio in 1968, the expansion of the curriculum to include ethnomusicology in the 1970’s, the regular presentation of honor’s theses in music in the 1980’s, the creation of the Master’s Program in Electroacoustic Music in 1988, and the establishment of the Music Foreign Study Program in London in 1989. During the 1990’s and beyond, a number of substantial Senior Fellowship projects in music have been supported, and the Music Department has had a number of Presidential Scholars, Fulbright Scholars and Reynolds Grant recipients, in addition to graduating music majors continuing their music studies at graduate programs elsewhere. Since 2000, the Music Department has made a number of curriculum revisions, and the Master's Program is now a Master of Arts Degree in Digital Musics. The undergraduate music major includes courses in music theory, music history and literature (both Western Art Music and World Music), requirements in performance and musicianship, and a senior year culminating activity. There are additional offerings in digital musics, musical theater, jazz, composition, conducting, and various other special topics. A Master's degree in Digital Musics requires musical performance ability, knowledge of musical theory and musical styles, seminars in music and technology, courses in psychology, mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering, and directed research resulting in a thesis.
Boundaries With a few exceptions, music is a well defined subject with music and literature about music falling within and defining the M classification of the Library of Congress classification system and holdings are located in Paddock Music Library. Early holdings are distributed in the Dewey classification 780-789 and are located in the Storage Library. Exceptions as to location occur when there are overlaps with the physical sciences, engineering, anthropology, or the humanities in general.
Partnerships Borrow Direct music librarians have been collaborating for many years, and have developed and implemented a cooperative collection development approval plan with Theodore Front to share comprehensive collecting of scores of about 1500 20th and 21st century composers. Work is in progress to share print back back-runs of our collective serials holdings in music, thereby allowing discards of duplication.
Specific Delimitations to collecting in this subject area
Languages English is the primary language of the research collection. Secondary works in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian are purchased selectively. Scores and sound recordings are purchased regardless of the origin of publication or the language in which introductory material is written; for vocal scores, preference is given to the language in which the score was originally written.
Geographical Areas There are no geographical limitations to the purchase of music materials; however, the majority of materials purchased are published in North America and Europe.
Types of Materials Collected Monographs, periodicals, librettos, indexes and abstracts, bibliographies and other standard reference sources and secondary literature of music are either purchased in print or digital form. Pedagogical works in the area of performance (i.e., method books) are generally not purchased.
Format of Materials Collected Scores are collected in critical editions, performance editions, and study editions. Performance editions are usually limited to those of nine or fewer parts. Multiple copies are not maintained. Compact disc is the preferred format for sound recordings, although some works previously collected in other than CD format (i.e., LP discs, cassette tapes) are currently retained. Streaming audio databases subscribed to also provide access to sound recordings. Videos (operas, ballets, musical theater, historical/biographical, world music, etc.) are purchased in DVD format, while some previously collected in VHS format are also retained. Streaming video databases subscribed to also provide access to video recordings. Software (instructional, MIDI sequencing and music printing) and CD-ROM programs are purchased in Apple OS, whenever possible. Consideration is given to products in Microsoft OS as well.
Collective Collections Borrow Direct collective collections, the collections of the Center for Research Libraries, and the HathiTrust enhance local collections and discovery of local resources. Rare and unique music materials are located in Rauner Library, and include an extensive collection of American popular sheet music (ca. 1790-1950), manuscripts of compositions commissioned by the Congregation of the Arts (1964-69), historical materials about the Hutchinson Family, and Medieval and Renaissance chant and polyphonic manuscripts from the 10th through the 16th centuries. Reel-to-reel tape recordings of Hopkins Center performances, including those of the Congregation of the Arts, are located in Rauner. Some of these tapes are of historical significance, and might be candidates for archival preservation. Recordings of electronic music compositions by Dartmouth students, faculty and electronic composers worldwide are located in the Bregman Phonotape collection in the Storage Library. The Hopkins Center houses orchestral and choral libraries administered by the conductors of the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra and the Handel Society/Chambers Singers.
Revision History
September 2016 (P. Fisken, updated)
January 2011 (P. Fisken, updated)
September 1994 (P. Fisken, updated)
September 1989 (P. Fisken, created)
Patricia B. Fisken (patricia.b.fisken@dartmouth.edu)