Finding music in the catalogue

Use the catalogue to search for music held at the National Library of Australia. 

A basic catalogue search using the Music filter

You can use a basic search to search for music by entering your search terms into the text box and changing the “Add Limits” dropdown menu to Music. 

Once you run your search, you can narrow your results using the filters listed on the right-hand side of the page. For example, to limit results to digitised material only, select "NLA digitised material” from the list of filters. 

How do I search for:  

Music titles

Type the title into the basic search text box, select Title from the “All Fields” dropdown menu and select Music from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu. 

For example: results for My Island Home

Composers

Type the composer’s name into the basic search text box, select Author from the “All Fields” dropdown menu and select Music from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu. 

For example: results about composer Dulcie Holland

Musical forms, genres & types

Type a musical form, genre, or type into the basic search text box, select Subject from the “All Fields” dropdown menu and select Music from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu. Instruments can generally be included in the search alongside the form.  

For example: results for SonatasToccatas and Concertos (violin)

Instruments

Type the name of the instrument into the basic search text box, select Subject from the “All Fields” dropdown menu and select Music from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu. It may also be useful on occasions also to include the word 'music' as one of the search terms. 

For example: results for BagpipeDidjeridu music and Guitar music

Groups of instruments

Type the name of the group of instruments into the basic search text box, select Subject from the “All Fields” dropdown menu and select Music from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu. 

For example: results for BrassString quartets and "Big band music"

Music for a single voice with sacred lyrics

Type your search terms into the basic search text box, select Subject from the “All Fields” dropdown menu and select Music from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu. 

For example: results for "sacred songs (low voice) with piano" and "sacred songs with organ"

Music for a single voice with non-sacred lyrics

Type your search terms into the basic search text box, select Subject from the “All Fields” dropdown menu and select Music from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu. 

For example: results for "songs with guitar""songs (low voice) with piano" and "songs (high voice)"

Music for multiple voices

Type your search terms into the basic search text box, select Subject from the “All Fields” dropdown menu and select Music from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu. 

For example: results for "choruses, sacred (mixed voices)"

Vocal works for ten (or more) single voices in combination are found under the subject headings “Vocal ensembles” and “Sacred vocal ensembles”

For example: results for "vocal ensembles, unaccompanied" and "sacred vocal ensembles with orchestra"

Browsing subject headings

You can also search for music by browsing through the subject headings. To do this, visit the catalogue, click the “Browse alphabetically” tab and change the drop-down menu to “Subjects”. 

As you begin typing in the text box, the catalogue will begin suggesting relevant subject headings. 

Browsing the subject headings in the catalogue

When you click on a subject heading, it will open a list of every item in the catalogue with that heading.

Finding music manuscripts

Manuscript music may also be found in the personal papers of Australian musicians, which are held in the National Library's Manuscripts collection. For example, we hold the manuscript papers of composer Liza Lim, conductor Patrick Thomas and music critics Curt and Marea Prerauer. Some of our manuscript collections have Finding Aids linked to the catalogue records; these documents can be used to identify items of interest (such as drafts, unpublished scores, etc.) within a manuscript collection. 

To find musician’s manuscript collections, type the musician’s name into the basic search text box, and select Manuscript from the “Add Limits” dropdown menu.  

Manuscript music is also found in music collections held by the Library, such as Symphony Australia and the Australian Music Centre.  

Music eResources

You can also find music content using the National Library’s eResources portal.  

The portal contains subscribed databases, most of which are accessible from home using your National Library card. There are a few databases related to music, including: 

  • Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990 – contains biographical references for artists active from 1990-2003. 

  • Contemporary Musicians – biographical information on important figures across most genres of modern music. 

  • Oxford Music Online – contains Grove Music Online, Encyclopedia of Modern Music, The Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion to Music. 

To access these databases, visit the eResources portal and sign in with your National Library card (using the yellow bar at the top of the page). Once you are signed into the portal, click the Browse eResources tab and filter the subject area to Music (found under the Arts & Humanities subject filter).