This section provides an overview of recommended books and scores, with links to facilitate on-line purchase through Amazon.com, a leading on-line retailer. Though we have made every effort to include current information, books go in and out of print all the time, and they may change ISBN designations between editions, making it difficult to ensure that all links are operative at all times. Some recommended books are currently out-of-print, but are still included as they may be available in local libraries or through used book sellers.

We welcome feedback, suggestions, additions, and corrections to this information.

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Information & Resources

• Acoustics - By or about the science and technology of sound and music, including acoustics, psychoacoustics, and the psychophysics of music
• Ballet - About ballet, dance, and musical theatre
• Biography - By or about the lives of musicians, composers, theorists or other musically important people
• Chamber Music - About compositions, composers with specific emphasis on their chamber compositions, performing groups, amateur experiences, technical and/or popular discussion of music for small ensembles
• Composers and Composition - Essays by composers on composition, texts on composition
• Conducting - On conductors and conducting technique
• Criticism & Commentary - Books by, about, or for music critics
• Discographies & Record Guides
• Fiction - Books that have as main characters or themes something about classical music
• History - Texts and outlines, general and specific periods
• Humor - Jokes and anecdotes
• Illustrations and Photos - Including instruments, performers, and title pages
• Instrumental - Includes treatises about specific instruments or instrument families, and teaching techniques of famous performers and teachers
• Lieder - Translations, poetry of the Lieder, singers, history
• Music Appreciation - Techniques for enjoying music and getting the most out of being an active listener
• Music Education - For students and teachers
• Music Industry - About the business of music
• Music and the Mind - Philosophy, psychology, aesthetics and perception
• Opera - Everything from libretto and synopsis to sociological discussion, productions, memoirs
• Orchestration - Counterpoint, instrumentation, orchestration, style, and history
• Reference Works
• Scores - Including facsimiles, sheet music, lyrics, and libretti
• Thematic Indices
• Theory and Analysis - Technical discussions of harmony, form, and related subjects including counterpoint
• Vocal Technique - Including diction, breathing, ensemble singing