FAQs: Finding songs, arias, and translations

Composer Complete Works

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The songs and arias of major composers are usually included in editions of their complete works. Since these are large collections, individual songs will not be listed in the citation, and therefore cannot be retrieved by searching Socrates. These sets are generally classed as M3 and are shelved downstairs in the stacks, roughly in alphabetical order by composer.

To find an exact call number, do a Socrates search, with the composer name as author and "works" as the title word. It is helpful to limit your search to "scores" in the format box. You may get several citations in your result. Look for those with [Works] as their complete title. Some composers such as Bach and Mozart will have more than one complete edition. Note that many of these sets are incomplete or are still in progress.

Author:	mozart
Keyword:	works
Format:	scores

To find which volume of a composer's works you need, you can:

• use the works list at the end of the article about the composer in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ML100 .G82 1980 Music Reference Room
• use Historical Sets, Collected Editions, and Monuments of Music by Anna Heyer, copies located in the Music Reference Room ML113. H616 1980, and at the very beginning of the M's downstairs in the stacks (i.e. before the M1's)
• use a thematic index of the composer's works, if one exists. These are mostly kept in the Reference Room in roughly alphabetical order by composer, with call numbers beginning with ML134. For example, the thematic index for Schubert can be found at ML134. S38D483 1978.

These listings are not always current so you may not find the song you are looking for in them. Also, for the sets still in progress, the volume you need may not yet be published.