Collection Development Policies:

Music

Introduction: The music program offers studio work in the performing arts, courses in appreciation, history and criticism, technical and theoretical training, and teacher preparation, at the bachelor’s and master’s degree levels. Faculty research interests are principally in performance and recording. The Holland and Terrell Libraries collections in music and theatre support student coursework and research at the bachelor's and master's levels. Students, professionals and critics of the performing disciplines need information resources beyond traditional textual materials. Musical scores, sound recordings and media materials are of equal value to the printed word. The interrelationships among these media cannot be overemphasized in a discussion of this subject.

Other disciplines in the humanities and world civilizations also rely heavily on the music collections.

Purpose: To support teaching and research at the Bachelor's and Master's levels in the fields of applied music, music education, musicology, ethnomusicology, composition and music theory, primarily on the Pullman campus. To support faculty course preparation and performance.

General Collection Guidelines:
  1. Languages: English, with selective acquisition of Western European language materials. Where a publication consists mainly of musical notations, any language and alphabet may be represented as necessary.
  2. Chronological Guidelines: From antiquity to the present.
  3. Geographical Guidelines: No restrictions. A balance between western art music, jazz, and world music is sought.
  4. Types of Material: Monographs and reference books in print and electronic formats; periodicals in print and electronic formats; music scores and parts, research sets in score, music facsimiles and reprints, microfilm, sound recordings, videotapes, DVDs, and electronic databases.
  5. Location of Materials: Print materials on the subject of music reside in the Holland and Terrell Libraries. The WSU Libraries’ collection of audio materials is housed in the Holland and Terrell Libraries' Media Materials & Reserves (MMR). The WSU Libraries’ collection of scores is housed as a courtesy in the departmental library in the Music Department.
    **Note: The Music Department purchases and maintains its own collection of sound recordings, which is outside the purview of this statement.
  6. Date of Publication: Current scholarship is given primary consideration. Reprints and older editions are acquired when need is evident.
  7. Exclusions: Sound recordings except compact discs. Rare and early editions, multiple copies of scores for classroom and performance use. Ephemera such as brochures, programs, pamphlets, juvenilia.
Observations and Qualifications by Subject with Collection Level:

Historical Musicology (see also Theory and Analysis): General and Regional Music Histories: C(1) Western Music: C(1) Scholarly monographs on all subjects of western music from antiquity to the present. (Music will include collected works, scholarly editions of music written up to 1650,and reputable and/or requested editions of music after 1650, including arrangements and simplifications, contemporary works, e.g., electronic music, etc.) Musical Instruments: C(2) Works on their history and construction. Music Philosophy and Aesthetics: C(2) Ethnomusicology : C(2) Also of particular interest to anthropologists and folklorists, and World Civilization Core Curriculum Project. General and Regional Ethnomusicological Histories: C(2) No geographical limitations. Includes studies in the methodology of the discipline. Scores to be purchased as requested. Special emphasis on Pacific Northwest Native American music. Non-Western Music: C(1) Technical, artistic, anthropological, sociological and other aspects of non-Western music. Western Folk Music: C(2) Important folk music collections; other scores to be purchased only as requested. Western Popular Music: C(2) Theory and Analysis: C(2) Rudiments of Music: C(2) Includes rhythm, meter and tempo, melody, harmony and counterpoint, form, orchestration and arranging, and sight-singing. Textbooks at all levels; emphasis is on current imprints. Music Theory: C(1) Monographs dealing primarily with recent theoretical development, analytical techniques, and analysis of specific works. Collections of musical examples and full and study scores are necessary to support these studies. Composition: C(1) Emphasis on techniques of composition. Performance Practice and Techniques: General and Historical Treatments of Performance Practice: C(2) Conducting: C(2) Some textbooks; emphasis on modern practice and current imprints. Instrumental and Vocal Techniques and Methods: C(1) For research and both individual and class instruction. Important historical treatments, modern practices, textbooks and manuals, scholarly monographs. Instrument Maintenance and Repair: C(2) Dramatic Music: C(1) Performance histories and criticisms, practical manuals on opera production. For other practical aspects of theatrical productions see: Theatre, section on "Theater Design, Production, and Management." Music Education: C(2) Methods of teaching music theory, history, and practice, including instrumental pedagogy. Musical Scores: C(1) Guidelines for the acquisition of musical scores are included in the foregoing arrangement by subject subdivision; the following broadly delineates the acquisition of scores by chronological period:

General:

Collected and/or complete works of selected composers. Miniature and study scores for all major works.

Performing editions of traditional standard chamber works, and less-known chamber works at the discretion of the selector and/or per faculty request.

Important selected folk music collections and scores of non-Western music..

Anthologies and "monument" editions of early music.

Reputable performing editions and arrangements of early music..

Oratorios, operas, operettas, and important musicals; piano-vocal scores are acquired as a priority; full or miniature scores are also acquired when possible, particularly for major works.

NOTE: Selected different editions of works in the above categories are often desirable and necessary.

Bob Matuozzi
Spring 2011

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