Bibliographical References

Platt, Heather. Johannes Brahms: A Guide to Research. New York: Routledge Musical Bibliographies, 2003.

xxviii, 473 p. ISBN 0-815-33850-3. Found in Music Library Reference [ML134.B8 J64 2003]. Also available at Duke University Music Library Reference [016.78092 B813 J65 2003].

This is the newest and most user-friendly Brahms bibliography available at UNC. Its stated purpose is to “guide those not experienced with research on Brahms to the most significant publications and research tools currently available in German and English, and in doing so point out some of the problematic areas.” Part of the series Routledge Music Bibliographies, it is intended as a companion to Thomas Quigley's bibliographies (listed below). While it is not as comprehensive as Quigley's works, it more than makes up for this in utility. Platt's 1,328 entries contain complete citation information, including pagination and Library of Congress call numbers if applicable. Additionally, they all contain some form of annotation, and the majority of these notes are many lines in length. The book is organized by subject area, including “Basic Resources”, “Letters and Recollections”, “Life and Works”, “Orchestral and Chamber Works”, “Keyboard Music”, “Vocal Music”, and others. These areas are further subdivided. The “Life and Works” section will be of particular use to some researching Brahms's life, and should be the first place to look to get a sense of what is generally available. The book is indexed by Name and Subject and contains an index to Brahms's compositions.

Quigley, Thomas. Johannes Brahms: An Annotated Bibliography of the Literature Through 1982. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1990.

xxxix, 721 p. ISBN 0-810-82196-6 (alk. paper). Found in Music Library Reference [ML134.B8 Q5 1990]. Also available at Duke University Music Library Reference [016.78092 B813 Q6 1990].

Quigley, Thomas. Johannes Brahms: An Annotated Bibliography of the Literature from 1982 to 1996. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1998.

697 p. ISBN 0-810-83439-1 (cloth). Found in Music Library Reference [ML134.B8 Q53 1998]. Also available at Duke University Music Library Reference [016.78092 B813 Q6 1998].

Though Quigley's two books listed here are not volumes of the same set per se , they are complementary works. The 1990 work is the result of many years' effort to compile the first complete directory of Brahms research. It lists works covering many different languages from both the 19 th and 20 th centuries and contains annotations of varying lengths. The 1998 work picks up where the earlier book left off both in terms of research since 1982 (though it actually includes some works before 1982) until 1996 and literally, by beginning the first entry with 3198 (the 1990 work ends with 3197). Both are organized by subject, and indexed by title/monographic series, periodicals, and personal names. Together, they total 5,477 entries. The second book also has an index of Brahms works. There is a third book planned extending the Brahms literature coverage through 2007. One criticism by Heather Platt (a reviewer of Quigley's books) is that there is not a subject index, which requires more searching through the books to find exactly what is sought. Chances are very good that any source needed for most undergraduate research is listed in one or the other of these two books. They do make very clear, however, that a large portion of the research on Brahms is in German.

In addition to the organizational style of the first book, the second book also contains a listing of information about Brahms available on the Internet. While this might seem like a wonderful resource to include in an exhaustive catalog of works on a subject, the Internet index should be used sparingly, if at all. No doubt the links all worked at one time, but given that this book is now (as of 2003) five years old, the world of the Internet has changed significantly. Upon a review of the sources, fewer than half of the links still worked, and many of them had not been updated since 1996 (presumably, the last time Quigley saw them).