Guide to Band Music Resources

This is an introductory guide to locating information and materials related to band music. It is not a complete bibliography, but rather indicates key resources and types of materials that one may find useful when seeking information in this area. All listed items are available in the University of Michigan Music Library.


Browsing Areas

The following are selected call number ranges where band music materials may be found. For more specific call numbers, consult Mirlyn.

M 1200-1249	band music
M 1254-1269	band music arrangements
ML 1300-1354	band history and criticism
MT 733	band performance, etc.
Z 6814 .B3	band music bibliographies

Subject Headings

The following are a few examples of subject headings related to band music which you may find useful when searching or browsing in Mirlyn. For a complete list, consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings located on top of the New Book Shelf.

For scores and recordings:

• band
• band music
• suites (band)
• symphonies (band)
• variations (band)
• marches (band)
• concertos (band)
• band music, arranged

For books:

• band music
• wind ensembles
• bands (music)
• military music
• brass bands
• marching bands

Reference Guides

Band Music Guide: Alphabetical Listing of Titles and Composers of All Band Music. 7th ed. Evanston, IL: Instrumentalist Co., 1978.
Reference: Z 6814 .B3 B49 1978

Contains two lists of titles, one arranged alphabetically by title, the other by composer.

Rasmussen, Richard Michael. Recorded Concert Band Music, 1950-1987: A Selected, Annotated Listing. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1988.
Reference: ML 156.4 .B3 R41 1988

A listing of recorded band music, arranged alphabetically by composer. Includes an index that cross-references by composer, title of composition, performing group, album title, conductor, and solo instrument.

Rehrig, William H. The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music. Edited by Paul E. Bierley. 3 vols. Westerville, OH: Integrity Press, 1991.
Reference: Z 6814 .B3 R34 1991

This encyclopedia attempts to document all editions of all works published for concert and military bands. Organized alphabetically by composer, the volumes provide brief biographical information along with a list of the composer's known works for band.

Smith, Norman E. March Music Notes. Lake Charles, LA: Program Note Press, 1986.
Reference: ML 105 .S641 1986

This guide is organized alphabetically by composer, providing biographical information for composers of marches and brief program notes on over 600 of the most popular marches from the last three centuries.

Smith, Norman E. Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2002.
Reference: ML 102 .B35 S54 2002

Organized by composer, this book provides biographical information about composers of band music, as well as brief program notes for selected works.

Whitwell, David. The History and Literature of the Wind Band and Wind Ensemble. 9 vols. Northridge, CA: Winds, 1982-1984.
ML 930 .W62

Volumes one through five cover the history of the wind band and wind ensemble from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century; volumes six through nine are catalogs of wind music of the same periods.

Concert Band Studies

Battisti, Frank L. The Winds of Change: The Evolution of the Contemporary American Wind Band/Ensemble and Its Conductor. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2002.
ML 1311.5 .B381 2002

A study of the development of the wind ensemble and its literature. Includes discussions of significant conductors, composers, ensembles, compositions, commissions, and events.

Cipolla, Frank J., and Donald Hunsberger, eds. The Wind Ensemble and Its Repertoire: Essays on the Fortieth Anniversary of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 1994.
ML 1300 .W581 1994

Includes essays on the origins and development of the wind band, the wind band repertoire, and the international spread of the wind ensemble.

Goldman, Richard Franko. The Concert Band. New York: Rinehart, 1946.
ML 1300 .G62

Includes chapters on the development of the concert band, the modern concert band, and the functions of the instruments within the band.

Goldman, Richard Franko. The Wind Band: Its Literature and Technique. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1962.
ML 1300 .G63 1974

This study addresses a wide range of topics including the European origins of the modern band, the history of American bands from the Revolution through the twentieth century, contemporary bands of various types, technical problems of the band, band repertoire, and suggested solutions to practical problems of bands.

Whitwell, David, and Acton Ostling Jr., comp. The College and University Band: An Anthology of Papers from the Conferences of the College Band Directors National Association, 1941-1975. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference, 1977.
ML 1311 .C69

A large collection of essays concerning the concert band and its music, band instrumentation, the marching band, and conductor techniques. Also includes analyses of five band works.

Military Band Studies

Camus, Raoul F. Military Music of the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1976.
ML 1311 .C22

Focuses on the development and use of military bands in the Revolutionary period. Also includes discussions of European military music traditions and the foundations of American military music.

White, William Carter. A History of Military Music in America. New York: Exposition Press, 1944.
ML 1311 .W58

A general history of military music in the United States from the mid-eighteenth century through 1943. The book devotes sections to the bands and music of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, civilian bands, and the history of each of the armed forces bands.

Brass Band Studies

Hazen, Margaret Hindle, and Robert M. Hazen. The Music Men: An Illustrated History of Brass Bands in America, 1800-1920. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987.
ML 1311 .H31 1987

Presents the evolution of the American band movement from the early nineteenth century, through the golden age of the late nineteenth century, through the end of World War I. Draws upon original band records, contemporary newspaper accounts, band programs, and photographs.

Herbert, Trevor, ed. Bands: The Brass Band Movement in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Milton Keynes, England: Open University Press, 1991.
ML 1331 .B261 1991

A collection of essays addressing the brass band movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, brass band contests, and Australian brass bands.

Newsome, Roy. Brass Roots: A Hundred Years of Brass Bands and Their Music, 1836-1936. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 1998.
ML 1331 .N491 1998

This study covers the hundred years from 1836 in which brass bands flourished. The author discusses the origins of brass bands, the competition culture that developed and how this fostered the growth of bands, and the eventual decline in the popularity of brass bands.

Marching Band Studies

A Portrait of a Tradition: One Hundred Years of the Michigan Marching Band. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Marching Band, 1998.
ML 1311.7 .M5 P67 1998

A pictorial history of the University of Michigan Marching Band from 1898 through 1998.

Range, Thomas E., and Sean Patrick Smith. The Penn State Blue Band: A Century of Pride and Precision. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999.
ML 1311.7 .P4 R36 1999

A history of the Blue Band from its origins through 1999.

Vickers, Steve, ed. A History of Drum and Bugle Corps. Madison, WI: Sights & Sounds, 2002.
ML 1310 .H57 2002

This is a thorough look at the history of drum and bugle corps activity from its origin in the 1920s through the end of the twentieth century. The books addresses topics such as the evolution of the bugle, the evolution of musical and visual design, drum and bugle corps recordings and scores, the establishment of DCI, and drum and bugle corps in Canada.

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University of Michigan Music Library
Last updated 6/07