Research Guides (LibGuides): Singers' and Choral Directors' Bible: Choral Music: general info, sites, and bibliographies

General Info

Most books on choral subjects will possess the classification prefix "MT." Books about conducting and organizations will be found in the range "MT36-89"; books about singing and voice culture will be found in the range "MT820-893"; and books having information relating to choral techniques for children's choirs will be found in the range "MT898-949."

Choral Sites

ACDA: American Choral Directors Association
Founded in 1959, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) is a nonprofit music-education organization whose expressed purposes outline the associations dedication to the advancement of choral music.
American Choral Music
This online collection is a joint collaboration between the American Choral Directors Association and the Library of Congress. The site contains choral music from the public domain that users can download, along with information on the composers and material on each work's historical context and stylistic features. Covers approx. 1870-1923
CANTUS: A Database for Latin Ecclesiastical Chant
Indices of chants in selected manuscripts and early printed sources of the liturgical Office.
CCARH Publications - Scores & Parts
Locate scores and parts for choral works by Bach, Handel, Mozart and Vivaldi.
ChoralNet
Operated by ACDA, ChoralNet is the professional networking site for the global online choral community. It acts as a choral hub, providing access to forums, choral organizations, choirs, resources, and the latest news of interest to the choral world.
ChoralWiki / Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL)
CPDL was founded in December 1998, ported to ChoralWiki in August 2005,
and incorporated in May 2010 as a U.S.A. 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization. Here you will find free choral/vocal scores, texts, translations, and other useful information.
ChoralWiki: Composer subcategories
Here are links to subcategories which organize composers by era and nationality.
ChoralWiki: Music subcategories
Here are links to subcategories which organize music by era, genre, voicing, and style of accompaniment.
Chorus America
Chorus America is the advocacy, research, and leadership development organization that advances the choral field. We support and serve choral conductors, administrators, board members, and singers with tools, training, peer networking, and access so that choruses are better able to contribute to their communities.
IFCM: International Federation for Choral Music
The International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM) was founded in 1982 for the purpose of facilitating communication and exchange between choral musicians throughout the world. IFCM was established as an appointment of UNESCO, and is the official representative of choral music on the International Music Council.
Bach Cantatas Website: Score Section
The Bach Cantatas Website (BCW) is a comprehensive site covering all aspects of J.S. Bach's cantatas and his other vocal works and many of his instrumental works. The score section contains public domain scans of full vocal parts with piano accompaniment!
Laurier Centre for Music In Community
"The mission of LCMC is to provide a scholarly research environment that considers and explores the musical lives of people in the community, and the resulting applications of musical practice on people and institutions. The fundamental belief that music has many meanings and takes many forms is central to the philosophy of LCMC. " (from the site)
Musica International: The Virtual Choral Library
Musica International, first begun in Strasbourg, France in 1983, is a collaborative multilingual multimedia database of the world’s choral repertoire now boasting over 200,000 scores. It is intended for choir directors, publishers, composers, event organizers and, more generally, all lovers of choral music who would like to benefit from a comprehensive and effective tool for selecting, (re)discovering and/or locating scores.

Periodicals Relating to Choral Music

Start your journal browsing here! Be aware: journals ore often held in more than one database. Once you've clicked the links below into the catalog record, click on "Access Journal" to see a list of databases and what their issue availability is.

American Choral Review
American Music Teacher
Choral Journal
Indiana Musicator
INform (web archive hosted by IMEA)
Journal of Research in Music Education
Journal of Singing
Music Educator's Journal
The Voice of Chorus America

Bibliographies published since 2000

Choral Repertoire (2nd ed) by Dennis Shrock
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780197622414
Publication Date: 2022
The second edition of Choral Repertoire is a comprehensive reference book about choral music in Western culture from Gregorian chant to compositions of the early twenty-first century, now expanded to include dozens of new composers with the aim of further expanding and diversifying the western choral repertoire.
Choral-Orchestral Repertoire by Jonathan Green & David Oertel
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781442244672
Publication Date: 2020
Each entry includes a brief biographical sketch of the composer, approximate duration, text sources, performing forces, available editions, and locations of manuscript materials, as well as descriptive commentary, a discography, and a bibliography.
A Conductor's Guide to Selected Baroque Choral-Orchestral Works by Jonathan D. Green
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 1306203120
Publication Date: 2013
In addition to brief biographical sketches for each composer, Green includes for each work the approximate duration, text sources, performing forces, currently available editions, locations of manuscript materials, notes, performance issues, evaluation of solo roles, evaluation of difficulty, and a discography and bibliography.
Choral Music : a research and information guide by Avery T. Sharp; James Michael Floyd
Call Number: REF ML128.C48 S53 2011
ISBN: 9780415994194
Publication Date: 2011-03-23
Way over in Beulah lan' : understanding and performing the Negro spiritual by André J Thomas
Call Number: ML3556 .T49 2007
ISBN: 9780893287238
Publication Date: 2007
In addition to performance practice discussions, interviews, and personal reflections, this book also has sections on collectors of spirituals, arrangers of spirituals, an index of concert spirituals by arranger and by title, a bibliography or sources, and a discography.
Church and Worship Music: an annotated bibliography of contemporary scholarship : a research and information guide by James Michael Floyd; Avery T. Sharp
Call Number: REF ML128.C5368 S53 2005
ISBN: 0415966477
Publication Date: 2005-08-24