MUSIC AND DANCE

1. INTRODUCTION

The Music and Dance Library is situated in the School of Music in Symonds Street. It aims to support the work of the music and dance programmes of the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries and the Faculty of Arts by providing the resources and services needed for teaching, learning, performance, composition and research in music, music education, and dance.

2. HISTORY

The University of Auckland Music Library began in a modest way in 1903, when the then Professor of Music was authorised to order about £4.15 worth of books. In 1968, the Music Library was established in its present form, when books from the General Library were transferred and added to the scores of the School of Music held in Pembridge, a stately Victorian house in Princes Street. In 1986, the Music Library moved into a new building in Symonds Street, especially designed for the School. During 1997 most of the music related materials in the General Library were transferred to the Music Library.

Dance was introduced as a subject at the Tamaki Campus, but teaching transferred to the City Campus in 1999. In late 1998 the dance materials (books, periodicals and videos) were relocated from the Tamaki Campus Library to the Music Library to provide support for dance courses.

Management of the School of Music's Record Library and Listening Room was transferred to the Music Library in March 2002. In June 2008 the School of Music's choral and orchestral scores were also transferred to the Library.

3. DESCRIPTION OF COLLECTION

Music libraries are unique in that four types of musical information, books, scores, periodicals and recordings, are regularly required to be consulted simultaneously. The collection at present amounts to over 45,000 volumes, of which approximately three quarters are scores or sets of parts. The sound recording collections contain approximately 4,000 LPs and 5,500 CDs. More than 800 DVDs and videos about music and dance are also held. Electronic resources are being acquired, either by subscription or by providing access to relevant sites via the Music Library home page on Library website.

The main concentration is that of Western art-music. Special emphases of the School are reflected, in varying degrees, in the following areas: Mediaeval and Renaissance music, Slavic (particularly Russian) music, opera, twentieth-century music, facsimile editions and New Zealand composers' published works.

The Russian and Slavonic collection is the main "special collection", though it is now integrated with the rest of the stock. It is one of the largest collections in the Southern hemisphere, and includes serials, books, scores and collected editions of several major composers, sheet music, and over 300 microfilms and microfiche.

Operatic music is reasonably strong. Piano-vocal, full and miniature scores have been collected extensively, with several copies of the more well-known titles. There is also a comprehensive collection of solo vocal music.

There is a strong collection of chamber music, but more variety is needed for the various instrumental combinations. Performance students are able to study any of 18 or more different instruments, each with a distinct repertoire. The collection has material of a good range and depth for about half of these instruments, namely piano, voice, violin, viola, cello, guitar, flute, clarinet, and organ. Further development is still needed for double bass, harp, trumpet, trombone, French horn, recorder, oboe, bassoon and saxophone, although much material has been added recently. With the introduction of jazz performance in 2000, scores for these courses are also being added.

Holdings of composers' complete works are substantial. Many of the most important sets, historical series and anthologies of music are expensive and are being acquired gradually.

While the book stock also concentrates on Western art-music, it now includes strong collections on jazz and ethnomusicology. New areas of expansion include pop music, dance and music education. Resources for the BMusEd courses are shared with the Epsom Library.

The dance collection comprises books, periodicals, videos and DVDs. The collection focuses on biographies of performers and choreographers, various aspects of performance and, to a lesser extent, dance medicine. The resources in dance education are being expanded.

The Reference Collection includes most of the major music and dance dictionaries, encyclopaedias, directories, thematic catalogues, bibliographies of composers and genres, catalogues of library collections, and a small number of discographies. The Music Library subscribes to two music bibliographic databases: RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, and IIMP (International Index to Music Periodicals) via Library website. The main electronic dance resource is IIPA (International Index to the Performing Arts). Electronic access to the New Grove dictionary of music and musicians and the Naxos Music Library is also provided from the Library web pages.

Rare books include some notable items, which are mostly kept in the General Library Special Collections (mainly 18th century editions). The series, Monuments of Music and Music Literature in Facsimile and other facsimiles and nineteenth-century editions are held in the Music Library Glass Case.

Among the serials titles, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian and other foreign languages are represented. Increasing academic postgraduate expansion in musicology and dance and strong electronic access has considerably increased use of these serials. Some older and duplicate materials have been moved to Off Campus Storage. Strategic funding has been used to considerably build back runs of serials.

The lending collection of CDs transferred from the General Library in 2002. A further collection of CDs is housed in the Listening Room, and cannot be borrowed.

Sound recordings are purchased to complement the score collection, when feasible, and to provide representational aural samples of music of all periods and styles. Most jazz and pop music is held in the lending collection.

The General Library has a small section of general books on music and dance, and material in the Arts Reference Collection. The Audiovisual Library also holds some dance and music videos and DVDs. The Archive of Maori and Pacific Music, in the Human Sciences building, is a very substantial and valuable resource, which is now being digitised for better access and preservation.

4. RELATED COLLECTIONS

Auckland has the only stand-alone university music library in the country at present. Other universities house their music collections in their main libraries and music departments.

One of the National Library's aims is to have a comprehensive collection of collected works editions of composers in its Music Room. The Alexander Turnbull Library holds a substantial archive of New Zealand music, scores, recordings and manuscripts.

Auckland City Libraries has a substantial Music section, with a similar core collection, which is a useful supplement for University music students. They also have substantial holdings of recordings and scores of pop, jazz and world music, and unique indexes and archives of New Zealand and particularly Auckland music.

5. USERS

Together, the various music and dance courses make a fairly large academic grouping by New Zealand standards, with more than 400 enrolled students. Graduates in the three specialist music fields of performance, musicology and composition occupy significant positions in teaching and professional organisations, both in New Zealand and overseas. The dance course remains small, but is expanding at graduate level..

Three-year courses taught are the BMus (specialising in musicology, composition or performance), BPerfArts (Dance Studies), DipMus, and BA degrees. The BMus (Hons) (Music, Music Education) is available as a four year course. Post-graduate courses include the GradDipMus, PGDipMus, MMus, MA, PhD, DMus, DMA, PGDipCPA (Dance, Sound), and MCPA (Dance, Sound).

Apart from daily informal contact with music and dance faculty and students, other channels of communication between staff and students and the library promote awareness of changes in courses, etc. These include departmental announcements and membership on the Music Departmental Resources Committee which meets monthly.

Besides music and dance students and staff, other users of the Music Library include general arts students and those involved in the performing arts and in inter-disciplinary work with other departments, e.g. philosophy of music, drama, film, acoustics, sound engineering, etc. Also amongst the clientele are staff and students with various musical interests, local and visiting musicians, choirs, orchestras and ensembles, teachers (school and private), composers, conductors, critics, examination candidates, school pupils, and the general public. Anyone may enquire or browse; Associate Members may also borrow. A large proportion of the stock, with the exception of audiovisual material, is available on interlibrary loan.

6. SELECTION CRITERIA

The Music Librarian circulates lists of pertinent material, as well as reviews, publishers' catalogues, booksellers' and agents' catalogues, various bibliographies and electronic resources to the appropriate staff member. Recommendations are received from all teaching staff and, occasionally, students. Performance teachers are contacted, and submit requests for material for their individual instruments.

Requests approved by the Music Librarian are ordered. Material which does not fit into current teaching or research programmes may be purchased if it is considered appropriate to the general interest of users and the scope of the Library's collections. Authoritative or urtext editions are bought whenever possible.

The chamber music collection is heavily used and worn-out copies are gradually being replaced. Performance parts above the nonet (nine players) are not usually purchased but some provision of orchestral parts may be considered. The Music Library is beginning to support Choral Studies papers, which require multiple copies of scores for study and performance.

Musical scores are provided in three formats: miniature scores, performing editions (scores and parts), and scholarly editions in large format or facsimile editions for reference and study.

Paperback editions may be bought, especially if additional copies, to save funds. Electronic copies of books and scores are also purchased to save space and provide wider access.

Microfilms are often still the only means by which research students and staff can obtain copies of manuscripts from overseas. Other research material, such as back runs of certain periodicals (particularly 19th century titles), are available only in microfilm or microfiche formats. These should continue to be acquired when necessary.

Facsimile editions are bought by the Library as single volumes or in sets, illustrative of a composer's original work, or of old manuscripts, as the need and opportunity arises, as often these are expensive. Important facsimile series are also held, such as those of early operas not published in modern editions.

One or more copies of most printed or published music by established New Zealand composers, and selected works of other emergent composers, are acquired by the Music Library. Major music and dance dictionaries and encyclopaedias, monographs, histories, letters, etc., are obtained in the original languages of German, Italian, French, Russian, etc.

Duplicate copies of some books are obtained, such as certain textbooks. One copy is usually placed on Short Loan. There are several copies of many of the standard musical works.

When shelf space in the Music Library becomes more crowded, old, dated stock may be moved to Off-Campus Storage (when of some historical interest) or withdrawn. Some runs of important serials from early last century, such as Gramophone, are being moved to storage.

The Music Library is selective in adding donations, although much suitable material in good condition is received, often in the form of useful copies of already-held works. Donations are accepted on the understanding that those items not chosen for the Library may be given away to students and staff. Sound recordings in good condition are accepted, but in general only CD or DVD formats are accessioned.

Phillippa McKeown-Green
Music and Dance Librarian
July 2009