Musical biographical resources on the Web

♪ Music Cataloging at Yale [1] ♪

See also Printed biographical sources for composers and their works held in the Yale University Music Library [2]
and
Biographical resources [3] (from Authority Control at Yale)

General resources | Composer biographies | by time period | Women composers and musicians | Performer biographies
Birth and death indexes | Online music publishers' catalogs [4]
Multiple composer biographical sources by city, country, or geographic area | instrument or genre

General resources

General:
Biographie-Portal [5]
      • Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB)
      • Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB)
      • Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950 (ÖBL)
      • Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS)
      • Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon [6] (OeML)
      • Rheinland-Pfälzische Personendatenbank (RPPD)
      • Sächsische Biografie (SäBi)
      • Slovenska biografija (SBI)

Music:

• MGG [7] (Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart)
• ASCAP, 2nd ed. [8]
• Authority tools for audiovisual and music catalogers [9]: an annotated list of useful resources
• Eitner: Biographisch-bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten [10]
• Fétis: Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique vol. 1 [11] | vol. 2 [12] | vol. 3 [13] (D-Gibbons) | vol. 4 [14] | vol. 5 [15] | vol. 6 [16] | vol. 7 [17] | vol. 8 [18] | vol. 8 [18] | suppl. 1 [19] | suppl. 2 [20]
• DW3 [21] from Duke University; note: this is an archived version of the page; it is no longer being maintained
• Internet Broadway database [22]
• Internet movie database [23]

Composer biographies

• Afrocentric voices in classical music [24] (focus on African American performers and composers)
• Composers of African Descent [25]
• AMS composer home pages [26]
• American Composers Alliance [27]
• American Composers Forum [28]
• ccm composers-classical-music com [29] includes 7494 composers
• The christian fellowship of art music composers [30]
• Classical and contemporary composers [31]
• Classical composers [32]
• Classical composers database [33]
• Classical music on the web [34]: British and Irish composers [35] | Non-British composers [36]
• Composer birth & death dates [37] from the University of Illinois Bands, current through 1/1/2006
• Composer pages [38] from Stanford University
• Composers [39] from Indiana University
• Composers [40] (from T. Moore)
• Composers biographies [41] from The Gaudeamus Foundation
• Composers' homepages [42] from Simmons College
• Composers-classical-music [43]
• Composer homepages [44] from Duke University
• Les compositeurs [45] from CDMC (Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine)
• Contemporary classical music [46]
• Dichter und Komponisten [47] (Poets and composers)
• Directory of composers on the net [48] from Center for the Promotion of Contemporary Composers
• IRCAM [49] Alphabetical list of composers
• Jewish Music WebCenter [50] | Milken Archive: American Jewish music [51]
• Komponisten-Daten [52]
• Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit [53]
• Library of Congress copyright search: books, music, etc. [54]
       Library of Congress Copyright Office. Catalogue of copyright entries 1906 [55] | 1907 [56] | 1908 [57] | 1909 [58] | 1910 [59] | 1911 [60]
• The living composers project [61]
• Meet the composer [62]
• MusicMoz: Contemporary composers [63] |Early 20th-century composers [64]
• Musiques actuelles: Les compositeurs classiques [65]
• Notamorn [66]
• On music dictionary: composers [67]
• Russian Jewish encyclopedia [68]; not specific to music
• Society of Composers [69]
• Amati violin and bow makers [70]
• Vox Novus [71]; a collective of contemporary composers

Composer biographies by time period

• Babel scores [72]: contemporary music online (from the last 40 years) (requires subscription)
• List of 21st century classical composers [73] (Internet archive version)
• Komponisten der Gegenwart [74] from Edition Text + Kritik
• Medieval Music & Arts Foundation composer pages [75]
• Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical era composers [76]

Women composers and musicians biographies

• By country: Czech [77] | Dutch Foundation for Women in Music [78] | Japan [79]| New York [80]
• Brass music of Women composers database [81]
• Las compositoras españolas de obras con guitarra [82]
• Contributions of Jewish Women to music and of Women to Jewish music [83]
• Early music women composers [84], from Ancient & Byzantine to Late baroque & early classical
  See also Women's early music chronology [85]
• Early Women masters [86]
• Ebel, Otto. Les femmes compositeurs de musique : dictionnaire biographique [87], 1910; PDF
• Archiv Frau und Musik [88]
• Hildegard Publishing Company [89] a music publisher devoted to "promot[ing] and preserv[ing] the music of women composers of the past and present"
• Leonarda Productions [90]
• Meisterinnen der Töne [91]
• Mujer y guitarra española [92]
• Musik und Gender im Internet [93]
• Sigma Alpha Iota Composer Bureau [94]; SAI is an international music fraternity for women in the United States. This web site includes information about American composers (and some Canadian), both female and male.
• Swedish music by women composers [95]
• Women composers, a scoreography [96] from the University of Oregon music library
• Women composers database [97]
• Women composers' materials [98]: the collection of Hudební informacní stredisko Ceský Hudební Fond
• Women composers web index [99]
• Women hymn composers before 1900 [100]
• Women of note [101]
• Women's music [102]

Performer biographies

• For sound recordings [103]
• Performer biographies [104] from Thomas Moore

Birth and death indexes

• Anybirthday.com [105] "relies on driver's license and voting registration for its information, with the hazards those sources entail"--Mark Scharff
• Necrology [106] from Gaylord Music Library, Washington University in St. Louis
• RootsWeb [107]
• Social Security death master file, free [108]

By country or geographic area
International Association of Music Information Centres [109]: 43 member organisations in 38 countries
See also Classical music country index [110]

• Classical composers archive [111]: by country
• Argentina: Música Clásica Argentina [112] | Compositores & Intérpretes [113]
• Armenia: Armenian composers [114]
• Australia: Australian music centre [115] | Australasian Computer Music Association [116]
• Austria: Music Information Center Austria [117] | Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon Online [118] | Osterreichischer Komponistenbund [119] | Interessengemeinschaft Niederösterreichische Komponisten [120] (Association of Composers of Lower Austria)
• Basque area (Paiís Vasco): see Spain
• Belgium: CeBeDeM: Belgian [121] Documentation Centre for Contemporary Music | Database of Flemish composers after 1950 [122] | Studiecentrum voor Vlaamse Muziek [123]
• Brazil: Brazil Centro de Documentação de Música Contemporânea [124] Note: alphabetical by composer's first name! | Multimusica [125] | Dicionário Cravo Albin da Música Popular Brasileira [126]
• England and Great Britain: British Music Page list of composers [127] | British and Irish composers [128] | North-West Composers Association [129] | Central Composers' Alliance [130] | British composer project [131] | Early English music, 1385-1714 [132] | British Music Collection [133] (UK contemporary music)
• Bulgaria: Union of Bulgarian composers [134] | Index of contemporary Bulgarian composers [135]
• Canada: Canadian Music Centre [136] | Encyclopedia of music in Canada [137] | Canadian League of Composers [138] | Canadian compositions for trombone [139] | Contemporary Canadian composers [140]
• Catalonia: see Spain
• Colombia: Compositores colombianos [141]
• Croatia: Croatian Composers' Society [142] (English version)
• Czech Republic: Ceský hudební slovník osob a institucí [143] | Czech Music Information Center [144] | Czech composers [145] (from Wikipedia)
• Denmark: Det virtuelle musikbibliothek [146] (Online Music Research Library of Denmark) | Værkfortegnelser for danske komponister [147] (Worklists for Danish composers) | Samfundet til udgivelse af Dansk musik [148] (Society for the publication of Danish music): The composers) | Dansk Komponist Forening [149]
• Estonia: Estonian Music Information Centre [150] | Estonian Composers Union [151] | Estonian composers [152] (from Wikipedia)
• Finland: Music Finland [153] | Society of Finnish Composers [154]
• France: CDMC [155] | Musica et memoria [156]
• Georgia: Les peuples géorgiens: musique [157] (in French)
• Germany:
  • Allgemeine deutsche Biographie & Neue deutsche Biographie [158]
  • Deutsches Komponistenarchiv [159]
  • Deutscher Komponistenverband [160]
  • Deutsches Musikinformationszentrum [161]
  • Handbuch deutsche Musiker, 1933-1945 [162] by Fred K. Prieberg
  • Komponisten der Gegenwart [163]
  • Künstler im Kultur-Netz [164]
  • Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit [53]
    Gerber, Ernst Ludwig. Neues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, 1812-1814 A-D [165] | E-J [166] | K-R [167] | S-Z [168]
  • By city or region
    • Komponisten aus Baden und Württemberg [169]
    • Bayerische Musiker Lexikon Online [170]
    • Thüringer Komponisten & Bearbeiter [171]
• Greece: Greek Composers' Union [172]
• Hungary: Contemporary Hungarian composers [173] | Hungarian composers [174] | Magyar zeneszerzk listája [175] (List of Hungarian composers; from Wikipedia) | Kortárs magyar zeneszerzok kincsestára [176] (Treasury of contemporary Hungarian composers; note: Internet Archive version)
• Iceland:Icelandic composers [177] (from Wikipedia)
• Ireland: Contemporary Irish composers [178] | British and Irish composers [128]
• Israel: Israel Music Information Center [179] | Israel composers' league [180]
• Italy: Banca dati dei compositori Italiani [181] | Italian composers whose songs have been recorded by or with the Trio Lescano A-C [182] D-L [183] D-L [184] Q-Z [185] | Federazione CEMAT [186] (electroacoustic and computer music)
• Japan: Music from Japan [187]: composer index
• Latin America: Latin American Music Center catalog [188] (Catholic University) | Colegio de Compositores Latinoamericanos de Música de Arte [189] | Catálogo de obras para saxofón de compositores de América Latina [190]
• Latvia: Music in Latvia [191] (Latvian version [192])
• Lithuania: Lithuanian composers [193]
• Luxemburg: Luxemburg Society for Contempory Music [194]
• Macedonia: Composers Association of Macedonia [195]
• Mexico: Diccionario enciclopédico de música en Mexico [196] (PDF)
• New Zealand: New Zealand composers [197] from the Centre for New Zealand Music | Australasian Computer Music Association [116]
• Norway: Norwegian composers [198] (from Wikipedia)
• Poland:Polski Centrum Informacji Muzycznej [199] | Polish composers [200], from USC | Culture.pl [201] | Polish composers from Middle Ages to Baroque [202]
• Portugal: Atrium: base de dados de compositores portugueses [203] | Compositores contemporâneos [204] | Centro de Investigação & Informação da Música Portuguesa [205]
• Romania: Romanian music information center [206]
• Russia: Illiustrirovannyi biograficheskii entsiklopedicheskii [207] slovar' gitaristi i kompository (illustrated biographical encyclopedic dictionary of guitarists and composers (in Russian (Cyrillic)) | Two centuries of Russian composers [208] | Russiches Musikarchiv [209] | Muzykal'naia entsiklopediia [210] | see also Soviet Union
  • Saint Petersburg Contemporary Music Center [211]
• Scotland: Scottish Music Centre [212] | Scottish composers [213]
• Slovakia: Hudobné Centrum Slovakia [214] | Slovak composers [215] (from Wikipedia)
• Sloveni: Society of Slovene composers [216]
• South Africa: Domus [217] | South African composers [218] (from Wikipedia)
• Soviet Union: Soviet composers [219] | A bibliography of trumpet concertos from the former Soviet Union [220] | see also Russia
• Spain: Important Spanish composers of the twentieth century [221]
  • By city or region
    • Basque area (Paiís Vasco): Musikagileak [222] (Association of Basque Navarrese composers)
    • Catalonia: Associació Catalana de Compositors [223] | Cat Música [224]
    • Valencia: Asoiacion de compositores sinfonicos valencianos [225]
• Sweden: Föreningen svenska tonsättare [226] (Society of Swedish composers) | Classical Music Center Sweden [227] | Svensk music [228] | Musik-Lexikon [229] scanned from the ed. published: Tryckt hos J. & A. Riis, 1864. | Liste schwedischer Komponisten klassischer Musik [230] (from Wikipedia) | Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon [231] (not music specific; digital version of the 1906 ed.) | Svenskt biografiskt lexikon [232] (not music specific) | Swedish song [233] | Swedish music by women composers [95]
• Switzerland: Schweizer Musikedition [234] | Répertoire international des sources musicales: Schweiz [235] | musinfo [236] banca dati sulla musica in Svizzera)
  • By city or region
    • Vaud: Musiciens vaudois [237]
• Ukraine: Music Information Center Ukraine [238]
• United States:
  • General:
    • American Composers Alliance [239]
    • Composers bureau [240] from Sigma Alpha Iota
    • National Association of Composers/USA: composer list [241] (with work lists) | links to members' homepages [242]
  • By state or city:
    • Cleveland Composers Guild [243]
    • Connecticut Composers, Inc. [244]
    • Iowa Composers Forum [245]
    • Long Island Composers Alliance [246]
    • New York Women Composers [80]
    • Oregon Composers [247]
    • Southeastern Composers League [248]
    • Wisconsin: Wisconsin [249]Alliance [249] for composers [249] | Wisconsin music archives [250] list of Wisconsin composers

Multiple composers biographical sources by instrument or genre