Searching for Music in CLICnet - College of St. Catherine Library

*For example, type this:*	*To retrieve this:*
`moore and ballad and baby doe`	The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore
`ives and places and new england`	Three Places in New England by Charles Ives

Omit articles (a, an, the) in any language from a Comprehensive Keyword search.

*Articles in Various Languages*
English	an, an, the
French	l', la, le, les, un, une
German	das, dem, den, der, des, die, ein, eine, einem, einer, eines
Italian	gl', gli, i, il, l', le, lo, un, un', una, uno
Spanish	el, las, lo, los, una, unas, unos
Even more information about articles in other languages

Finer point: The exception to this rule is titles for songs or other shorter works in other languages which have an elided article. For example, the safest way to search for Nadia Boulanger's song "L'echange" is:

boulanger and (echange or l'echange)

This is because this song may only appear in a contents note with its article intact. The OR connector is used to retrieve either echange or l'echange.

Works with Distinctive Titles

Using the Keyword search, search under both

Words from the title

For titles by non-English-speaking composers, use words from the title in the original language (a basic understanding of uniform titles for music is helpful here) and words from the English version of the title.
The composer's name

*For example, type this:*	*To retrieve this:*
`handel and water music`	Water Music by G.F. Handel
`debussy and mer`	La Mer by Claude Debussy
`respighi and (pini or pines) and (rome or roma)`	The Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi
`stravinsky and (soldier's or soldat) and (tale or histoire)`	L'histoire du soldat by Igor Stravinsky

Works with Generic Titles

Generic titles include "symphony," "concerto," "sonata," and other terms indicating musical form or genre. Generic titles often are part of a numbered series.

Two concepts are useful here:

Truncation. Use truncation to retrieve a root word and any variants. The truncation symbol in CLICnet is the asterisk. One asterisk matches up to five characters, while two asterisks match any number of characters. For most music searches, one asterisk is sufficient. For example, if you wish to retrieve sonata, sonate, sonatas, and similar variants, type: sonat*
Use of the OR connector and parentheses. Group similar words using the OR connector and enclose them in parentheses. For example, if you wish to retrieve either mass or masses or messe, enclose all three terms in parenthesis: (mass or masses or messe) and mozart

Search for generic titles using the Keyword search. You may need to try several variations of your search. The following tips may help:

Figure out what the initial title element is. Truncate it.

*Type this:*	*To retrieve this:*
`symphon*`	Symphony, symphonies, symphonie, etc.
`concert*`	Concerto, concertos, concerti, etc.

Consider including a foreign equivalent, too, which frequently increases relevant retrieval, if slightly. For example:

*Type this:*	*To retrieve this:*
`(symphon* or sinfon*)`	Any variants of the stem "symphon" plus sinfonie
`(concert* or konzert*)`	Any variants of the stem "concert" plus Konzert

Identify some numbers which are associated with the work, such as opus number, thematic catalog number, etc.
Identify some other keywords that might appear, such as a popular title.
It is difficult to search CLICnet using a key signature. Using a key signature tends to retrieve a lot of irrelevant entries, and it's impossible to search for flat and sharp keys effectively.
Don't forget to include the composer's last name.

*Type this:*	*To retrieve this:*
`beethoven and symphon* and 3`	Beethoven's Symphony no. 3, op. 55, the "Eroica"
To broaden this search try:
`beethoven and (symphon* or sinfon*) and (eroica or 3 or 55)`

`vivaldi and concert* and oboe and 461`	Vivaldi's oboe concerto, RV 461, in A minor
To broaden this search try:
`vivaldi and (concert* or konzert*) and oboe and (461 or minor)`

`schubert and (trio or trios) and 898`	Schubert's piano trio in B-flat, D. 898

Limiting your searches by type of material or collection

You may wish to restrict your search results to just items that are in the Performing Arts Library. Or you may wish to limit to scores or sound recordings. There are several ways to do this:

In Keyword searches, change the settings on the Keyword search screen.
If you are using other types of searches, for example author or title searches, notice the button at the top of the screen labelled "Limit or Sort this search."
Restrict your searching to music scores and sound recordings by selecting "Start Over." Under "Search by Collection," select "Music Scores and Sound Recordings."

A word of caution: If you apply too many different types of limits to your search, sometimes you will retrieve nothing. If this happens, remove some or all limits and try a simpler search strategy.

Didn't find it in CLICnet?

Please contact Amy Shaw, Systems/Reference Librarian (music liaison). Amy can double-check CLICnet, or perhaps locate your piece in a collection or anthology. If you're looking for a recording of a particular piece of classical music, try searching for it in the Classical Music Library.