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Black Composers: A Guide to Resources at the Library of Congress

Resources for Finding Composers

Biographical dictionaries, biographical encyclopedias, and bibliographies are excellent sources for names of Black composers. These resources have call numbers that begin with ML (Literature on Music), and include information about musical genres, repertoire lists, specific instrumentation, time periods, and more.

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog, and can be used in the Performing Arts Reading Room. You can also search for them in your local institution's holdings or request inter-library loans.

Examples of General Resources

Examples of Specific Instrumentation, Genres, & Time Periods