Starting Your Research

Several helpful books compile lists of film music materials. Some databases are a good place to find basic information on a specific film or its score. The following books provide overviews that list where primary sources for a film may be, what films have been released, and what music used in them may have been published. More detailed information for finding specific items is listed in the "Film Scores and Books" and "Databases and Electronic Resources" sections of this guide.

Internet Movie Database External
Online database of information related to world films, television programs, home videos and video games, and internet streams, including cast, production crew and personnel biographies, and plot summaries.
SoundtrackNet: The Art of Film and Television Music External
SoundtrackNet was created in 1997. The website features a searchable database of film music on compact disc that surpasses any printed discography yet available.

Print Materials

The books listed below may be requested in person in the Performing Arts Reading Room, or, if you have a Reader Identification Card, you may request the book up to 48 hours in advance of your visit (use the "Request this Item" button in the Library of Congress Online Catalog). Learn more in the "Using the Library of Congress" section of this guide.

A Research Guide to Film and Television Music in the United States by Leonard Maltin (Foreword by); Jeannie Gayle Pool; H. Stephen Wright
Call Number: ML3797 .P65 2011
ISBN: 0810876884
Published/Created: 2010-12-28
Presents a detailed description of primary sources in film music and explains how to find and interpret them. The authors tackle the problems of determining film-score authorship and working with recordings of film music. Summarizes the major works and trends in film music research and identifies the most important resources in the field. Includes up-to-date information about prominent collections of film music sources and other research materials.
Music for Silent Film by Kendra Preston Leonard
Call Number: ML128.M7 L4 2016
ISBN: 0895798352
Published/Created: 2016-08-01
Part I contains information about archives of primary source materials including full and compiled scores, sheet music, published anthologies of music, interviews with cinema musicians, periodicals, and instruction books. Part II surveys the English-language scholarship on silent film music in articles, book chapters, essay collections, and monographs through 2015. The book is fully indexed for ease of access to these important sources on film music.
Music for Silent Films, 1894-1929 by Gillian B. Anderson (Compiled by); Eileen Bowser (Foreword by)
Call Number: ML128.M7 A5 1988
ISBN: 0844405809
Published/Created: 1990-01-01
Offers a bibliography of silent film score holdings at the Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, Arthur Kleiner Collection, George Eastman House, New York Public Library, and the International Federation of Film Archives.
Film and Television Music by Warren M. Sherk
Call Number: ML128.M7 S545 2011
ISBN: 9780810876866
Published/Created: 2010-12-29
Compiles over 100 years of writings on the subject of film and television music and its practitioners. Includes bibliographic citations and information on books, academic dissertations, composer and songwriter biographies, music for the accompaniment of silent films, and a wide range of film, music, and general interest periodicals.
Cinema Sheet Music by Donald J. Stubblebine
Call Number: ML128.M7 S88 1991
ISBN: 0899505694
Published/Created: 1991-11-01
Lists approximately 6,200 films and the music that was a part of them. Each entry gives the movie title, studio, year of release, stars, songs sung during the film (over 15,000 throughout the book), composers and/or lyricists, and a brief description of the album cover.

Film Music: A Research Guide

Performing Arts: Ask a Librarian

Starting Your Research

Print Materials