Search by composer in the Library of Congress Online Catalog or Performing Arts Reading Room card catalog (only available on site). Then, determine if that composer wrote music for the instrumentation you seek.

Examples of search results for individual composers may include:

For suggested resources available in the Music Division for you to find names of Latin American composers, go to the Resources for Finding Composers section of this guide.

As an example, look for music composed by Teresa Carreño (1853-1917), a Venezuelan composer, pianist, vocalist, and conductor.

• In our online catalog's Advanced Search mode, type her name into the empty text bar as "Carreño, Teresa" or "Teresa Carreño" - the same results will appear both ways.

You do not have to type the special character (ñ) in her name in order to see these search results. Typing "Carreno" or "Carreño" yield the same search results.

• In the dropdown menu after the word "within," select "Name: Personal (KPNC)."

This search option will narrow results to items with her as the author or composer.

• If you are interested only in Music Division holdings - musical scores, biographies, and autobiographies - click the "Add Limits" button. Under "Location in the Library," select Performing Arts.

If you are looking for recordings of her music, select "Recorded Sound."

Then, hit "Search."

Search results for Teresa Carreño will include a variety of materials available in the Music Division, including:

• Individual published scores, such as the 2017 edition of her Serenade for String Orchestra
• A piano method book she wrote published in 1919, Possibilities of Tone Color by Artistic Use of Pedals
• A collection of Selected Works for piano and string quartet

The Music Division's holdings in the online catalog best reflect items received after 1980. For composers active prior to 1980 like Teresa Carreño, the Performing Arts Reading Room card catalog is especially helpful. Send Music Reference Specialists a message through Ask a Librarian for assistance with our card catalog entries.

If you have particular instrumentation in mind, you can search the LC Online Catalog in Browse Mode by call number class.

• Go to our online catalog's Browse mode
• In the left-hand dropdown menu, select "CALL NUMBERS (LC Class No.)"
• In the right-hand text box, type a call number class

Examples of call number classes to try include:

• M23 for piano sonatas
  • Sample result: Sonata no. 2, op. 53 (Call number M23 .G48 op. 53 1981) by Alberto Ginastera, Argentine composer
• M231 for cello and piano sonatas
  • Sample result: Sonata for cello and piano (Call number M231 .S564 2001) by Roberto Sierra, Puerto Rican composer
• M557 for wind quintets (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn)
  • Sample result: Soli no. 2 (Call number M557.C47 S62) by Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer
• M1205 for solo instruments with band accompaniment
  • Sample result: Concerto grosso for woodwind quartet and wind orchestra (Call number M1205.V) by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer
• M1582 for secular choral works for mixed voices without accompaniment
  • Sample result: Dos pequeñas piezas corales (Call number M1582.C) by Roque Cordero, Panamanian composer
• M1689 for collections of Brazilian secular vocal music
  • Sample result: "Canções populares do Brazil" (Call number M1689.B86) compiled by Julia de Brito Mendes in 1911

For more information about searching by call numbers, Ask a Librarian or consult the Class M outline [PDF, 137 KB].

Useful Library of Congress Subject Headings to find biographies, autobiographies, sound recordings, and other reference sources include: 

• Composers--Latin America 
• Composers--Mexico
• Composers--Venezuela

These subject headings are not used in the catalog records of individual musical scores.