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Religion Collections in Libraries and Archives: Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia

The Catholic University of America: Music Collections

Introductory Information

The Catholic University of America: Music Collections External

Address: 620 Michigan Ave., N.E. Washington, DC 20064

Telephone number: 202-319-5070

Contact information: Joan Stahl, Director, Research + Instruction [email protected]

Online catalog External

Access Policies

Hours of service External

Open to the public: External Yes.

Interlibrary loan: Yes

Reference policy External

Background note:
The Music Library was founded in 1952 and closed in 2015, when the music collections were integrated into the central facility, Mullen Library.

Content

Books and monographs
The Library has more than 250 titles from the 19th and 20th centuries dealing with sacred music, with additional mention in general works on music history and biographies of composers and performers. The collection is particularly strong in materials about Gregorian chant

Periodicals and newspapers
There are five current subscriptions and sixteen periodical titles from the 19th and 20th centuries, with emphases on Gregorian chant and Roman Catholic church music.

Microforms
The Dom Mocquereau Microfilm Collection of Liturgical Chant Manuscripts is available in the Microform Reading Room in Mullen Library. Intended for use by scholars and advanced graduate students, this collection of medieval chant manuscripts was founded in 1974 with funding from the Dom Mocquereau Foundation. The collection consists of approximately 470 microfilm reels.. The collection includes reproductions of texts spanning the 9th through the 16th centuries from libraries and archives in Germany, Spain, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Russia, Croatia, and the U.S

Videos and sound recordings
There are approximately 3,000 music-specific compact discs and dvds containing some sacred music, published in the 19th and 20th centuries and representing the earliest recorded music to the present. These are listed in the online catalog, but many works are now available on the Libraries’ streaming subscriptions.

Databases and/or electronic resources:
Music Specific databases External
All databases External

Digital collections External NOTE: With the exception of a digitized thesis or dissertation on Gregorian chant, there is limited content here.

Other holdings not listed above
There are approximately 4,000 volumes of scores containing some sacred music, published in the 19th and 20th centuries and representing the earliest recorded music to the present.

Subject Headings

Gregorian chant; Sacred vocal music