Oxford Music Online provides access to the entire text of the 29-volume New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the Oxford Companion to Music and the Oxford Dictionary of Music.

It is an authoratitive source for the history of music. Material is updated regularly with new articles, images, and revised entries. Yu can find topical guides for the following periods to help you identify key sources:

  • Baroque
  • Classical
  • Essential 20th-century Reading List
  • Medieval
  • Opera
  • Renaissance
  • Romanticism
  • Twentieth Century
  • Women Composers A to Z
  • Women Composers by Time Period
  • Go to LibrarySearch 

  • Log in using your CCCU username and password. If you are away from campus, or connecting with your own device over Wi-Fi, you will need to include @canterbury.ac.uk after your CCCU username.

  • Select Find Databases, then click on G, finally click on the link to Grove Music Online to open it in a new tab.

There are multiple access points for searching. You can search for any of the following:

  • Topic
  • Instrument
  • Era
  • Region
  • Place Type
  • Occupation

Try searching Grove Music Online by following the steps outlined below. You’ll practice using some of the most common functions and be ready to search for information for your assignments.

  1. Search for the composer John Williams in the search box. How many results do you find?

  2. Using the left-hand panel, modify your search. Add the additional term Spielberg.

  3. Look at the results. How many of the articles refer to the film director Spielberg? What other Spielberg is mentioned?

  4. Now find the main biography of John Williams and click on the hyperlink to access the full-text of the the article. Look at this list of his film scores. Are there some you don’t recognise?

  5. Reflect on the type of information appearing in your search. How will you use this information in your assignments? How could you make you search more specific?

The database is designed so that it can be searched by keyboard users. The Library can submit an accessibility request for content in a specific format to suit your personal needs.

Your Learning and Research Librarian will be able to help you make the best use of online resources. For detailed guidance, book a tutorial via the Learning Skills Hub.