A-R Online Music Anthology: Commentaries

Use Our Commentaries in Your Music History and Theory Course Packs

The A-R Music Anthology includes commentaries, with more than 135 ready for you to use. The commentaries are, on average, three to four pages in length (1200 to 1600 words) and available individually and also appended to the pieces they cover. The structured commentaries have the following format:

Identify the pieces by composer and style
Provide historical background
Discuss structural Features
Explain the work's signfiicance
Texts and Translations (for texted works)

To find the commentaries in ARMA, use our Advanced Search to get a current list of available commentaries, as shown in this screenshot:

Example of the ARMA Online Advanced Search screen

For a list of commentaries on works by a specific composer, use the work commentary and the composer's name. The commentaries are readily available to you and your students as part of the music files, and are also available individually for those who want the texts without scores. More commentaries are in preparation and will be available when they are complete. (You can use the New Content page for a listing of the most recent commentaries and other content in ARMA.)

Use our site to learn more about the A-R Online Music Anthology. Registered instructors can build as many courses as they need and customize them! Adopt the Anthology today or contact us about a site license.