Progam Notes Search Tips

Searching for People

You can search by composer, conductor, soloist, arranger, and/or text author. Enter the person's name (last name first) into the appropriate search box. The search engine truncates your search after the last letter. It will search for all variations of the name entered. All prefixes are removed from names (Sir, Dr. Mr. etc.) Examples:

Searching by Title

All performances of a composition are listed under one title. These titles are based upon the uniform titles commonly used in U.S. library catalogs. Compositions with distinctive unique titles are, for the most part, listed under the English version of their titles.

A few exceptions have been made when a title is more commonly known in another Western language (e.g., Sacre du Printemps). For detailed (though not exhaustive) coverage of these exceptions, see this list of our transliterated titles >

Compositions defined by genre/form (symphony, concerto etc.) are listed under the singular form of the genre followed by instrumentation, unique numbers (opus etc.) and tonality. When searching for a composition defined by form, it is best to limit the search by composer (See "Searching by Composition" below.) Examples:

Searching By Composition

When searching for specific compositions, search by the composer's last name (if known) and a KEYWORD from the title. The database searches the title field by keyword (it will find the word anywhere in the title). It is better to be more general than specific in your search. Once you have identified the correct title, you may initiate a new search to find all performances of that title. Examples:

Limiting by Date/Season

The database can retrieve all concerts performed during a specific season, month, or within a range of years. Any search (by composer, conductor, title, etc.) may be limited by date/season.

Limiting by date is optional. If no limits are set, the entire database will be searched.