Western Music Theory online

This page proposes links to Websites publishing historical Western music theories. This page is in progress.

• Thesaurus Musicarum Latinarum. TML aims to give free access to and make searchable every known Latin text on music from the late antiquity to the seventeenth century, in multiple editions and in transcriptions from original sources.

• Traités français sur la musique. TFM focuses on major treatises written in French, allowing them to be browsed, and searched. It will eventually comprise all relevant manuscript and printed materials written in French from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century.

• Thesaurus musicarum germanicarum. TMG studies German music theory from Conrad von Zabern to Johann Mattheson under the aspects of history, evolution and theorisation of the musical language.

• Thesaurus musicarum italicarum. TMI contains the works of two of Italy’s most important authors on music theory, Pietro Aaron (c. 1480-c.1545) and Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590), as well as a number of writings by their contemporaries. Nearly 30 works are online on TmiWeb.

• Musicalia mediaevalia. MusMed, electronic ressources for the study of manuscript sources of medieval music and music theory.

• Saggi musicali italiani. SMI focuses first and foremost on the major treatises written in Italian, allowing them to be browsed, and searched. SMI will eventually comprise all printed materials from the Renaissance to the present.

• Manuscripts of Italian Music Theory in Translation. MIMTT is a database designed to provide English translations of Italian music theory texts preserved in manuscripts dating from the sixteenth century to the present day. Its breath and compass aims to complement Saggi musicali italiani.

• Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi. LmL aims at recording and researching the Latin technical musical language of the Middle Ages.

• Musiktheoretische und musikwissenschaftliche Schriften aus dem Bestand der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek. Writings on music theory and musicology in the collections of the Bavarian State Library.

• Handwörterbuch der musikalischen Terminologie. The HmT discusses in detailed monographs the origin and meaning of musical terms.

• ENCCRE, Numeric Collaborative and Critical Edition of the Encyclopédie (1751-1772).