Music Research Sample Questions

1. In 1989, Bart Hopkin wrote an article about mirlitons in a scholarly music

journal. Find an abstract for this article, and give me 5 other names for mirlitons.

Searched RILM for Hopkin Bart as Author, and mirliton, which returned two
articles, and I selected the one from 1989.

Mirlitons: Kazoos and beyond

Kazoo, Bigophone, Zazah, Zobo, Bazoo

2. The year is 1953. Author R. Stevenson wrote an article on John B. Ely. Please
name the article title and the periodical title.

Looked in The Music Index 1953 under Ely, John B.

Teachers, life can begin at 80

The Southwestern Musician

3. Please find the ERIC document titled Sensation Seeking and Internet
Activities, Music Preference, and Personal Relationships among College
Students. What is the ED number? What is the first sentence of the formal paper?
What is the title of the 1996 article by J. J. Arnett that is cited in the paper? Is the
1996 Arnett article available here at the IC Library (print or electronic version) or
would you need to ILL it?

Searched ERIC (Ebsco) for document title listed above.

ED480494
Individuals vary in their need for excitement, involving a personality trait
known as Sensation Seeking (SS)
Sensation Seeking, Aggressiveness, and Adolescent Reckless Behavior.
This article is available through IC in electronic format.

4. In the 1920s, Aaron Copland wrote a lengthy article about Gabriel Faure. Please
find the full article, and give me both the journal and article title. What is the last
sentence of the article (the last English sentence)?

Searched RILM for Author Copland Aaron, and Faure. After clicking Get It, I was
brought to JSTOR for the full article.
 Gabriel Faur, a Neglected Master
The Musical Quarterly
And the world at large has particular need of Gabriel Faure to-day; need of
his calm, his naturalness, his restraint, his optimism; need, above all, of the
musician and his great art:

5. Please find a newspaper review of the world premiere of Jake Heggies opera
Moby Dick. What was the date of the premiere? Where did it premiere? Who sang
the role of Pip?

Searched LexisNexis newspapers for Heggie AND Moby Dick, and found
through other articles that the opera would be produced in 2010 season. I went
back and limited dates, and found a review from The New York Times by Steve
Smith.

Premiere was April 30, 2010.

Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House
Talise Trevigne played Pip

6. In 1951, baritone Theo Bayl caused a big stink at a Netherlands opera house.
What did he do? Who was coaching him from the sidelines? Did the show go
on?

Searched in The Music Index 1951 for Bayle, Theo and found the article
Laffaire Bayle at Dutch opera from the NY Times 4-29-1951. Then found the
article in ProQuest New York Times database.

Launched a one-man sitdown strike a few minutes before curtain time

His wife, mother-in-law, and father-in-law
Management cancelled the performance.

7. Please find the 2003 ERIC document titled Reading tips for Parents. What is
the ED number? Whats the 3rd bulleted strategy in the section Simple Strategies
for Creating Strong Readers?

Searched ERIC (Ebsco) for Reading tips for Parents in title, and limited search
to the year 2003. Clicked on link to visit the government website where it was
avaialable.

ED477944
 Read a childs favorite book over and over again.

8. Please find out who loaned fragments of Beethovens skull to the Ira F. Brilliant
Center for Beethoven Studies in 2005?

Searched RILM for Beethoven Skull and came across The history of Beethovens
skull fragments II, along with a link to Part 1.

Paul Kaufmann

9. Find a newspaper obituary for Leo Ornstein. How old was he when he died? In
what paper did you find this?

Searched LexisNexis by narrowing down search parameter to Deaths and

Obituaries, and then searching for Leo Ornstein.

He was 109 years old.

The Independent (London)

10. Carnegie Hall opened in 1891, and Tchaikovsky was there to conduct part of
the concert. Please find the first concert review in the New York Times can you
find it without looking for the exact date elsewhere? What is the major headline?
How long was the intermission? Please name two pieces that were performed at
the concert.

Searched the New York Times (Proquest) for Carnegie hall concert and limited
search to 1891. Found multiple articles, including the one listed below.

IT STOOD THE TEST WELL

Seven or eight minute intermission
Beethoven Leonore overture, No 3. And Berlioz Te Deum