Help! I have to write a paper on a classical piece and I cannot find anything online that includes useful information. Any ideas?

You shouldn’t need sheet music to find this information. If you know what piece you are listening to, then you should also know the composer (or be able to find out). From there, you can find the time period and precise instrumentation on Wikipedia (most well-known pieces of classical music have articles dedicated to them). You might even be able to find the form there, but listening should reveal this as well. Just listen for which parts repeat and which don’t. That will tell you the form.

You don’t even say who or what you are listening to. bad bad bad beggar wanting help with homework.

Excuse me cazzie, but I happen to be a very INDEPENDENT, educated woman. Asking for advice is not begging. If I wanted someone to do my homework I surely would not come here. I was under the impression (if you read the guidelines) this was a place to come for advice….I have not found a piece as of yet that has the information I desire, therefore, I have not found a piece.

@oneSasyRN, are you trying to listen to the music and find out about the composer in the same online location? That might not be your best approach. They’re likely to have separate sources.

The key information is title and composer.

Either you could start with a list of classical composers and pick one, and then look up biographical information including compositions and pick one, and then go listen to it, or—starting at the other end—you could pick out some classical music (such as on YouTube) and research it, given the title and composer.

This is essentially the same suggestion given by @SavoirFaire, just worded differently.

Do you need a suggestion of an actual specific composition? If so, how about Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, nicknamed “Elvira Madigan” for the 1967 movie that used it as a theme?

Yes, thank you to both SavoirFaire and Jeruba. The piece by Mozart is absolutely beautiful. I have been looking online for hours to find just the right piece, this just may be it. I am required to have a tremendous amount of information about the piece, I was just trying to find the best resource. Thanks again.

See if this helps. It kept coming up when I was searching classical music.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5436680_classical-music-information.html

@oneSasyRN I’ve found that Wikipedia actually covers what background information on classical pieces. Find the work you are targeting on YouTube or Mimeo and listen to it there. After taking the tone and phrasing of the work in, read what your Wikipedia says about it, and follow all the links to the citations it offers.

Thank you, thank you!!!

Have you checked out AllMusic?

I have not @laureth but thank you, I will look. I believe I am going to use Piano Concerto No 21 by Mozart, suggested by @Jeruba. At least while I am working on it I am privileged to listen to a beautiful piece I do not grow tired of.