Modern writings on Raff which are currently available are listed on the Books page. All of these feature extensive bibliographies and they should be consulted to track down incidental information on Raff. It will be clear from even a cursory look at these listings, however, that although there are many writings in which he figures incidentally, there are few full contemporary sources for Raff's life and music, due to the sudden collapse of his reputation after his death. In contrast, many of the late 19th. century musical lexicons and dictionaries feature extensive entries on Raff, reflecting his contemporary importance.
Helene Raff's biography of her father Joachim Raff, ein Lebensbild (1925, Regensburg, Gustav Bosse) is the primary source for his life. She appears to be commendably objective in her judgements and, where capable of being checked, accurate. Generally it is a biographical, rather than a musical treatise. She relied not only on her own memories, but also on her large collection of her father's papers and on the recollections of her family and Raff's friends and colleagues. Written to commemorate the 100th. anniversary of Raff's birth, the 288-page book was not reprinted, but can be found in some German libraries and antiquarian book sellers.
Her autobiography Blätter vom Lebensbaum (1938, Munich, Knorr & Hirth) provides some background on Raff's domestic life and also on his wife Doris' life after his death. Helene Raff also wrote a series of articles based on Raff's exchanges of letters in the German periodical Die Musik (Nos.1-7).
The other major contemporary source is Albert Schäfer's 164-page "Chronologisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der Werke Joachim Raff's" of 1888. This catalogue is not error free, but it is invaluable in listing all Raff's works, including those lost. Entries list the dates of composition and publication, dedicatee, movement names, keys and major key changes, publisher and availability and the price of parts. It was republished in facsimile (1974, Tutzig, Hans Schneider), although this is no longer available.
Raff's surviving papers and sketches were donated to the Bavarian State Library by Helene Raff in 1916 and are held in three bundles Raffiana I, II and III in the Handschriftenabteilung section of the archives. Many letters between Raff and his friend Hans von Bülow were published in Hans von Bülow, Briefe und Schriften (1899-1908 Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel). Raff's first six symphonies were analysed in a series of articles in the British Monthly Musical Record (March-November 1875).
Most of Raff's music remains available only in the 19th. century original editions. For locating these, see the Find scores pages, where you can also find details of modern editions.