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Writing About Music: A Style Sheet from the Editors of 19th-Century Music

University of California Press

1.1 Generally speaking there are formal and informal ways of calling a work. The formal title of a work from the classical repertoire always gives its genre or performing force, key, and index identifier.

1.2 Generic Titles . Generic titles are those, in English, that use such describers as symphony, concerto, fantasia, and the like, often with an identifying opus number or index number appended. These titles are given in roman type. Capitalization styles vary, but should be consistent throughout a work. At 19th-Century Music we use the forms given below. (See also 1.15.)

Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565
Haydn: Baryton Trio No. 71 in A Major, Hob. XI: 71
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 61
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
Schubert: Mass No. 6 in Major, D. 950
Schumann: Variations for Piano, op. 9
the Schumann Variations, op. 9
Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor

1.3 True titles, i.e., those assigned by the composer, are given in italics. (For capitalization of foreign titles, see 2.4348.)

1.4 Common Names . Many works are referred to by widely recognized popular names. These are generally put in quotation marks.

Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major ("Jupiter")

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, op. 57
     ("Appassionata")
Beethoven: Piano Trio in Major, op. 97 ("Archduke")
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor ("Unfinished")
the "Archduke" Trio                                  the "Emperor" Concerto

To refer to Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony may in a subtle way suggest that it really isn't unfinished at all, that the quotes are there as a sort of conspiratorial wink of the eye. There are, however, any number of unfinished symphonies of Schubert, but only one called the "Unfinished."

1.5 The rule of thumb is, then, that one italicizes the title that the composer himself gave to the work and puts common titles within quotation marks. These principles collide with vexing frequency; nicknames and true subtitles are often difficult to keep separate, and the matter of foreign languages complicates things still further. When in doubt, we almost invariably elect to use quotation marks.

1.6 Song Titles. 19th-Century Music regards songs as full-fledged compositions, much as it regards doctoral dissertations as full-fledged books, and thus renders their titles in italic.

1.7 For a variety of reasons, however, we use roman type within quotation marks for arias drawn from operas.

1.8 Latin Liturgical Works . Capitalize such titles as Mass, Requiem, and Te Deum, as well as their constituent movements; leave them in roman type.

In view of the symbolic and structural function of these high sonorities in the Credo and Benedictus of the Mass, it is not sur-

prising that Beethoven resorted to this framework again, in those parts of the choral finale of the Ninth Symphony with an explicitly religious text.

1.9 Movement Titles . These are capitalized and, in most cases, given in roman type.

We expect a string quartet to commence with a sonata-allegro movement, but to this point the Allegro has all the earmarks of an interjection within an Adagio movement.

1.10 Listings in concert programs and related publications require full formal titles. (See chapter 6.)

Beethoven: Concerto No. 4 for Piano and Orchestra in G Major, op. 58
Liszt: Les Prludes ("The Preludes"), Symphonic Poem after Lamartine

1.11 Numbering of Symphonies by Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Dvorak *

. These are especially difficult because more than one numbering system is or has been in wide use. We suggest the following, which reflect contemporary knowledge and practice and which are in each case the systems adopted by The New Grove...