History:Classical Style Guide

The aim of this style guide is to impose some kind of order in the entries to achieve a consistent style, so as to have clean data for an eventual text sensitive tagging.

Simple Example

• Artist: * Ludwig van Beethoven Album title: * Symphony No. 9 in D minor (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra feat. conductor: Herbert von Karajan) Track titles: * Symphony No. 9 in D minor: I. Allegro ma non troppo
  * Symphony No. 9 in D minor: II. Molto vivace

Basic Guidelines

• The Artist should contain just the composer not the performer
• The ReleaseTitle should include the title of the release followed by the major performer (i.e. the name of orchestra or quartet) inside parenthesis
• The TrackTitle should contain the overall work (name of the symphony etc.) followed by ':' and then the actual name of that movement.
• Convert the release to a VariousArtistsRelease if it contains works by more than one composer (see ConvertReleaseToMultipleArtistsEdit).

It is strongly recommended to enter basic performer data (i.e. orchestra, conductor and soloist) in the ReleaseTitle, preferably by means of AdvancedRelationships too, as this is often the only way to distinguish between different releases of the same work.

The above guidelines are currently (2006-10) being challenged by the StyleCouncil. The new (but not sancioned) proposal is on ClassicalReleaseArtistStyle.

More Detailed Examples

Artist

This should be the composer's name in full. Do not use the performer as the artist.

Examples:

• Igor Stravinsky
• Sort name: Stravinsky, Igor
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Sort name: Bach, Johann Sebastian

Release Title

Should include the ReleaseTitle followed by basic performer info (i.e. orchestra, conductor and soloist) inside parentheses.

When possible add perfomers as 'feat. conductor: Joe Bloggs' (or cello, soprano, violin, etc) at the end of the release title. Do not use the perfomer's role ("pianist") but instead note the instrument ("piano").

Examples:

• Concerto for Orchestra / Dance Suite / Concerto for Orchestra (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra feat. conductor: Sir Simon Rattle)
  • The titles of many classical releases are really just a list of works on the CD. Separate with slashes according to MultipleTitleStyle

• Complete String Quartets (Lindsay String Quartet) (disc 1)
  • Multiple disc set. Performer in brackets followed by disc number.

• Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" (Israel Philharmonic Orchestra feat. conductor: Zubin Mehta, piano: Radu Lupu)
  • Multiple performers: Do not repeat the feat., but separate additional roles/performers with a comma.

More ambiguous examples:

• The Takacs Quartet Plays Dvorak (The Takacs Quartet)
  • The title also contains the performer but it is still part of the ReleaseTitle. This is preferred to just 'Plays Dvorak...'

• Sibelius: Orchestral Works (Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
  • The composer name in the title is a duplication of information, but include it if it is a part of the release title. In some cases the release name might be just 'Orchestral Works'. If in doubt follow what is on the sleeve.

Track Title

Use the work name (name of the symphony etc.) followed by the name of the movement/section

Use roman numerals for the movement numbers. If a track has a soloist then add it using FeaturingArtistStyle: (feat. violin: Tamsin Little). If all tracks on the release feature a performer/group/conductor, this information is added to the release title only, and not repeated on every track.

Examples:

• Concerto for Orchestra: IV. Intermezzo Interrotto
  • This release is performed by the same artists, therefore the orchestra/performer are specified in the release title. In this case we just need the include the name of the work, movement number and name of the movement.

• The Lark Ascending (feat. violin: Tasmin Little)
  • Tasmin Little performed only this track on the release, therefore the performer information has to be added to this specific TrackTitle.

When to Use 'Various Artists'

Classical releases are attributed to Various artists if they feature works by several composers (NOT when several performers play works by one composer). A release which features works by Brahms and Liszt has to be entered as a VariousArtistsRelease.

Track Numbers

Track numbers refer to the position on the release, not the movement number. Movement numbers have to be added to the track title.

Other Style Guidelines

• Catalogue: number and opus
  • Always use "No. " and "Op. " Example:
    • 'Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67'. Note the spaces after the stop character, and the use of comma (i.e. "No. 5", not "No.5" and "Op. 67", not "Op.67").

• Chord: minor and major
  • Always use the expanded form and lowercase including a hyphen for German. Examples:
    • 'Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47' (English)
    • 'Prélude No. 1 C-dur, Op. 28: Agitato' (German)

• Keys
  • Always use uppercase for English and German notation "A, B, C, D, E, F, G" and proper case for Italian (and French and Spanish) "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si". Attribute "in", "en" or "em" should be inserted according to release language. Examples:
    • 'Trio in A minor, Op. 50;' (English)
    • 'Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp major, BWV 858' (English)
    • 'Concerto No. 1 in Sol minore, Op. 8, RV 332' (Italian)
    • 'Concerto No. 4 en La mineur' (French)
    • 'Prélude No. 2 A-moll, Op. 28: Lento' (German)
    • 'Prélude No. 8 Fis-moll, Op. 28: Molto agitato' (German)

• • For more combinations refer to English Musical Keys and to the complex German notation

• Italian tempo markings
  • Since they are Italian they should follow CapitalizationStandardItalian such that only the first letter of the phrase is titled. Example:
    • 'Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5 in D major, KV 175: II. Andante ma un poco adagio'

• Common names
  • Common works names have to be entered within double quotes:
    • 'Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata": II. Andante con moto' (do not use 'Appassionata' or «Appassionata» or -Appassionata-)
    • 'String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat major, KV 458 "Hunt": II. Moderato'
    • 'Sinfonie in e-moll, Op. 95 "Aus der Neuen Welt": II. Largo'

References

If you want to help correcting classical entries, we've created a place to start: ClassicalEntriesThatNeedEditing

This page was initially based on a rough consensus formed on a thread in the mb-users mailing list.

Discussion

Please add your thoughts and find additional hints in ClassicalStyleGuideDiscussion