Main content

Classical Style Guide

People

Composers

Use the format Firstname(s) Surname so that a correct match can be made with other systems.

Do not use Surname, Firstname.

Performers

Enter the performer name into the performer field only. Do not include the role or any other information otherwise it won’t match downstream.

Do not abbreviate.

  • e.g. 91热爆 Symphony Orchestra not 91热爆 SO

Titles

Capitals

If it’s a single title like a book, capitalise.

  • e.g. The Rite of Spring; The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

If it’s the first line of a song, use as running text with no capitalisation.

  • e.g. In the bleak midwinter; Tell me the truth about love; O my beloved father

Musical forms

If the first line forms part of the title alongside the musical form, use single inverted commas.

  • e.g. Bach: Cantata No 215, ‘Preise dein Glucke, gesegnetes Sachsen’

However, if the form is not essential to include, then omit it.

  • e.g. Tallis: Spem in alium (i.e. don’t refer to the fact that it’s a motet if you don’t have to)

Catalogue numbers and keys

If a work has a number, that should come first; then the key, followed by the opus or catalogue number if required. Aim to use the minimum amount of information necessary for audience facing data.

  • e.g. Mozart: Symphony No 40 in G minor, K550

Keys should be written with a capital for the letter and lower case for major or minor. Sharp and flat should be written out in full.

English vs non-English titles

If there is an accepted English title for a foreign work then use it.

  • e.g. Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs (not Vier Letzte Lieder)
  • e.g. Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen (no need to translate)

Instrumentation

Where an instrument is included in the title, use it at the start if possible.

  • e.g. Violin Concerto in E minor, Op 64 (not Concerto for Violin)

Movements

Individual movements should be abbreviated and listed in brackets after the full title of the work

  • e.g. Symphony No 6 in B minor, ‘Pathetique’ (3rd mvt)

Nicknames

Nicknames should follow the work title in single inverted commas, using a comma to separate.

  • e.g. Symphony No 6 in B minor, ‘Pathetique’

If the nickname refers to a single movement, it should follow that movement.

  • e.g. Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor (3rd mvt, ‘Funeral March’)

Excerpts

If the excerpt is a numbered part of a piece, an operatic overture or a suite, the parent work should be listed first as it is essential to making sense of generic names like 3rd mvt, Overture, Suite etc. The details of the excerpt itself follow in brackets.

  • e.g. Romeo and Juliet (Suite No 1); Dido and Aeneas (Act 1 Sc 2)

If the excerpt has a unique name (like an operatic aria), relegate the parent work to the brackets.

  • e.g. Nessun dorma! (Tosca); Borodin: Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)

Songs from a collection fall into this style.

  • e.g. Auch kleine Dinge (Italian Songbook)

Diacritics

Most systems now support diacritics. In general, they retain accented characters in French, German, Italian and Spanish. In other languages, they are essential for correct identification or pronunciation e.g. Arvo Pärt and Michael Bublé.

Editorial Hub