Citing and referencing: Music Scores / Recordings

Composer Last Name, First Name, composer. Title of Score. Date of composition. Series, Publisher, Year of Publication.

Examples

Donizetti, Gaetano, composer. Don Pasquale: An Opera in Three Acts. 1842. Kalmus Vocal Scores, Belwin, 1969.

Boyd, Anne. Black Sun. 1989. U of York Music Press, 2003.

If series information is not available, omit that portion of the citation.

If date of composition is is unknown, omit that portion of the citation.

Music publishers before the twentieth century did not often provide a date of publication. If you find the missing date from a reliable external source, cite the date in square brackets: See 2.61 of the MLA Handbook. If you supply an approximate date, begin with circa: [circa 1888]. If you are uncertain about the accuracy of the the date, add a question mark: [1888?]

Composer Last Name, First Name, composer. "Individual Piece Title." Collection Title, vol. no., Publisher, Year, Page range.

Examples

Bach, Johann Sebastian, composer. "Passacaglia." The complete organ works in eight volumes, vol. 7, Edwin F. Kalmus, 1968, pp. 102-6.

Composer Last Name, First Name, composer. “Song Title.” Anthology Title, edited by First Name Last Name, vol. no., Publisher, Year, page range.

Examples

Rudel, Jaufre, composer. "Quan lo rius de la fontana (Troubadour Vers)." Anthology of Medieval Music, edited by Richard H. Hoppin, W. W. Norton, 1978, pp. 79-80.

Giordani, Tommaso, composer. "Caro mio ben." 30 Italian songs and arias of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, edited by Roger Nichols, translated by Sarah Nichols, Medium-low voice ed., Peters, 2007, pp.130-35.

Librettist / Lyricist Last Name, First Name. Title of Score, composed by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year of Publication.

Examples

Sterbini, Cesare. The Barber of Seville: Opera in Three Acts, composed by Gioachino Rossini, G. Schirmer, 1962.

Piave, Franceso Maria. La Traviata: Libretto in tre atti, composed by Giuseppe Verdi, Sesto San Giovanni, 1916.

Composer Last Name, First Name, composer. "Piece Title." Title of Collection, performance by Performer's First Name Last Name, Publisher or recording label, Year.

Examples

Haydn, Joseph, composer. “Symphony no. 97 in C major." The symphonies nos. 96-104, performance by Philharmonia Hungarica, Decca, 1991.

Whitacre, Eric, composer. "Cloudburst." The Music of Eric Whitacre, performance by Rutgers Wind Ensemble, Brigham Young University Singers and University of Miami Chorale,  Mark Custom, 1997. 

Performer Last Name, First Name. "Song Title." Title of Collection, composed by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year of publication

Examples

Mitchell, Joni. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.”, Mingus, composed by Charles Mingus, Asylum, 1979.

Ma, Yo-Yo. "Elegy for Cello and Orchestra." Yo-Yo Ma plays the music of John Williams, composed by John Williams, Sony Music Entertainment, 2002.

Aside from a composer whose name appears at the start of the reference, other people may be credited in the source. Note the "performance by" description.

The song or other piece of music on an album uses quotation marks, and the whole album is in italics.

Composer Last Name, First Name. "Title of Track." Title of Recording, Label, Year.

Examples

Davis, Miles. "Blue in Green." Kind of Blue, Columbia, 1959.

Author Last Name, First Name. Title. Composed by Composer/Artist First Name Last Name, Publisher or Record label, Year. Liner notes

Examples

Hentoff, Nat. Sketches of Spain. Music by Miles Davis, Columbia Records, 1997. Liner notes.