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

Holoman, D. Kern

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520063821 ISBN 13: 9780520063822

Publisher: University of California Press, 1988

Synopsis

How do you spell Rachmaninov?

Where do you place the hyphen in Hofmannsthal if it breaks across two lines? Is it premiere or première? The answers and much more can be found in a new, essential resource for authors, students, editors, concert producers—anyone who deals with music in print. An expanded version of the style sheet for the well-known journal 19th-Century Music, this small volume covers some of the thorniest issues of musical discourse: how to go about describing musical works and procedures in prose, the rules for citations in notes and bibliography, and proper preparation of such materials as musical examples, tables, and illustrations. One section discusses program notes, another explains the requirements of submitting manuscripts written on a word processor. An appendix lists common problem words.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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

By D. Kern Holoman

University of California Press

Copyright 1988 D. Kern Holoman
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0520063821


1
Music Terminology Titles of Works

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.)

Bach: Das Wohltemperierte     Clavier   or, The Well-Tempered     Clavier Beethoven: Missa solemnis Rossini: La gazza ladra Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne     Worte Verdi: I masnadieri Debussy: La Mer Stravinsky: Le Sacre du     printemps Boulez: Le Marteau sans matre

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.

("From the New World") the "New World" Symphony the Pastoral Symphony the "Italian" Symphony Sonate Pathtique the "Pathtique"

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.

Der Leiermann (Winterreise) Meine Liebe ist grn Gretchen am Spinnrade Wohin? La danza L'Heure exquise

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

"Where'er You Walk," from Handel's Semele "Porgi amor"

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.

Kyrie Sanctus Gloria Agnus Dei Credo Benedictus

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 :

Schubert:
     Symphony No. 6 in C Major, D. 589 ("Little C-Major")
     Symphony No. 7 in E Minor, D. 729 (a sketch)
     Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D. 759 ("Unfinished")
     Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944 ("Great C-Major")

Mendelssohn:
     Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, op. 56 ("Scotch" or "Scottish")
     Symphony No. 4 in A Major, op. 90 ("Italian")
     Symphony No. 5 in D Major, op. 107 ("Reformation")

Dvorak*

:
    Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, op. 70
    Symphony No. 8 in G Major, op. 88
    Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, op. 95 ("From the New World")

1.12 When an opus or catalogue number is used as sole identification of the work, it is not preceded by a comma.

Trio op. 97 Adagio K. 411

Major and Minor

1.13 The words major and minor are identical in grammatical structure, both of them adjectives. The convention of upper-case Major and lower-case minor is correct only for some styles of chord notation, where such abbreviations as GM (G major) and Gm (G minor) can be quite useful.

Sonata in A Major Sonata in A Minor

1.14 When a key is used preceding a genre it becomes an adjectival construction and requires a hyphen.

A-Major Sonata A-Minor Sonata

Capitalization Schemes

1.15 See also 2.3448. The following are typical examples:

Rhapsody in Blue Ein deutsches Requiem Le Roi Lear Les Vpres siciliennes I vespri siciliani Bist du bei mir Ariettes oublies Prlude "L'Aprs-midi d'un     faune" Il re Lear Il viaggio a Reims

Composers' Names

1.16 Use transliterated, Americanized names for composers.

Stravinsky Tchaikovsky Scriabin Machaut Dussek Josquin des Prez

1.17 The Beethoven Problem . According to the standard (Webster's) system, the name is broken "Bee - tho - ven." For those who are aware of the fact that -hoven is a common Dutch suffix, the only acceptable break must be "Beet - hoven." We have instructed our typesetter's computer to try to avoid the issue entirely, always separating the word as: "Beetho - ven."

1.18 The Problem of Possessives . There are any number of theories about the proper formation of possessives for names. We recom-

mend that of the Chicago Manual (6.1223): add an apostrophe and an s .

Berlioz's Brahms's Boulez's

One pronounces, incidentally, the z in Berlioz and Boulez.

1.19 The Mendelssohn Problem . Remember "Mendel's son" in this most frequently misspelled of composers' names.

Mendels - sohn

1.20 The Russian Problem . Transliteration from the Russian alphabet is, at best, a vexing problem; see 2.6061. We have adopted the spellings given in 1.23. Note especially:

Rachmaninov Stravinsky Tchaikovsky

1.21 The Schoenberg Problem . Schoenberg dropped the umlaut when he immigrated to the United States. In virtually every circumstance, English authors should use:

Schoenberg

1.22 Names with "von ." By and large the von is omitted, except in the full name.

Dittersdorf Gluck Weber

but usually:

von Blow

1.23 Summary . The following is a list of names that have posed difficulties of one sort or another to the editors of 19th-Century Music , with their hyphenations:

Bach, Carl Phi - lipp Ema - nu - el
Bar - tk, B - la
Beet - ho - ven
Ber - lioz
Bi - zet
Bo - ro - din
Brahms
Bruck - ner
Cho - pin, Fr - d - ric
Cle - men - ti
De - bus - sy
De - libes
De - lius
Di - a - ghi - lev
D'In - dy (upper-case D )
Du - kas
Dvo - rak*

Fau - r
Franck
Glin - ka

Gou - nod
Grieg
Hof - manns - thal
Ja - na - cek*

Kre - nek
Liszt
Mah - ler
Men - dels - sohn
Mo - zart
Mus - sorg - sky
Pa - ga - ni - ni
Prac*

(not Pratsch)
Rach - ma - ni - nov
Ra - vel
Re-spi-ghi
Rim - sky - Kor - sa - kov
Ros - si - ni
Schoen - berg
Schu - bert
Schu - mann
Scri - a - bin, Alex - an - der
Sme - ta - na
Strauss
Stra - vin - sky
Tchai - kov - sky
Ver - di
von B - low
Wag - ner
We - ber

1.24 Other Difficult Names in Music Study .

Rti (the theorist, with     his accent) Virgil Shake - speare,     Shakespearean Theodor Adorno

Thematic Catalogues of Composers' Works

1.25 Thematic catalogues are abbreviated with a letter or letters suggesting the author's name, followed by a period.

K. 191 D. 628 J. 277 Hob. XXII:9 In Kchel's catalogue of Mozart, the Bassoon     Concerto in Major In Deutsch's catalogue of Schubert, Erlknig In Jahn's catalogue of Weber, Der Freischtz In Hoboken's catalogue of Haydn, the Missa in     tempore belli

1.26 The exception is BWV, for Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis , Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of the works of Bach. This is usually abbreviated without periods.

BWV 1050 In the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis , the Fifth    Brandenburg Concerto

Pitch Names

1.27 For most purposes a simple upper-case letter defines pitch names well enough.

The high C immediately descends two octaves and loses every trace of energy.

The bass moves sequentially from G to to D.

1.28 The plural of a pitch name takes simply an s , not 's .

Its symmetrical images (m. 7: the Cs) are now stable and dramatically executed.

1.29 When octave register must be specified, we prefer the system that calls the C two octaves below middle C "Great C."

In mm. 9697, only g2 in the right hand and g1 in the left are to be brought out with a forte ; the immediately adjacent and are already to be played piano .

1.30 When a series of pitches is given, join the pitch names with en -dashes (see 2.28).

The initial provides the framework for the vocal phrase that begins songs 3, 5, and 7.

Dynamics

1.31 Directions for dynamic nuance are given in italic.

piano, pianissimo forte, fortissimo mezzo piano, mezzo forte sforzando

Returning to the pianissimo level, it reinterprets the B as an element of a normal V7 .

The Horowitz recording shows an astonishing control of dynamics through a myriad of levels between pianissimo and mezzo forte .

1.32 Abbreviations of these terms for dynamic nuance may be in italic as well. 19th-Century Music prefers to use boldface italic, for clarity.

The movement originally ended ff at what is now m. 493.

Numbers

1.33 Meter Signatures . These are given in roman or boldface roman characters. Set the constituents of a numerical meter signature directly over each other, not as a fraction.

The one is in major and , and the other is in minor and .

1.34 Figured-Bass Symbols . These are quite small, since two and sometimes three of them must fit within a line of type. Take care to specify the exact position of the sharps and flats, so as not to confuse with .

The second chord of ex. 3 is on the dominant.

The first movement opens with a bold, terse gesture, cadence which echoes down the whole length of the exposition and development.

1.35 Pitch-Class Symbols . The caret-over-the-Arabic-numeral as an indication of pitch-class is a designation we try to avoid simply because of the difficulty many typesetting systems have in setting the carets squarely over Arabic numerals. Sometimes, however, the carets are essential to the thrust of the discussion.

In mm. 22933 the rising fourths, which had always been left open are closed .

The "sigh" motive is now identified with the neighboring motion or (G-F), the local representative in major of the conflict (i.e., and in major).

1.36 Rehearsal numbers are generally given in boxes, especially since we discovered how fond computers are of drawing boxes.

The Adagietto at is centered on D and carries a signature of two sharps, while the music from to has E at its center.

Other

1.37 On the question of italic or roman typeface for such musical terminology as "pizzicato" and "tremolo," see 2.8789, 93. Roman is generally preferable.

1.38 Pitches reside on a staff (sing.) or staves (pl.).

manuscript paper of thirty-two staves
twelve-staff paper
the crosshatching in staff 8

Continues...

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Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520063821
• ISBN 13: 9780520063822
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 72