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Music Resources: Citations

Tips for Audio & Video Recordings

1. Tips for citing audio recordings:

  • Formatting citations for audio recordings can involve a lot of decisions - is the composer or the performer more important to your argument? Is it more crucial for your reader to know about an individual track on the recording or for them to see a citation for the recording as a whole?

You can choose to list whichever person (performer, composer, conductor, performing ensemble, etc.) that is the most relevant to your argument as the "author" of the recording. 

For example: You may be working with a recording that features a single performer playing or singing pieces by different composers. In a discussion of a particular piece, you may want to include a footnote that points to an individual track and list the COMPOSER as the author. But, in your bibliography, cite the recording as a whole. In that case, format a bibliography entry for the entire recording, and list the PERFORMER as the author.

  • Always include the format (CD, streaming audio, etc.) of the recording you are citing in your footnotes and bibliography entries.
  • Citations for recordings do not include the place of publication.

2. Tips for citing video recordings:

  • Formatting citations for video recordings can involve making a lot of decisions - is the director, the conductor, or the performer(s) more important to your argument? You can choose to list whichever person (performer, conductor, performing ensemble, composer, etc.) that is the most relevant to your argument as the "author" of the recording.
  • Always include the format (streaming video, DVD, etc.) of the recording you are citing in your footnotes and bibliography entries.
  • Unlike citations for print items such as books, scores, recordings may not include information about the city of publication.
  • Sometimes it is not clear who the "publisher" or  "distributor" of the video is.
  • Include as much information as you can to be sure your viewer can identify the item you are citing, and be consistent.

Source: University of Minnesota Libraries, Music Citation Guide

MLA Style

Sample MLA Citations for Works Cited Pages
 

Streaming Audio Recording Emphasizing the Composer

You might choose this format if your discussion of the piece is more about the composer or the structure of the work, and less about this particular performance of it.

Details to include: composer, title of work, performers, record label, release date, streaming platform, stable url

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Violin Concerto No 3 in G major, K. 216. Performance by Ray Chen and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, Sony Classical, 2014. Naxos Music Library, stolaf.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=68243%2FStOlafNML20%2F3376673.

Streaming Audio Recording Emphasizing the Performer

You might choose this format if your discussion highlights aspects of this particular performance.

Details to include: performer, title of work, composer, record label, release date, streaming platform, stable url

Chen, Ray and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra. Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Sony Classical, 2014.  Naxos Music Library, stolaf.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=68243%2FStOlafNML20%2F3376673.

Performance in a YouTube Video

It is not unusual for songwriters to be left out of citations of popular music.  The purpose of the citation in the examples below is not to credit Dolly Parton (who originally wrote and recorded the song), but to point people to the exact YouTube video you are referencing. If you want to recognize Dolly Parton's contribution, you can either insert her name after the title of the song (as in the Mozart examples above) or credit her in your text, like this:

In her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," Whitney Houston performs the first verse as an unaccompanied introduction to the chorus.

Details to include: performer (including instrument), title of video, uploader/channel name, date of upload, stable url

Houston, Whitney. "Whitney Houston -- I Will Always Love You (Official 4K Video)." YouTube, uploaded by Whitney Houston, 27 Sept. 2010, youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU.

Live Performance

Details to include: performer, performance name, other contributors, performance date, venue, location

St. Olaf Choir. South Africa Tour. Conducted by Anton Armstrong. 10 May, 2024, Boe Memorial Chapel, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN.

Score

Most scores can be cited like books.

Details to include: composer, title of work, publisher, date

Hovhannes, Alan. Prayer of St. Gregory. Peer Music International, 1962.

Score in an Anthology

Cited scores in anthologies as you would a chapter from a larger book.

Details to include: composer, title of piece, title of anthology, editor, publisher, date, page numbers

Wieck Schumann, Clara. "Er ist gekommen durch Sturm und Regen." New Historical Anthology of Music by Women, edited by James R. Brisco, Indiana University Press, 2004, pp. 144-147.

Score Accessed in an Online Score Library

Cite online scores much like regular scores, but add the online information at the end.

Details to include: composer, title, publisher, date, online platform, stable url

Tanaka, Karen. Lost Sanctuary. Chester Music, 2002. Alexander Street, search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity|score|2545246.

Source: St. Olaf Libraries, Music Subject Guide

 

Additional Citation Resources

Additional citation assistance can be found at the following websites:

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sample Chicago/Turabian Citations

Streaming Audio Recording Emphasizing the Composer

You might choose this format if your discussion of the piece is more about the composer or the structure of the work, and less about this particular performance of it.

Details to include: composer name, title of work, performer (including instrument), date of recording, record label, date of recording release, recording format (CD, LP, BluRay, etc.)

In the examples below, "n.d." indicates that the date the recording is made is unknown. 2014 is the recording release date. Information about the streaming service -- the platform and the stable URL -- takes the place of the recording format.

Note:

1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, Ray Chen (violin) and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, n.d., Sony Classical, 2014, streamed on Naxos Music Library, stolaf.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=68243%2FStOlafNML20%2F3376673.

Bibliography:

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216. Ray Chen and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra. N.d. Sony Classical, 2014. Streamed on Naxos Music Library, stolaf.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=68243%2FStOlafNML20%2F3376673.

Note:

Johannes Brahms, "Concerto for Violon, Cello, and Piano in A Minor, Op. 102 ("Triple Concerto")", Isaac Stern (violin), Leonard Rose (cello), Eugene Istomin (piano), Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy, recorded February 1965, Sony Classical, 1991, compact disk.

Bibliography:

Brahms, Johannes. "Concerto for Violon, Cello, and Piano in A Minor, Op. 102 ("Triple Concerto")". Isaac Stern (violin), Leonard Rose (cello), Eugene Istomin (piano), Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. Recorded February 1965. Sony Classical, 1991, compact disk.

Streaming Audio Recording Emphasizing the Performer

You might choose this format if your discussion highlights aspects of this particular performance.

Details to include: performer (including instrument), title of work, composer, date of recording, record label, date of recording release, recording format (CD, LP, BluRay, etc.)

In the examples below, "n.d." indicates that the date the recording is made is unknown. 2014 is the recording release date. Information about the streaming service -- the platform and the stable URL -- takes the place of the recording format.

Note:

1. Ray Chen, violinist, Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, n.d., with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, Sony Classical, 2014, streamed on Naxos Music Library, stolaf.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=68243%2FStOlafNML20%2F3376673.

Bibliography:

Chen, Ray, violinist. Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216. By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. With the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra. N.d., Sony Classical, 2014. Streamed on Naxos Music Library, stolaf.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=68243%2FStOlafNML20%2F3376673.

Performance in a YouTube Video

It is not unusual for songwriters to be left out of citations of popular music.  The purpose of the citation in the examples below is not to credit Dolly Parton (who originally wrote and recorded the song), but to point people to the exact YouTube video you are referencing. If you want to recognize Dolly Parton's contribution, you can either insert her name after the title of the song (as in the Mozart examples above) or credit her in your text, like this:

In her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," Whitney Houston performs the first verse as an unaccompanied introduction to the chorus.1

Details to include: performer (including instrument), title of video, uploader/channel name, date of upload, stable url

Note:

Whitney Houston, vocalist, "Whitney Houston -- I Will Always Love You (Official 4K Video)," Whitney Houston, uploaded Sept. 27, 2010, https://youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU.

Bibliography:

Houston, Whitney, vocalist. "Whitney Houston -- I Will Always Love You (Official 4K Video)."  Whitney Houston. Uploaded Sept. 27, 2010. https://youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU.

Live Performance

Live performances are generally not included in bibliographies in Chicago style, on the grounds that readers cannot find and consult a live performance unless they have a time machine. Either put all of the relevant performance information into the text or use a note to provide the extra performance details. In the example below, a note is necessary to supply information such as the concert venue.

In the preview concert for their 2024 South African Tour, the St. Olaf Choir performed several works by African American composers.1

Details to include: performer, title of performance, additional performers or contributors, venue, location, date or performance.

Note:

1. St. Olaf Choir, South Africa Tour, conducted by Anton Armstrong, Boe Memorial Chapel, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, May 10, 2024.

Note:

1.Isaac Stern (violin), Leonard Rose (cello), Eugene Istomin (piano), and the Philadelphia Orchestra, performance of Brahms's "Triple Concerto" at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, February 15, 1965.

 

Score

Published music scores are cited similarly to books.

Details to include: composer, title of work, additional contributors (editors, etc.), city of publication, publisher, date of publication.

Note:

1. Alan Hovhannes, Prayer of St. Gregory (New York: Peer Music International, 1962).

Bibliography:

Hovhannes, Alan. Prayer of St. Gregory. New York: Peer Music International, 1962.

 

Score in an Anthology

Cite scores in an anthology as you would text material in anthology. The only really strange thing is that page numbers go at the end of the citation in the note, but in between the editor and the publication in formation in the bibliography. This is because in the note, the page number refers to the exact page the information came from that you are using; in the bibliography, the page numbers are for the whole piece.

Details to include: composer, title of piece, title of anthology, editor of anthology, city of publication, publisher, date, page numbers.

Note:

1. Clara Wieck Schumann, "Er ist gekommen durch Sturm und Regen," in New Historical Anthology of Music by Women, ed. James R. Brisco (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004), 144-145.

Bibliography:

Wieck Schumann, Clara. "Er ist gekommen durch Sturm und Regen." In New Historical Anthology of Music by Women, edited by James R. Brisco, 144-147. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004.

 

Score Accessed in an Online Score Library

For online scores, give the score information as above and then add the information for the online source, usually a stable url.

Details to include: composer, title of piece, title of anthology, editor of anthology, city of publication, publisher, date, page numbers, stable url

Note:

1. Karen Tanaka, Lost Sanctuary (London: Chester Music, 2002), https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity|score|2545246.

Bibliography:

Tanaka, Karen. Lost Sanctuary. London: Chester Music, 2002. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity|score|2545246.

Source: St. Olaf Libraries, Music Subject Guide