Page titles

[Davydov]

As the existing Score submission guide/Manual of Style is well out-of-date, I've tried to come up with some new text that codifies the practices that we usually follow. A rough draft is given below, but there's probably much more that we need to think about, so comments are welcome.

=== Page Title ===
The page title should uniquely identify the work, and be as short as possible. It will usually take the form:
: Work Title, Catalogue Number

====Language====
Use the title of the work in the language in which it was first presented by the composer:
: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
: Symphonie fantastique
: Le nozze di Figaro
: Variationen über ein russisches Volkslied

The [http://authorities.loc.gov/ Library of Congress Authorities Catalog] or [http://www.hofmeister.rhul.ac.uk/2008/index.html Hofmeister database] can be helpful in establishing the original language of a work.

Exceptions:
* If the title is the name of a standard type of work (e.g. symphony, suite, string quartet, piano trio, nocturne), then English is preferred:
: ''Symphony No.6''
: ''Violin Concerto No.2''
: ''Concerto for 2 Pianos''
Leave out any spaces between "No." and the following number.

* If the original title is in a non-Latin alphabet (e.g. Russian or Chinese), or is well-established under an English title, then a better-known English translation or transliteration may be used:
: ''Pictures at an Exhibition''
: ''Swan Lake''
: ''The Bartered Bride''
: ''Khovanshchina''
: ''St. Matthew Passion''
* If the title of a collection of pieces starts with a number, then use numerals at the start:
: ''10 Lieder''
: ''12 Morceaux''
: ''6 Pieces for Two Pianos''

====Capitalization====
For English titles, capitalize the first word and all nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives:
: ''Variations on an Original Theme''
: ''Serenade for String Orchestra''
For German titles, capitalize the first word and all nouns:
: ''Grosse Konzertfantasie über spanische Weisen''
: ''Gesang der Geister über den Wassern''
For Italian, French, Spanish and Portugese, capitalize only the first word and all proper names:
: ''Le nozze di Figaro''
: ''Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune''
: ''El sombrero de tres picos''
: ''Saudades das selvas brasileiras''
In all other languages, capitalize the title as if it would be a sentence in that language.

Ignore any numerals at the start of the title (e.g. ''12 Morceaux'', not "12 morceaux")

====Opus/Catalogue Numbers====
Separate opus or catalogue numbers from the main part of the title with a comma and a space:
* ''Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut'', BWV 173
* ''Symphony No.6'', Op.74
* ''Le nozze di Figaro'', K.492
If a work has both an opus number and a catalogue number, look at pages for other works by the same composer to decide which should be used. Leave out any spaces between "Op." and the opus number. Spacing for catalogue prefixes can vary, so follow the established spacing used for works by the same composer.
For sub-divisions of opuses, use this format:
* ''Piano Sonata No.7'', Op.10 No.3 (''not'' "Op.10/3" or "Op.10, No.3")

====Instruments====
Only include the names of instruments in the title if they are needed to avoid confusion between similar types of works:
* ''Violin Sonata''
* ''Piano Sonata''
* ''Sonata for Horn and Violin''
* ''Piano Concerto No.1''
* ''Concerto for Flute and Harp''
* ''Piano Concerto for the Left Hand''
The names of the instruments should be in the same language as the rest of the title (which in practice will usually be English), and follow the same capitalization rules for that particular language.

====Keys====
Do not include key signatures in the title unless they are needed to uniquely identify indivdual works:
* ''Polonaise in A-flat major'' (Chopin, Frederic)
* ''Polonaise in B-flat major'' (Chopin, Frederic)
* ''Polonaise in B-flat minor'' (Chopin, Frederic)
* ''Polonaise in G minor'' (Chopin, Frederic)
The key signature should always be given in the English language after the word "in", followed by "major" or "minor" (which are always in lower-case). The use of a hyphen in "A-flat", "C-sharp", etc. is optional, but be aware that the <nowiki>{{flat}} and {{sharp}}</nowiki> templates do not work in page titles.

====Other Information====
If there is still potential for confusion between works with similar titles, then other information can be added as necessary:
* ''Romeo and Juliet'', duet (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich)
* ''Romeo and Juliet'', overture-fantasia (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich)
* ''Pieces de Clavecin'', Book 1 (Dandrieu, Jean-François)
* ''Pieces de Clavecin'', Book 2 (Dandrieu, Jean-François)

[vinteuil]

Looks good

[KGill]

Very well fleshed out. The one thing I think is missing that is actually in common practice here is when both an opus number and a catalogue number are included in the title. This is quite useful in the case of composers like Alessandro Rolla or Viotti, where works are well-known by their opus numbers but where different publishers used different systems - making it confusing to rely on the opus numbers alone, as they don't make sense from an organizational standpoint. Our uploaders have in these cases frequently provided us with scientific catalogue systems to more easily tell the works apart (sometimes they have the same title and/or instrumentation). I don't see any reason why we shouldn't use both in these cases as is already done, so perhaps this could be amended to include that? (Maybe the part that says to look in the category to see which one to use could be changed to say which catalogue system to choose - like for Chopin, where there are several.)

[Davydov]

Thanks. My intention with the wording above was to leave open the possibility of including both opus and catalogue numbers for the same work, but maybe that would be clearer like this:

If a work has both an opus number and a catalogue number, look at pages for other works by the same composer to decide which one (or if both) should be included in the title.

[KGill]

Thanks, that's clearer. Should we possibly also mention the use of parentheses (e.g. 'W082 (Op.31)' or 'Op.13 (BI 74, 56, 105)')?

[Carolus]

One minor thing I noticed for titles:
===For English titles, capitalize the first word and all nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives:===

should read

===For English titles, capitalize the first and last words plus all nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives:===

[Davydov]

For English titles, capitalize the first and last words plus all nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives

Yes I Think We Should Do That

[Davydov]

One thing I didn't touch on, but which we should probably look at, is how to handle titles within titles. This is currently done in several different ways:

• Fantasia on Verdi's 'La Traviata', Op.78 (Thalberg, Sigismond) [single quotes]
• Fantaisie sur des motifs de l'opéra "La Traviata", Op.107 (Singelée, Jean Baptiste) [double quotes]
• Fantaisie on Verdi's La Traviata, Op.66 (Prudent, Émile) [no quotes]

I guess we'd all agree that the title of the quoted work should be capitalized in the same way as the original ("La traviata" in this case), but what quotation marks, if any, should be used? The only examples I can find in Wikipedia omit the quotes (e.g. Suite from The Age of Gold (Shostakovich)), which also seems to be the practice followed by the Library of Congress.

[Carolus]

I seem to recall that Chicago says one should capitalize the first word after articles such as "La", "Der", "Il", etc for original language titles. ("La Traviata" would therefore be correct). I think the single quotes is probably best to use - for the simple reason that it appears to be used quite a bit more than the double quotes here already.

[Davydov]

Should be relying on Chicago when it comes to languages other than English? The numerous style guides cited on Wikipedia and elsewhere are fairly unanimous that "La traviata" (etc.) is the correct form in Italian.

[Davydov]

As there have been no further comments, I've updated the text on IMSLP:Score submission guide/Manual of Style accordingly.

[BKhon]

Even though you already updated it, I have one minor question. Why is it optional to have "A-flat" vs. "A flat"? I don't know if I like that flexibility... might it be better to just have it standardized?

[Davydov]

Although the majority of people use a hyphen, some people have also argued strongly against it, and I sidestepped this one so that the main proposal wouldn't get lost in another hyphen debate. But if there were to be another such debate, then I'd vote for the hyphen