Skip to Main Content
MSM Logo Library Name

Tips for Searching the Catalog

Form Titles

Many musical works have titles that actually are the names of forms or types of compositions ("sonatas," "concertos," "symphonies," and so forth). In these cases, the name of the form of the work is used as the first word of the preferred title. In the introductory Beethoven symphony examples you saw that each preferred title began with the word "Symphonies":

  Name   Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827.
  Preferred Title   Symphonies, no. 3, op. 55, E♭ major
  Title Page   Symphonie III, Es dur : Eroica, op. 55 / Ludwig van Beethoven.
  Publication   Wien : Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag, [192-?]
       
  Name   Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827.
  Preferred Title   Symphonies, no. 3, op. 55, E♭ major
  Title Page   Symphony no. 3, Eroica, op. 55 in E flat major / Ludwig van Beethoven.
  Publication   New York : Kalmus, [196-?]
       
  Name   Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827.
  Preferred Title   Symphonies, no. 3, op. 55, E♭ major
  Title Page   Sinfonie Nr. 3, Es-dur: Sinfonia eroica, op. 55
  Publication   Wiesbaden : Breitkopf & Härtel, [197-?]
       

Some other form names commonly used in preferred titles are:

Concertos
Duets… (or "Trios", "Quartets", etc.)
Etudes …  
Masses
Sonatas
Suites … 
Symphonies … 
Variations … 

Following the name of the form in the preferred title come the names of the instruments (or voices) that perform the work:

  Correct   Incorrect
  Quartets, strings, no. 3   String quartets, no. 3
  Concertos, piano, orchestra       Piano concertos 
  Sonatas, flute, piano   Flute, piano sonatas
  Variations, piano   Piano variations


Sometimes the medium of performance is implied by the name of the form. For example, "Symphonies" implies performance by an orchestra; "Songs" implies performance by a solo voice with keyboard accompaniment. In such cases the names of the performing instruments or voices are omitted from the preferred title: 

  Correct   Incorrect
  Symphonies, no. 5   Symphonies, orchestra, no. 5 
  Songs       Songs, voice, piano
  Chorale preludes   Chorale preludes, organ


After the name of the form and the medium of performance (if necessary), appropriate number(s) and key (tonality) are added as required to identify the individual composition, and to complete the preferred title. The numbering may be sequential ("Symphonies, no. 3"), or may be a number scheme particularly associated with the works of the composer.

Remember: Form, instrument(s)/voice(s), number, key 

  Name   Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828.
  Preferred Title       Quartets, strings, D.173, G minor ... ["Deutsch" catalog number and key signature]
       
  Name   Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791.
  Preferred Title   Concertos, piano, orchestra, K. 488, A major ... ["Köchel" catalog number and key signature]
       
  Name   Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827.
  Preferred Title   Symphonies, no. 5, op. 67, C minor ... [Symphony number, opus number, and key signature]


Note: In the final example it is unnecessary to name the orchestra as the performing ensemble, because it is implied by the name of the form, "Symphonies".

Warning! Some compositions in this category are also known by popular, descriptive names, like Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata for piano, or Haydn's "Surprise" symphony. Such as name is not used in a preferred title unless it is the composer's own, original title for the work (e.g., Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique). If by error you search under a popular title, you will retrieve only those editions for which the popular title actually is printed on the publication. Other editions that omit the popular title, or print it in a different language, will not be found.

This is one reason why we always advise you to search for music by the composer's name, then scroll down the list of titles. Within the list of titles (what librarians call a "browse list"), you will usually find a cross reference from popular or variant titles that will lead you to the correct preferred title, as in the following examples:

Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827.
Moonlight sonata -- See Sonatas, piano, no. 14, op. 27, no. 2, C# minor 

Haydn, Joseph, 1732-1809.
Surprise symphony -- See Symphonies, H. I, 94, G major

To repeat, the order of elements in a form-type preferred title is:

1. Form name
2. Instrument(s) and/or voice(s)
3. Number(s) (Opus or other number)
4. Tonality 

Name of the key signature is omitted if the tonality of the work is ambiguous.