Music Research Guide

This style guide was modified from one created by Professor Suzannah Clark, for Music concentrators writing theses. Have a question about a type of source or situation not listed here? Check the Chicago Manual of Style Online or ask a librarian for more help.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Book

Abbate, Carolyn. Unsung Voices: Opera and Musical Narrative in the Nineteenth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991. https://muse-jhu-edu.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/book/41659/.

When you cite an ebook, include the URL, the name of the database you got it from, or the format (i.e. Kindle, iBooks, etc.). Look for a DOI (digital object identifier) and use it when you can; it's a permanent URL others will be able to refer to. You don't need to include the date you accessed it. No page numbers? Refer to a chapter or section if you can, or just cite the entire work. More tips and examples for citing ebooks (Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide).

Translated book

Adorno, Theodor W. Beethoven: The Philosophy of Music. Translated by Edmund Jephcott. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998.

Edited book

Bent, Ian, ed. Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Bent, Ian, ed. Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

[NB: This is a multi-volume book. Format your citation like the first example if you referred to both volumes; copy the second example if you referred only to volume 2.]

Review of a book

Biddle, Ian. Review of Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Ian Bent. Music and Letters 79 (1998): 120–126.

[NB: Observe the use of the colon because it appears in a journal.]

Szalai, Jennifer. "Toward New Ways of Looking and Listening." Review of Liner Notes for the Revolution, by Daphne Brooks. New York Times, February 17, 2021. NexisUni.

[NB: Book reviews may or may not have titles; the first citation is an example of how to cite a review without one; the second is a review with a unique title (note that the citation also includes the name of the database - NexisUni - that I retrieved it from).]

Article in a book – you must include the page numbers of the whole article

Burnham, Scott. “How Music Matters: Poetic Content Revisited.” In Rethinking Music, edited by Nicholas Cook and Mark Everist, 193–216. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Article in a journal – you must refer to the page numbers of the whole article

Levy, Janet. “Covert and Casual Values in Recent Writings About Music.” Journal of Musicology 5 (1987): 3–27. https://doi-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.2307/763822.

When you cite an online article, include the URL or the name of the database you got it from. Look for a DOI (digital object identifier) and use it when you can; it's a permanent URL others will be able to refer to. You don't need to include the date you accessed it.

Article in Grove – old printed edition and online

Powers, Harold S. “Mode.” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 1980. 12: 376–450.

Boyden, David D., and Peter Walls. “Chin Rest.” Grove Music Online, edited by Deane Root. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://doi-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05615.

Revised book

Rosen, Charles. Sonata Forms. Rev. ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1988.

Book in a Series

Sipe, Thomas. Beethoven: Eroica Symphony. Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

Multi-authored book/article

Saslaw, Janna K., and James P. Walsh. “Musical Invariance as a Cognitive Structure: ‘Multiple Meaning’ in the Early Nineteenth Century.” In Music Theory in the Age of Romanticism, edited by Ian Bent, 211–232. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

[NB: note also that the quotation within a quotation is put in single quotation marks.]

Recording

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453. Angela Hewitt. Recorded July 11-13, 2011. Hyperíon CDA67919, 2013, compact disc.

Farrenc, Louise. Symphonies 1 and 3. Insula Orchestra. Laurence Equilbey. Recorded March 4–6, 2021. Erato 190296698446, 2021, compact disc. Naxos Music Library.

"2021 Fromm Players at Harvard co-curated by Anne Shreffler and Miranda Cuckson." Harvard Music Department Events, April 16, 2021. Video, 58:12. https://youtu.be/aFnaBp9oOpA.

Citations for recordings, videos, and other multimedia can be more variable, depending on what aspect is most important to your argument: the composer, the performer, the director, and so on. Include the label number and format if you're using a physical object like a CD or DVD; include a URL or the name of a streaming service if you're using online multimedia. More tips and examples for citing multimedia (Chicago Manual of Style 14.261). 

Score

Eben, Petr. Happy Birthday: Praeludium für Orgel. Leutkirch: Pro Organo, 2004.

Webpage

Wikipedia. “Style Guide.” Last modified July 18, 2008, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_guide.

[NB: If a website doesn't have a date of publication or last modified date, list the date you accessed it, instead, like this: Accessed July 12, 2021].

Citations for websites can be variable, depending on what information you're able to gather from the page. More tips and examples for citing websites (Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide).

Which Cambridge?!

Clark, Suzannah. Analyzing Schubert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Sisman, Elaine R. Haydn and the Classical Variation. Studies in the History of Music 5. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.

[NB: Alas, when referring to Cambridge, the UK is presumed. So if it’s Cambridge in Massachusetts, then you need to specify that.]

A few other details about publishers with multiple places:

When multiple cities are listed on the title page, include only the first. For example, if the title page reads "Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press," cite this as Berkeley: University of California Press.