Using Uniform Titles: Distinctive Titles

When a composer gives a composition a title that is not the name of a musical form, that distinctive title, in its original language, is used as the uniform title. Works that have distinctive titles include operas, oratorios, ballets, and many other types of vocal and stage works.

Here are some well-known examples from the dramatic repertoire:

• Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791.
  Zauberflöte
  The Magic flute: an opera...
  
  
• Stravinsky, Igor, 1882-1971.
  Zhar-ptitsa
  The Firebird (l'Oiseau de feu): a ballet...

Many instrumental compositions also have distinctive titles. For example:

• Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750.
  Brandenburgische Konzerte
  The Six Brandenburg concertos...
  
  
• Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750.
  Wohltemperierte Klavier
  48 Preludes and fugues (The Well-tempered Clavier)...
  
  
• Brahms, Johannes, 1833-1897.
  Ungarische Tanze
  Hungarian dances: for orchestra...
  
  
• Stravinsky, Igor, 1882-1971.
  Symphonies d'instruments a vent
  Symphonies for wind instruments...

Note that although the Bach Brandenburgische Konzerte are "Concertos," and Stravinsky's Symphonies d'instruments a vent are "Symphonies," these titles were originally used by the composers as distinctive titles. These titles, therefore, are used in their original languages as the uniform titles.

You can see that it is helpful to know something about the original language of a work. But don't panic! Cross references will frequently be found in the catalog, leading you from commonly known nicknames, or titles in other languages (including English), to the "correct" title in its original language.

For example:

• Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791
  Magic flute -- see Zauberflöte
  
  
• Stravinsky, Igor, 1882-1971
  Firebird -- see Zhar-ptitsa

Single Movements from Larger Works

Sometimes a single movement or section of a larger work is published or recorded separately from the whole composition. For example, the "Hallelujah chorus" from Handel's oratorio Messiah may be published separately for performance by a church choir; or the movement "Claire de lune" from Debussy's Suite bergamasque for piano is sometimes performed separately. In a uniform title for such separately published or recorded movements, the entire work is named first, and then the part is named.

Examples:

• Handel, George Frederic, 1685-1759.
  Messiah. Hallelujah
  The Hallelujah chorus, from Messiah ...
  
  
• Debussy, Claude, 1862-1918.
  Suite bergamasque. Clair de lune
  Clair de lune : from the Suite bergamasque for piano...

You will find many cross references in the catalog leading you to the correct uniform title entry from separately published or recorded parts of larger works.

For example:

• Handel, George Frederic, 1685-1759
  Hallelujah chorus -- see Messiah. Hallelujah
  
  
• Debussy, Claude, 1862-1918
  Clair de lune -- see Suite bergamasque. Clair de lune

Practice what you have learned