Skip to main content

Music Citations: Turabian/Chicago Style: Sound Recordings, Film, and Live Performances

This guide will assist with formatting music citations using the Turabian/Chicago style. For more info, consult Turabian Manual: MUS REFPN203.T8 2007 or consult Chicago Manual online at: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/contents.html

Tips!

If you are citing a recording from Naxos online, or YouTube, or other online resource:

  • Make sure to include an access date and the URL/link.
  • On Naxos, scroll down the screen to find label and catalog number information.
  • YouTube recordings are often missing the information you need for your citation.
  • Remember to consult your professor to be certain you are including all desired information.

If you are citing a recording from a physical CD: 

  • Publication info. for a CD is often on the back of the CD case (or LP jacket), as well as on the disc itself. 
  • Remember: If you can't find the publication info, check to see what the library online catalog lists, or try locating the recording at amazon.com.

Film: Turabian 17.10.3.1

B: Title. Directed by DirectorFirst Last. Publishing Information, Year. DVD.

ex. 1: Crumb. Directed by Terry Zwigoff. Superior Pictures, 1994. DVD.
ex. 2: Crumb. Directed by Terry Zwigoff. Superior Pictures, 1994. Accessed March 6, 2017. http://netflix.com.

F: Title, directed by DirectorFirst Last (Publishing Information, Year), DVD.

ex. 1: Crumb, directed by Terry Zwigoff (Superior Pictures, 1994), DVD. 
ex. 2: Crumb, directed by Terry Zwigoff (Superior Pictures, 1994), accessed March 6, 2017, http://netflix.com.

Live Performances: Turabian 17.10.2

Met Opera on Demand: Recording of a Live Performance

B: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. La Clemenza di Tito. Directed by Harry Bicket. Recorded December, 1 2012. Streaming video. Accessed May 7, 2019. Met Opera on Demand.

Citing Live Performances:

  • Cite live theatrical, artistic, musical or dance performances in your notes only, unless the work is central to your argument, in which case you can include it in your bibliography.
  • Include the title of the work, the creator, any key performers and an indication of their roles, the venue, location, and date of the performance.
  • Italicize the titles of plays, live performance art and long musical works, but enter titles of shorter works in roman type, in quotation marks.
  • If the citation is focused on an individual's performance, list that person's name and role before the title of the work.

N: Matilda: The Musical, script by Dennis Kelly, music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, based on the book by Roald Dahl, Civic Theatre, Auckland, September 28, 2017.

N: Hamilton, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, directed by Thomas Kail, choreographed by Andy Blakenbuehler, Richard Rodgers Theatre, New York, NY, February 2, 2016.

N: Simone Dinnerstein, pianist, Intermezzo in A, op. 118, no. 2, by Johannes Brahms, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, Portland, OR, January 15, 2012.

Cite a Recording or Broadcast of Live Performances: 

N: Artur Rubinstein, pianist, "Spinning Songs," by Felix Mendelssohn, Ambassador College, Pasadena, CA, January 15, 1975, on Teh Last Recital for Israel (BMG Cjassics, 1992), VHS.

Spotify Citation

Lizzo. “Truth Hurts.” Cuz I Love You (Deluxe). New Life Recording Company and Atlantic Records Corporation, 2019, MP3. Accessed August, 10, 2019. https://open.spotify.com/album/2Js2XW32MfkfGXXggDIAhJ?si=voL1A6jgT0ay6sqSG1PhJg.

Sound Recordings: Turabian 17.10.3.4

General Notes:

  • The format (CD, Audiocassette, MP3, etc.) is always given for recordings.
  • In Turabian, places of publication are not given for recordings.
  • Sometimes the date of recording will be the same as the copyright, in which case you may omit the copyright date.
  • You may choose to begin the citation with either the composer or performer/conductor, whichever is most relevant to your argument.
  • Be sure to inlcude URLs in online recordings.

One Composer:

B: Stravinsky, Igor. The Rite of SpringPetrushka. Conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Recorded with the New York Philharmonic. Sony Classical SMK 47629, [1993]. CD.

F: 1. Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of SpringPetrushka, New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, recorded January 20, 1958, and May 5, 1969, Sony Classical SMK 47629, [1993], CD.

  • The date of publication is in brackets because it has been deduced from information not found with the CD materials.
  • Two recording dates are given because the two works on the CD were recorded at different times.

Online:

B: Inbal, Eliahu, cond. Symphony No. 5, by Dmitri Shostakovich. Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Recorded December 12, 2011. Exton EXCL-00080, 2012, streaming audio. Accessed July 3, 2016. Naxos Music Library.

F: 1. Eliahu Inbal, cond., Symphony No. 5, by Dmitri Shostakovich, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, recorded December 12, 2011, Exton EXCL-00080, 2012, streaming audio, accessed July 3, 2016, Naxos Music Library.

  • Eliahu Inbal is listed first because the conductor is more important than the composer for the author's argument. (For example, she may be comparing recordings by different conductors.)
  • If you are citing a recording from a website (e.g. YouTube) rather than database (e.g. Naxos), include a URL, not the name of the website.

Multiple Composers:

B: Copland, Aaron. Fanfare for the Common ManArrival of the Queen of Sheba, by George Frideric Handel; Earle of Oxford’s March, by William Byrd; Adagio, by Samuel Barber; Queen of the Night, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Golyardes’ Grounde, by William Byrd. Canadian Brass, directed by Robert Moody. Opening Day Entertainment B0010557-02, 2009. CD.

F: 1. Aaron Copland, Fanfare for the Common ManArrival of the Queen of Sheba, by George Frideric Handel; Earle of Oxford’s March, by William Byrd; Adagio, by Samuel Barber; Queen of the Night, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Golyardes’ Grounde, by William Byrd; Canadian Brass, directed by Robert Moody, Opening Day Entertainment B0010557-02, 2009, CD.

  • List the entry under the first-named composer, then include the other composers and their works as if they're part of the title.

Liner Notes/CD Booklet:

B: Schröder-Nauenburg, Beate. Program notes to Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn, Das Jahr: Klavierzyklus. Performed by Ulrich Urban, piano. Koch International/Schwann Musica Mundi, 3–6719–2, 1998. CD.

F: 1. Beate Schröder-Nauenburg, Program notes to Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn, Das Jahr: Klavierzyklus, performed by Ulrich Urban, piano, Koch International/Schwann Musica Mundi, 3–6719–2, 1998, CD.

Podcasts

B: Cuchna, Cole. “S1E9 - Alright by Kendrick Lamar.” Dissect. Podcast audio, May 1, 2018. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1X0CcUT4UzARCBVZANDSnn?si=tFobiJMNR_OUGg70A-yAog.

Online Videos: Turabian 17.10.3.3

B: Abdel-Magied, Yassmin. "What does my headscarf mean to you?" Filmed May 2014 in Brisbaine, AU. TED video, 14:01. https://www.ted.com/talks/yassmin_abdel_magied_what_does_my_headscarf_mean_to_you?language=en

N: 1Yassmin Abdel-Magied, "What does my headscarf mean to you?," Filmed May 2014 in Brisbaine, AU, TED video, 14:01, https://www.ted.com/talks/yassmin_abdel_magied_what_does_my_headscarf_mean_to_you?language=en

B: Grande, Ariana. "thank u, next." Directed by Hannah Lux Davis. November 30, 2018. Music video, 5:30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl1aHhXnN1k

N: 1Ariana Grande, "thank u, next," directed by Hannah Lux Davis, November 30, 2018, music video, 5:30, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl1aHhXnN1k.

B: NPR Music. "Lizzo: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert." Filmed July 29, 2019. YouTube video, 16.59. Posted August 5, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFiLdByWIDY

N: 1NPR Music, "Lizzo: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert," filmed July 29, 2019, YouTube video, 16.59, posted August 5, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFiLdByWIDY

For further examples, please consult: Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 9th ed., rev. by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, et al. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018).
https://libguides.depauw.edu/c.php?g=73436&p=472435
libguides.depauw.edu
crawl=CC-MAIN-2020-40
55447
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:3PH7RWPP73H4XKSIF22CHALTZ5HPEA6C
<urn:uuid:2c9dd658-e9b6-4c9c-963f-ddc8a5610506>
2020-09-27T21:03:27Z
34.194.39.199
text/html
sha1:GLLFTIH4LPINLSVXDGIUBWQS44PMRJOX
<urn:uuid:1b6c8f95-31b2-4497-9086-db7b7ec4c856>
https://libguides.depauw.edu/c.php?g=73436&p=472435
response
<urn:uuid:2b8938f8-63c7-4235-8535-55dce67f762c>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-40
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September 2020
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-205.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.17 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/