Italicizing Music

Orianna2000 · Feb 10, 2012

She sang "Un bel dì" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
He performed Chopin's Polonaise brillante.

Is that correct? I know that typically you italicize the names of larger works, such as the opera itself, Madama Butterfly, while the song title would be in quotes. But the Wikipedia article about Madama Butterfly has the title of the song "Un bel dì" not in quotes, but italicized, as is the title of the opera. Is this just Wikipedia being weird, or is there some other rule I haven't heard of?

Also, for Chopin's Polonaise brillante, am I right to italicize it and to not capitalize the second word? When I Google the title, it comes up both ways--Polonaise Brillante and Polonaise brillante--perhaps because there's more than one work by Chopin with that title. In this case, I want the piano/cello version, which I believe is Polonaise brillante in C major, op. 3. Wikipedia italicizes, except for "C major, op. 3" which it leaves alone, and it leaves the second word in lower case . . . but as stated above, Wikipedia also insists on italicizing "Un bel dì" when I'm fairly certain that isn't right.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Deleted member 42 · Feb 10, 2012

1. The basic rule is to italicize titles of long works--operas, symphonies, films, television series (not episodes), novels, plays and really long poems—Paradise Lost, but not "Ode to a Grecian Urn."

2. On the Polanaise, the Harvard Dictionary of Music does not italicize it, nor does Grove's, so I wouldn't.

3. There's still a convention at many publishers of using underlining, not italics, when you submit, so you might check on what your publisher/editor prefers before submission.

4. It's good to check, but please don't agonize over tiny things like this; try to standardize, but don't fret.

Orianna2000 · Feb 10, 2012

So basically, Wikipedia's wrong. That's what I needed to know, thanks!

absitinvidia · Feb 10, 2012

Orianna2000 said:
So basically, Wikipedia's wrong. That's what I needed to know, thanks!

More correctly, the author of that Wikipedia article is wrong, and nobody's bothered to change it. Wikipedia style does follow CMoS WRT the basic rules, but since there's no real editorial oversight, many articles don't follow the style guide.

Italicizing Music

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer

Deleted member 42

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer

absitinvidia

A bit of a wallflower