MUSIC SUBJECT HEADINGS
 

I. Music Subjects Headings have to cover two types of materials:

            1. The music itself (M's) and

            2. Books written about music (ML's and MT's)
 

With musical form subject headings, if it is in the PLURAL, it usually retrieves THE MUSIC ITSELF.  
If it is the SINGULAR, it retrieves BOOKS ABOUT THAT SUBJECT as a musical form. For example:

        Sonatas will retrieve sonatas

        Sonata will retrieve books about the sonata

        Concertos will retrieve concertos

        Concerto will retrieve books about the concerto

        Symphonies will retrieve symphonies

        Symphony will retrieve books about the symphony

        Operas will retrieve opera scores

        Opera will retrieve books about the opera
 

This works for most musical forms. One exception is Songs. There is no singular subject heading song for books about this musical form. You will have to use the heading:

        Songs--History and criticism
 

II. All subject headings may be subdivided topically, chronologically or geographically. These subdivisions follow specific patterns. The full pattern is given for only one subject heading in any given field, since the other subject headings will follow the same pattern. For music, that heading is:

        Operas -- [topical, form, chronological, geographic, free form subdivisions]
 

III. Musical forms for STANDARD COMBINATIONS OF INSTRUMENTS are under their SPECIFIC NAME.

NON-STANDARD COMBINATIONS are under more GENERIC HEADINGS with SPECIFIC INSTRUMENTATION IN PARENTHESES. For example:
 

Standard Combination Subject Heading

    music for 2 violins, viola and violoncello     String quartets

    music for piano, violin and violoncello         Piano trios
 

Non-standard combination Subject Heading

    music for flute, guitar,violin and viola         Quartets (Flute, guitar, violin, viola)

    music for piano, tuba and violin                   Trios (Piano, tuba, violin)
 
 

IV. When a specific music form is not implied, the name(s) of the instrument(s) are given with the word "music." For example:

    music for solo unaccompanied viola                Viola music

    music for oboe and piano                                Oboe and piano music
   

V. When the relationship between the instruments is that of solo and accompaniment, the word "with" appears:

    trombone solo with band accomp. Bass trombone with band

    trombone concerto with band accomp. Concertos (Bass trombone with band)
 

VI. Vocal music may be found under the general term Vocal music, and ensembles with the term Vocal, such as:  Vocal duets, Vocal trios, Vocal ensembles, etc.

Rather than soprano, alto, tenor or bass, vocal music subject headings refer to High voice, Medium voice and Low voice.  Their approximate relationship with standard vocal categories is as follows: 

    soprano and tenor: High voice

    mezzo-soprano, alto and baritone: Medium voice

    contralto and bass: Low Voice  

If vocal music is in some kind of medium, such as "Songs", "Sacred Songs" or "Vocalises" (wordless songs), it will be found under that heading.  For example:

    solo soprano
    accompanied by string orchestra   Songs (High voice) with string orchestra

    solo bass singing a sacred text,
    accompanied by piano                Sacred songs (Low voice) with piano

    solo alto singing without words,
    accompanied by an orchestra      Vocalises (Medium voice) with orchestra
 

VII. The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) use bold face for a proper subject heading. It also contains cross references which will guide you to the most correct heading, using the following codes:

USE = Use the heading referred to
UF = Used for (DO NOT USE these headings)
BT = Broader term
RT = Related term
SA = See also
NT = Narrower term

Page created and maintained by Carl Rahkonen.  © 1987-  Last modified 5/29/15  
Comments and/or suggestions may be e-mailed to: rahkonen@iup.edu. 
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