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

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.

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.

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.

B: 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.

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 Spring; Petrushka. Conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Recorded with the New York Philharmonic. Sony Classical SMK 47629, [1993]. CD.

F: 1. Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring; Petrushka, 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 Man; Arrival 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 Man; Arrival 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.

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