Citing Music in MLA Style
This page provides information for citing music in MLA, 7th edition.
For more help with MLA, see our MLA Style Quick Guide.
Published Music Score (Print)
Composer Lastname, Firstname. Title of Score. Year of Composition. City of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium. Name of Series (if applicable).
Verdi, Giuseppe. Rigoletto. 1851. New York: Dover, 1992. Print.
Music Score from an Anthology or Collected Work
Composer Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Score.” Year of Composition. Title of Anthology.
Ed(s). Editor(s) Name(s). Edition #. Vol. #. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of
Publication. Pages. Medium.
Monteverdi, Claudio. “L’Orfeo: Excerpt from Act II.” 1607. Norton Anthology of Western
Music. Eds. J. Peter Burkholder and Claude V. Palisca. 5th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton,
2006. 397-420. Print.
Published Libretto
Librettist Lastname, Firstname. Title of Libretto. Composed by Firstname Lastname. City
of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium. Name of Series (if applicable).
Bottarelli, Giovan Gualberto. Carattaco. Composed by Johann Christian Bach. New York:
Garland, 1982. Print. Italian Opera, 1640-1770.
Sound Recording
Begin with the name of the person or group whose contribution is most relevant to your research, followed by a label identifying the person's role. Common abbreviations for music-related roles include: comp. (Composer), cond. (Conductor), dir. (Director), perf. (Performer). List other contributors after the title, also identifying their roles. Sound recording mediums include: MP3, CD, audiocassette, LP, Digital file.
Lastname, Firstname. “Song Title.” Album Title. Other Artist(s) when distinct from
the first-listed person/group. Manufacturer, Year of issue. Medium.
Rattle, Simon, cond. “Andante Comodo.” Symphony No. 9. By Gustav Mahler. Perf.
Berliner Philharmoniker. EMI Classics, 2008. CD.
Sound Recording (Online, through a music database)
For a recording accessed online through a music database, include all the details for a sound recording, as well as the title of the database or website and the date of access (day, abbreviated month, year). The medium will be "Web". MLA recommends that a URL only be included when the reader cannot likely locate the source without it, or when required by your instructor.
Lastname, Firstname. “Song Title.” Album Title. Other Artist(s) when distinct from
the first-listed person/group. Manufacturer, Year. Name of Database. Medium.
Date of access.
Greenberg, David. “Togo Farewell.” Tunes Until Dawn: Traditional Fiddle and Piano
Music of Cape Breton. Marquis Records, 1982. Naxos Music Library. Web. 30
Nov. 2010.
Liner Notes (from a recording)
If citing the libretto, booklet, liner notes, or other material accompanying a sound recording, give the author’s name, the title of the material (if any), and a description of the material (e.g., Libretto, Booklet, Liner notes). Then provide the details for a sound recording. "Medium" will be the medium of the sound recording (e.g. MP3, CD, audiocassette, LP, Digital file).
Author Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Material (if any).” Description of the material.
Title of Recording. Other Artist(s). Publisher, Year. Medium of recording.
Quinton, Gordon. Liner notes. Yellow Sky. Woodnight Records, 2006. CD.
Live Performance
Begin with the title of the performance, followed by the names of the composer, director or conductor, and relevant performers and identify their roles: "Cond." (Conductor), "Dir." (Director), "Perf." (Performer). Then include the venue, city and date (day, abbreviated month, year). The medium is "performance."
Title of Performance. Names of composer, director or conductor, and performers.
Venue, City. Date. Medium.
Handel's Messiah. By George Frideric Handel. Cond. Marc David. Basilica of St. John
the Baptist, St. John's. 12 Dec. 2014. Performance.
Program Notes (from a live performance)
If citing a performance’s program notes, give the author’s name, the title of the material (if any), and a description of the material ("program notes"). Then provide the details for a live performance. The medium is "performance."
Author Lastname, Firstname. “Title of material, if any.” Description. Title of Performance.
Names of composer, director or conductor, and performers. Venue, City. Date.
Medium.
Ymous, Anon. “I Don’t Know Any Italians Named Johnson.” Program notes. La Fancuilla
Del West. Metropolitan Opera, New York. 9 Dec. 2010. Performance.
DVDs
Title. Dir. Director's name (If desired, you may include screenwriter and performers
or other relevant contributors). Original release date. Name of Studio/Production
Company/Distributor, DVD release year. Medium.
Moulin Rouge. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Music by Craig Armstrong. 2001. Twentieth Century
Fox, 2013. DVD.
If you are citing a DVD of a musical performance or opera, begin with the name of the person/group who is most relevant to your research and their role.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, composer. Le Nozze di Figaro. Dir. David McVicar. Opus
Arte, 2008. DVD.
YouTube Video
Author's Name or Poster’s Username. “Title of Video.” Name of Website. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with site, date of posting. Medium. Date
you accessed it.
ClassicalMusicGuide. “Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor I: Introitus and Kyrie.”
YouTube. YouTube, 1 May 2007. Web. 12 Dec. 2010.