This guide is intended as a resource to assist students in the preparation and submission of appropriate information for recital programs.
When compiling the written information, it is important to keep in mind that an accurate and appropriately detailed program enhances the listening experience for the audience. The program provides the listener not only with the name of the work and the composer, but also other important points of reference, including information that places a work in its particular time period and within a composer鈥檚 own body of works. The program also provides documentation of your work, something that will prove valuable in future endeavors such as graduate school applications or other auditions.
The following guidelines and examples represent a variety of genres and show the required format for capitalization, use of italics, punctuation, and abbreviations.
IMPORTANT: Please submit your material using Times font, point size 12.
I. TITLES
Songs
- Individual songs are in Roman face type (not italics or quotes).
- Keys and opus numbers are typically not included in individual song titles.
- Opus number and name of the larger work from which the song comes are used if performing more than one song from a collection.
- Titles of song cycles use italics. The cycle title should be listed first, and the names of the individual songs should be indented and listed underneath. If performing selections from a song cycle, indicate that by stating 鈥渇rom鈥 before the song cycle title.
- Verify the use of capital and lowercase words with what is marked in the score or what is traditional for the poetic title. Some (not all) English-language titles use capitalization on every word of a title, whereas some foreign-language titles use a variety of capital and lowercase words.
- Include accents and umlauts where appropriate.
- The name of the poet may be included in parentheses after the song title.
Arias
- Arias from operas, oratorios, and cantatas use Roman face type and quotation marks.
- Do not capitalize every word of the title in quotations鈥攔ather, it should read like a sentence. However, there are exceptions (oratorio, in particular). Refer to the score for accuracy.
- Titles of operas, oratorios, and cantatas are normally in italics, and should be listed under the aria title, indented, with the word 鈥渇rom鈥 in front of them.
- If performing an aria with a recitative, the recitative title should be separated from the aria title with an ellipses ( . . . ). Include a space on each side of the ellipsis.
Musical Theater
- Selections from musicals use Roman face type.
- Generally, musical theater song titles use capitals in every word of the title.
- Titles of musicals are normally in italics, and should be listed under the song title, indented, with the word 鈥渇rom鈥 in front of them.
EXAMPLES
Songs
Stand-alone song titles:
| Mandoline (Verlaine) | Gabriel Faur茅 (1845鈥1924) |
| Von ewiger Liebe | Johannes Brahms (1833颅鈥1897) |
| When I Have Sung My Songs | Ernest Charles (1895鈥1984) |
| Gi脿 il sole dal Gange | Alessandro Scarlatti (1660鈥1725) |
| L'invitation au Voyage | Henri Duparc (1848鈥1933) |
Two or more songs not from a cycle (same composer):
| La Sir猫ne Adieux de l鈥檋么tesse arabe Ouvre ton Coeur |
Georges Bizet (1838鈥1875) |
Two or more songs not from a cycle (different composers):
| La lune blanche | Gabriel Faur茅 (1845鈥1924) |
| L'heure exquise | Reynaldo Hahn (1874鈥1947) |
| Extase | Henri Duparc (1848鈥1933) |
Two or more songs from a cycle:
|
From Dichterliebe, Opus 48 Im wundersch枚nen Monat Mai |
Robert Schumann (1810鈥1856) |
An entire cycle:
|
Despite and still A last song |
Samuel Barber (1910鈥1981) |
|
Drei Lieder der Ophelia I. Wie erkenn鈥 ich dein Treulieb |
Richard Strauss (1864鈥1949) |
Arias
Arias from cantatas, oratorios and operas:
| 鈥淓t exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo鈥 from Magnificat, BWV 243a |
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685鈥1750) |
| 鈥淐asta diva鈥 from Norma |
Vincenzo Bellini (1801鈥1835) |
| 鈥淩ejoice greatly, o Daughter of Zion鈥 from Messiah |
George Frideric Handel (1685鈥1759) |
| 鈥淐he gelida manina鈥 from La Boh猫me |
Giacomo Puccini (1858鈥1924) |
More than one aria from a single opera:
| From Falstaff 鈥淟鈥檕nore! Ladri!鈥 鈥淭utto nel mondo 猫 burla鈥 |
Giuseppe Verdi (1813鈥1901) |
Aria with a recitative:
| 鈥淕iunse alfin il momento . . . Deh vieni, non tardar鈥 from Le Nozze di Figaro |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756鈥1791) |
Musical Theater
| A Boy Like That from West Side Story |
Leonard Bernstein (1918鈥1990) |
| Giants In The Sky from Into the Woods |
Stephen Sondheim b. 1930 |
II. COMPOSERS AND COMPOSER DATE(S)
Use full names for composers and list applicable birth and death dates in
parentheses under name. To separate the birth year from the death year use an en dash, which is roughly the width of a capital 鈥淣,鈥 slightly longer than a hyphen and shorter than an em dash. Do not include spaces before or after the en dash. On a Macintosh computer, create using 鈥淥ption鈥 plus 鈥渄ash鈥; on a PC create using <Alt> plus the numbers 0150 on the right-side number pad.
For living composers, omit parentheses and indicate birth year with a 鈥渂.鈥.
EXAMPLES
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685鈥1750)
John Corigliano
b. 1938
If a work has been adapted, arranged, or transcribed, include both the name and dates of the composer and the adapter/arranger/transcriber.
| Allegro | Joseph Hector Fiocco (1703鈥1741) trans. by Sigurd Rascher (1907鈥2001) |
| From Old American Songs Long Time Ago Simple Gifts |
adapted by Aaron Copland (1900鈥1990) |
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III. PERFORMERS
List performers鈥 names with soloist first, followed by instrument, typed in lowercase letters. If a Puget Sound student, include graduation year following the name.
John Smith 鈥12, tenor
Mary Adams 鈥13, flute
Van Cliburn, piano
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IV. PERFORMER BIO
Performer鈥檚 bio should include name of current Puget Sound applied music instructor, a listing of other performing groups you participate in on or off campus, and additional musical experiences as a university student (study abroad, summer music programs, internships). Maximum of 100 words.
V. GUEST PERFORMER BIO
Include full name, year of graduation if a Puget Sound student or alumna/us, instructor鈥檚 name, and major.
EXAMPLE
Rebecca Doe 鈥11, student of Luciano Pavarotti, is majoring in vocal performance.
VI. ACCOMPANIST BIO
If the accompanist is the staff accompanist there is no need to include information鈥攖heir information is on file in the Office of Public Events.
For student accompanist, include full name, year of graduation if a Puget Sound student or alumna/us, instructor鈥檚 name, and major.
EXAMPLE
Jerry Doe 鈥12, student of Van Cliburn, is majoring in music.
For other professional accompanists, include full name and a few brief sentences regarding degree and experience.
EXAMPLE
Warren Jones received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from New England Conservatory of Music. He has recently been named as "Collaborative Pianist of the Year" for 2010 by the publication Musical America. He performs with many of today鈥檚 best-known artists, including Stephanie Blythe, Denyce Graves, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Anthony Dean Griffey, Ruth Ann Swenson, Bo Skovhus, Samuel Ramey, and James Morris鈥攁nd is principal pianist for the California-based chamber music group Camerata Pacifica.
VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Maximum of 100 words
VIII. PROGRAM NOTES/TRANSLATIONS
Program notes are combined with the summary or translation of the song/aria and
should include the first citing of the composer and the name of the song or aria in bold print. Notes for songs may include a paraphrase with three or four sentences summarizing the idea and atmosphere of the poem. (Examples of this may be found in Singer鈥檚 Repertoire, Part V: Program Notes for the Singer鈥檚 Repertoire by Berton Coffin and Werner Singer from Scarecrow Press Inc.). IMPORTANT: Program notes should be original compositions. The information should be researched via several sources, often offering the same information, but the wording and syntax must be unique鈥DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. The performer will be credited in the program for compiling the notes.
For arias from operas, cite the act and scene from which the aria comes and summarize the action that takes place before and after, including any pertinent storyline information, as well as a summary of the aria translation. Year of composition and time and place of opera鈥檚 premiere can also be included. Arias from oratorios may be similarly summarized. For cantatas, a translation of sacred text is normally used.
Translations of poetry should be single spaced (double spaced between stanzas). Maintain the visual form of the poetic stanzas as much as possible for both the original texts and translations. English texts should be included in programs. Cite the title of the poem (in the original language and in the translation), and, if applicable, the collection from which the poem comes, the name and dates of the author, and the name of the translator.
EXAMPLES
Gaetano Donizetti (1797鈥1848) was one of the brilliant triumvirate (Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini) who were primarily responsible for the development of Italian opera in the first half of the 19th century. Donizetti was quite prolific, composing 67 operas, but only a handful have remained in the modern repertoire. La Fille du R茅giment (The Daughter of the Regiment)was first performed by the Op茅ra Comique in Paris, in 1840. The action takes place in the Swiss Tyrol during the Napoleonic wars.
鈥淐hacun le sait鈥 takes place in Act I of the opera. After inducting a young Tyrolese peasant into their regiment, the grenadiers from the 21st French Regiment call on Marie to sing the invigorating song of the regiment.
| 鈥淐hacun le sait鈥 from La Fille du Regiment Libretto by Jean Francois Bayard and J.H. Vernoyde Saint-Georges |
鈥淎ll know鈥 |
|
Chacun le sait, chacun le dit, Il est la, morbleu! Il a gagne tant de combats, |
All know, all say, They are there, by the devil! They so completely win their battles, |