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This is the guideline for titles or parts of titles in English. Donot assume that anything expressed here is valid for other languages.

Catalogue & number

Catalogues should always be preceded by comma and space.
Opus and number should be lower-cased and abbreviated: “op.” and “no.” (except after a colon or at the start of a title). There should be a space before the number.
Specific catalogues (eg. Köchel) should follow their usual capitalization.

Examples

Symphony no. 5
String Quartet in D major, op. 11
Sonata for Solo Violin in D minor, op. 27 no. 3
Five Flower Songs, op. 47: No. 1. To Daffodils (the part number follows a colon)
String Quartets: Op. 56 “Voces intimae” / Op. 27 (the opus number starts each title)

Keys

The word "in" should always precede the key name. The key itself should be in upper case, except on releases where lowercase is used to express a minor key (see below).

Sharp/flat

If the key name contain the words "sharp" or "flat", they should be in lower case and a hyphen should be used as delimiter.

Major/minor

The words "major" & "minor" are always lower-cased. Do not add "major" or "minor" if these words are omitted in the source; tonality is sometimes expressed with capitalization (upper case = major, lower case = minor), or omission (naked key = major, "minor" printed).

• Using "major" or "minor" is the preferred style for generic Works titles in English.

Examples

Sonata in C-sharp minor
Symphony in E major
Suite no. 4 in E-flat (major omitted, but implied) - but workSuite no. 4 in E-flat major
Concerto in c (lowercase implies minor) - but workConcerto in C minor

Capitalization

English titles in general should follow MusicBrainz'sstandard capitalization for English, but librettos and quotes should always follow sentence style.

Quotation marks

Always usedouble quotes (as opposed to single quotes or other types of quotation marks) in English titles.

Examples

Songs of Travel: The Roadside Fire
Songs of Travel: Bright is the ring of words
Nocturne from “A Midsummer Night's Dream”
“Träume” - “Schmerzen” from the “Wesendonck” Lieder