For standard composer names, album titles, song titles, catalog numbers, and other information for Western classical music content, consult Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, or the International Music Score Library Project website.
The table below lists some accepted abbreviations for catalogs of classical works on Apple Music and the iTunes Store.
Catalog | Abbreviation | Example |
|---|---|---|
Catalog of the works of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach by Alfred Wotquenne | Wq. | Hamburger Sonata in G Major for Flute and Continuo, Wq. 133 |
Catalog of the works of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach by E. Eugene Helm | H. | Piano Sonata in E Minor, H. 6 |
Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis catalog of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach by Wolfgang Schmieder (sometimes designated by “S.”) | BWV | Partita for Solo Flute in A Minor, BWV 1013 |
Catalog of the works of Béla Bartók by András Szöllösy | Sz. | Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 |
Catalog of the works of Luigi Boccherini by Yves Gérard | G. | Concerto for Cello and Orchestra No. 6 in D Major, G. 479 |
Buxtehude-Werke-Verzeichnis catalog of the works of Dietrich Buxtehude by Georg Karstadt | BuxWV | Toccata in F Major, BuxWV 156 |
Catalog of the works of Marc-Antoine Charpentier by Wiley Hitchcock | H. | Messe de minuit, H. 9 |
Catalog of the works of Claude Debussy by François Lesuré | L. | La mer, L. 109 |
Catalog of the works of Claude Debussy by François Lesuré with new formatting and numbering | CD | La mer, CD 111 |
Catalog of the works of John Dowland by Diana Poulton | P. | Galliard in G Minor, P. 30 |
Catalog of the works of Antonín Dvořák by Jarmil Burghauser | B. | Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 98, B. 178 “From the New World” |
Catalog of the works of Giovanni Gabrieli by Richard Charteris | C. | Canzon Noni Toni a 12, C. 183 |
Catalog of the works of Louis Moreau Gottschalk by Robert Offergeld | RO | Grande tarantelle for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 67, RO 259 |
Catalog of the works of Louis Moreau Gottschalk by John Doyle | D | Ardennes, Mazurka, D 143 |
Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis catalog of the works of George Frideric Händel by Bernd Baselt | HWV | Messiah, HWV 56 |
Catalog of the works of Franz Joseph Haydn by Anthony van Hoboken | Hob. | Symphony No. 101 in D Major, Hob. I:101 “The Clock” |
Catalog of the works of Johann Michael Haydn by Lother Perger | P. | Symphony in B-Flat Major, P. 18 |
Catalog of the works of Johann Michael Haydn by Charles H. Sherman and T. Donley Thomas | MH | Crucem Sanctam, MH 201 |
Catalog of the works of Franz Liszt by Humphrey Searle | S. | Liebestraum in A-Flat Major, S. 541 No. 3 |
Lully-Werke-Verzeichnis catalog of the works of Jean-Baptiste Lully by Max Schneider | LWV | Le bourgeois gentilhomme, LWV 43: Overture |
Catalog of the works of Felix Mendelssohn Ralf Wehner | MWV | Double Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Orchestra in D Minor, MWV 04: I. Allegro |
Catalog of the works of Monteverdi by Manfred H. Stattkus | SV | Vespro della Beata Vergine, SV 206 |
Catalog of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Ludwig Ritter von Köchel | K. or KV | Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 or Requiem in D Minor, KV 626 |
Catalog of the works of Henry Purcell by Franklin B. Zimmerman | Z. | Abdelazer Suite, Z. 570: II. Third Act Tune - Rondo |
Catalog for the works of Maurice Ravel by Marcel Marnat | M. | Boléro, M. 81 |
Catalog of the works of Ottorino Respighi by Potito Pedarra | P. | Pini di Roma (The Pines of Rome), P. 141 |
Catalog of the works of Giovanni Battista Sammartini by Newell Jenkins and Bathia Churgin | J-C- | L’addolorata Divina Madre, J-C- 123 |
Catalog of the keyboard works of Domenico Scarlatti by Ralph Kirkpatrick | Kk. | Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, Kk. 9 |
Catalog of the keyboard works of Domenico Scarlatti by Alessandro Longo | L. | Sonata in B Minor, L. 147 |
Catalog of the keyboard works of Domenico Scarlatti by Giorgio Pestelli | P. | Sonata in D Minor, P. 65 |
Catalog of the works of Franz Schubert by Otto Erich Deutsch | D. | Die Winterreise, D. 911 |
Schütz-Werke-Verzeichnis catalog of the works of Heinrich Schütz by Werner Bittinger | SWV | Saul, Saul, was verfolgst du mich, SWV 415 |
Catalog of the violin sonatas of Giuseppe Tartini by Paul Brainard | B. | Violin Sonata in A Major, B.A14 |
Catalog of the violin concertos of Giuseppe Tartini by Minos Dounias | D. | Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major, D. 15 |
Catalog (partial) of the works of Giuseppe Tartini by Guido Viverit, Alba Luksich, Simone Olivari | GT | Flute Concerto in E Major, GT 1.E05a |
Telemann-Werke-Verzeichnis catalog of the works of Georg Phillipp Telemann by Werner Menke and Martin Ruhnke | TWV | Fantasia for Solo Violin No. 1 in B-Flat Major, TWV 40:14 |
Catalog of the works of Giuseppe Torelli by Franz Giegling | G. | Trumpet Sonata in D Major, G. 1 |
Catalog of the works of Giuseppe Torelli by Francesco Passadore | P. | Trio Sonata in D Major, P.A.3.3.10 |
Catalog of the works of Heitor Villa-Lobos by David P. Appleby | W | Douze études pour guitare, W 235 |
Ryom-Verzeichnis catalog of the works of Antonio Vivaldi by Peter Ryom | RV | The Four Seasons, Violin Concerto in E Major, RV 269 “Spring” |
Catalog of the works of Carl Maria von Weber by Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns | J. | Rondo brilliante, Op. 62, J. 252 “La gaite” |
Derived from the Latin “deesse” meaning to be absent. This may follow the catalog abbreviation to designate a work which does not appear in that particular catalog (ex. K. deest). Plural is “desunt.” | deest | Larghetto and Allegro for 2 Pianos in E-Flat Major, K. deest |
“Werk ohne Opuszahl” or “Work without opus number,” typically unpublished works or works that were not assigned an opus number by the composer | WoO | Bagatelle in A Minor, WoO 59 “Für Elise” |
“Opus number,” generally a chronological publication or composition number that may have been assigned by either the publisher or composer. Includes works from Ludwig van Beethoven, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. | Op. | Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 53 |
Regional and language differences may affect the way that musical terms are notated. Apple Music and the iTunes Store uses English as the standard language. When submitting metadata, refer to the following table for the list of acceptable keys.
Keys | |
|---|---|
C Major / C Minor | C-Sharp Major / C-Sharp Minor |
D Major / D Minor | D-Sharp Major / D-Sharp Minor |
D-Flat Major / D-Flat Minor | E Major / E Minor |
E-Flat Major / E-Flat Minor | F Major / F Minor |
F-Sharp Major / F-Sharp Minor | G Major / G Minor |
G-Flat Major / G-Flat Minor | G-Sharp Major / G-Sharp Minor |
A Major / A Minor | A-Sharp Major / A-Sharp Minor |
A-Flat Major / A-Flat Minor | B Major / B Minor |
B-Flat Major / B-Flat Minor |
For composers who already have content available on Apple Music and the iTunes Store, use the existing spelling found there. For questions regarding the spelling of composer names, consult Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians or The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. The following table lists a few well-known composers.
Composer Names | ||
|---|---|---|
Thomas Adès | Edvard Grieg | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov |
Isaac Albéniz | Sofia Gubaidulina | Gioacchino Rossini |
Johann Sebastian Bach | George Frideric Handel | Camille Saint-Saëns |
Mily Balakirev | Joseph Haydn | Domenico Scarlatti |
Béla Bartók | Vincent d’Indy | Arnold Schoenberg |
Ludwig van Beethoven | Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov | Franz Schreker |
Vincenzo Bellini | Charles Ives | Franz Schubert |
Alban Berg | Leoš Janáček | Clara Schumann |
Luciano Berio | Aram Khachaturian | Robert Schumann |
George Bizet | Elena Kats-Chernin | Alexander Scriabin |
Alexander Borodin | Zoltán Kodály | Dmitri Shostakovich |
Lili Boulanger | Édouard Lalo | Jean Sibelius |
Johannes Brahms | Orlando di Lasso | Bedřich Smetana |
Benjamin Britten | György Ligeti | Karlheinz Stockhausen |
Ferruccio Busoni | Franz Liszt | Richard Strauss |
Dietrich Buxtehude | Gustav Mahler | Johann Strauss I |
Frédéric Chopin | Pietro Mascagni | Johann Strauss II |
Francesco Cilea | Fanny Mendelssohn | Igor Stravinsky |
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor | Felix Mendelssohn | Morton Subotnick |
César Cui | Olivier Messiaen | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
Claude Debussy | Claudio Monteverdi | Georg Philipp Telemann |
Léo Delibes | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Edgard Varèse |
Frederick Delius | Modest Mussorgsky | Ralph Vaughan Williams |
Josquin des Prez | Michael Nyman | Antonio Vivaldi |
Gaetano Donizetti | Niccolò Paganini | Giuseppe Verdi |
Antonín Dvořák | Arvo Pärt | Tomás Luis de Victoria |
Sir Edward Elgar | Krzysztof Penderecki | Richard Wagner |
Manuel de Falla | Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina | Carl Maria von Weber |
Gabriel Fauré | Amilcare Ponchielli | Anton Webern |
César Franck | Florence Price | Eric Whitacre |
Giovanni Gabrieli | Sergei Prokofiev | John Williams |
Carlo Gesualdo | Giacomo Puccini | Hugo Wolf |
Alexander Glazunov | Johann Joachim Quantz | Iannis Xenakis |
Mikhail Glinka | Sergei Rachmaninoff | Alexander von Zemlinsky |
Christoph Willibald Gluck | Maurice Ravel | |
Charles Gounod | Wolfgang Rihm |
For questions regarding the spelling of orchestra and conductor names, consult Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians or The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. The following table lists a few well-known orchestras and conductors.
Orchestras | Conductors |
|---|---|
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields | Claudio Abbado |
Berliner Philharmoniker | Marin Alsop |
Boston Symphony Orchestra | Sir Thomas Beecham |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra | Leonard Bernstein |
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig | Karl Böhm |
London Philharmonic Orchestra | Sir Colin Davis |
London Symphony Orchestra | Wilhelm Furtwängler |
Los Angeles Philharmonic | Valery Gergiev |
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment | Herbert von Karajan |
Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia | James Levine |
Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris | Kurt Masur |
Philadelphia Orchestra | Sir Neville Marriner |
Philharmonia Orchestra | Riccardo Muti |
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra | Seiji Ozawa |
San Francisco Symphony | Sir Georg Solti |
Wiener Philharmoniker | Bruno Walter |