Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (music)/Archive 3

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Archive 1 Archive 2 Archive 3

Classical Music: Minor/Major Works

Hi all, please can you take a look at Talk:Wedding Day at Troldhaugen#Major Work? and give your thoughts if you get a chance. Thanks. :) ‑‑YodinT 15:59, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

Inaccurate wording in statement about examples of band names with "The" starting their titles

WP:DENY. 97.117.52.253, 97.117.19.67, and On the ceiling are all the same person (User:Who R U?
)

There's a part here in the area that tells how to capitalize band names that start with "The" (at shortcut

WP:BANDNAME) making the false claim that the definite article "the" in band names like "The Beatles" is "before [the] band name" rather than what's actually the case, that the "The" is the first part of that band name. So I propose that we correct this error simply by replacing "The definite article before a band name (such as the Beatles) should be lowercased in running prose" with "The definite article included as the first word of a band name (such as the Beatles) should be lowercased in running prose." All those in favor of accuracy over errors say "Aye!" 97.117.52.253 (talk
) 18:04, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

The guideline concerning articles before band names is:
WP:VOTE. That no one responds to an anonymous contributor is not necessarily an indication of being in favor or not in favor of your suggestion. kosboot (talk
) 20:44, 29 June 2016 (UTC) I t
I think you're misunderstanding 97.117.52.253. What I think she or he is trying to say is that he isn't trying to change the rule, but just that the way it's currently worded it's incorrectly implying that the word "the" in "The Beatles" is "before" the band name, when in fact it is actually part of it. This change would not alter the rule to lower-case the "The" to "the." That would stay the same. So this change is just a matter of accuracy and thus shouldn't really need a vote. I also doubt he supposed that just because nobody replied there was any outside view in one direction or another. On the ceiling (talk) 01:07, 30 June 2016 (UTC)
Oh yeah, that's it, OtC! Thanks for your input. 97.117.19.67 (talk) 08:10, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

Sonatas: ongoing RM (relisted)

This requested move has been relisted a few days ago, without attracting new participants thus far. Please comment there, not here. --Francis Schonken (talk
) 14:08, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

The "Disambiguation" section in this page is outdated, as in recent months multiple discussions have occurred that affect it. Because of this, I am proposing a new rewording of the whole subsection of NCM. --Relisting.

). 21:36, 19 August 2016 (UTC))

Explanation

For years I have said many times that (for short)

WP:PTOPIC
places solely for being songs and albums, especially using the argument that WP:SONGDAB did not especified this), and it does not go in further details with what it tries to say ("Disambiguate albums and songs by artist and not by year unless the artist has released more than one album (or song) with the same name", yet we have multiple songs disambiguated with years of artists with "one album (or song) with the same name", but hardly is known why or when it is used). These days I said to myself, "no one is going to change the wording, well propose to change it".

Today I am proposing a new rewording to this section. It goes in further detail to when we need to disambiguate, but not only when, but how to do it. It (finally) divides artists from albums from songs, and includes all the possible and valid variants that are used to disambiguate and are already used by non-action consensus (like we use "album" for 7 types of albums, "song" for singles and songs, and alike). I am updating certain situations, like what to do with duets or trios, what to do with non-lyrical songs, what to do when to unrelated bands of the same name release an unreleated album of the same name, the correct order of disambiguation, and etc.

The proposal can be found at

). 21:36, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

Discussion (DABSONG)

I support the concept for sure - make clear that we start with regular

WP:PRIMARYTOPIC rules (i.e., define "when necessary"), as well as the subtopic guidance. But - the proposal is way too long and detailed as currently written. Each paragraph should be no more than 2-3 short sentences. Good start though. Dohn joe (talk
) 12:19, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Let me resume it to focus it in the more important aspects. The rest of it can be new guideline page (similar to ). 22:54, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
  • For the last question, this method is only for English Wikipedia, as all of the wikis are independent from each other and may have different guidelines or policies. This does not prevent editors to adapt them to their wikisites. 00:27, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
  • Support again: much better. The proposed replacement section is clearer and more concise than the current text. Less certain about the creation of the /Disambiguation subpage, but on balance I think the proposed subpage is clearly written, very helpful and easy to use if an editor wanted to know what DAB term to use, and certainly better than being spread across (and taking up lots of room at) at the various Wikiproject style guides (though links to this new subpage should be added to them, of course). Unless there are objections I would say go for it. ‑‑YodinT 11:18, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Capitalisation of songs, arias, etc

There is a discussion at

MOS:CT
. One participant in that discussion suggested to make that guideline more visible, so I added a mention to it overleaf:

Articles for arias, cantatas, songs, that are named after their first line or incipit are named in
MOS:CT
for short."

User:Francis Schonken then qualified that sentence:

Articles for arias, cantatas, songs, that are named after their first line or incipit are usually named in ."

with the edit summary "Not sure whether this is a strict rule; otherwise: discuss on talk before introducing in the guideline).

  1. The alleged counter-examples are unhelpful because they are a) capitalised as a devotional address, or b) not a first line.
  2. It's not an introduction; it's merely a mention of a guideline elsewhere which was the result of a lengthy discussion in 2013 at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Capital letters/Archive 11#The curious case of Remember not, Lord, our offences.

FS's addition ought to be reverted. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 11:45, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

The whole thing should be discussed here before introducing into the guideline:
  • All examples in other languages than English are in fact useless to illustrate the principle. E.g. Der für die Sünde der Welt gemartete und sterbende Jesus and Mich vom Stricke meiner Sünden are the German title and incipit of the same work: if either of those were used as a title for an article in English Wikipedia the capitalisation rules would be the same, and have nothing to do with whether it's a title or an incipit.
  • True, the English example I added was not an incipit, should be removed too.
Here's the funny coincidence: I saw the update to this guideline a few seconds after this edit where I used this RISM page as a reference, and had indeed been doubting whether i should write "Ave regina" (sentence case, as it is in the title of the RISM page) or "Ave Regina", the usual capitalisation, as it is in handwriting on the score. --Francis Schonken (talk) 12:39, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
Here's an English one that is a true incipit: "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" – so I continue to doubt whether there's really a rule in English too. --Francis Schonken (talk) 12:57, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
And another example, even more English than the previous "Land of Hope and Glory". --Francis Schonken (talk) 13:10, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
And a few more "Britons, Strike Home!", "Hail to the Homeland", "God Bless Anguilla", "Here's a Health unto His Majesty", "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" – seems to me that "Is she not passing fair?" is rather the exception than the rule. For the time being, until if and when a consensus can be found for this new rule, I'll comment it out. --Francis Schonken (talk) 13:22, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
Further, none of these composition titles are "generic" names, so it is no material for the section titled "Capitalization of generic names" --Francis Schonken (talk) 13:25, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
Lastly, it is very counterproductive to try get an upper hand in an ongoing naming discussion via unilateral change to guidance (talking about
Talk:Flow My Tears#Requested move 20 September 2016 here, initiated by the same one who unilaterally changed the guidance here). --Francis Schonken (talk
) 13:29, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
(ec) Why would something from
WP:NCMUSIC? If more English-language examples are needed, the one from the original discussion, Remember not, Lord, our offences, is a prime candidate; "In darkness let me dwell
" is another.
"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" ought to be in sentence case. As I wrote before, there are several examples that don't follow this guideline, which shouldn't surprise anyone and may well be because it was so difficult to find the section in the MoS. Then there is the situation where an incipit became a title, like "Land of Hope and Glory" & al., or, as in pop music, they always were and were released as such: "Ain't She Sweet". Related to "Hope & Glory", it's worth noting that the article on the lyrics of the hymn "Jerusalem" is spelled in sentence case: "And did those feet in ancient time".
I inserted the sentence overleaf under "Capitalization of generic names" because that's the only section dealing with capitalisation; creating a new subsection for a single sentence seemed overkill; maybe a See also reference would be better: "For the capitalisation of arias, cantatas, songs that are named after their first line, see
MOS:CT
."
I'm never trying to get the upper hand, and I didn't make any unilateral changes. The MoS guideline was established, without my input, in 2013. It is relevant to the discussion at
Talk:Flow my tears, and as has been suggested there, it would be helpful to mention it here. -- Michael Bednarek (talk
) 14:05, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
(ec) And one more: per the "incipit" rule, at least the variant of it introduced here, A Boy Was Born should be moved to A Boy was born or A boy was born (depending on whether "Boy"/"boy" is understood as referring to Christ). The WP:RM on the matter (Talk:A Boy Was Born#Requested move) decided otherwise.
Taking a step back the rule at
A Boy was Born (see Talk:A Boy Was Born#Image
).
So here's what the rule should be imho: title case per the normal rules, unless, for whatever historical reason, another capitalisation stuck. And get rid of the no-good "incipit" rule which causes more problems than it solves. --Francis Schonken (talk) 14:16, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
  • My thoughts: there's a difference between an incipit (sentence case) and a title (title case). Titles sometimes match the first few words of a piece, but this doesn't necessarily make them an incipit. Following the established consensus mentioned before, the MOS is currently in line with the prevailing conventions and major style guides regarding this issue (i.e. incipits aren't in title case). Article names are only in title case when the article name is a title (not in any other case!). If you want to change the MOS to make incipits follow title case (whether just for article names, or in text as well), an overriding consensus needs to be established. While the MOS remains as it is, it's helpful to have the distinction between incipits and titles mentioned on this page. That said, I agree it should only be restored once this discussion has played out. ‑‑YodinT 15:11, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
  • Tx, works for me, with one caveat: how to explain the difference between a "title that coincidentally is also the incipit" and an "incipit that has been used as a title"? Unless that difference can be clearly explained in Wikipedia's guidance the rule has no practical value in article titling deliberations – in which case I'd go back to "major printed editions", or a guidance comparable to the one found at
    WP:NCB#When the title version "best known in English" cannot be determined for legit exceptions to the capitalisation rules. --Francis Schonken (talk
    ) 15:21, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
  • As you say, it ultimately boils down to
    WP:COMMONNAME, and local consensus can be reached on the few examples where there's a problem. My opinion is (and again, I think the consensus last time was) that this shouldn't prevent a straight-forward guideline on how clear-cut incipits are treated. It could be followed by something along the lines of "if it is unclear whether the commonly-used name is a title or incipit, local consensus should be reached." For what it's worth, I always used to be annoyed when looking at, say classical CD track listings that didn't use title case, and the lack of clarity on exactly which words should be capitalised in title case would be one of the many, many things I would reform about the English language and orthography! ‑‑YodinT
    17:53, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

Proposal (for the naming conventions guideline)


===Variants of non-generic titles===

Non-generic titles can appear in variants without it being possible to demonstrate clearly which one is the most common by the

Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn
, follow major printed score publications for the English-language market.


Would that be of any help? --Francis Schonken (talk) 15:40, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

Related unsolved issue

  • The examples on
    MOS:FOREIGNTITLE cover this: the capitalisation of the Polish titles should be kept as they are, but the translations of the titles (and they are titles) into English should consistently follow English title-case. Will do this in a second. ‑‑YodinT
    17:58, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

Proposal (for the capitalisation guideline)

Proposed rewrite of the paragraph in the

MOS:CT
guideline:


Sometimes compositions are indicated by the first words with which the lyrics start (text

The Messiah. Songs or other short vocal works may follow the same rule, for example when part of a larger collection, depending on publication history and current usage. An example of this would be Remember not, Lord, our offences
, a musical setting of excerpted passage from a liturgical text:

Incorrect:   Remember Not, Lord, Our Offences
Correct:   Remember not, Lord, our offences

--Francis Schonken (talk) 07:31, 24 September 2016 (UTC)

Just for comparison, the current sentence in question at
MOS:CT
reads:
"If a work is known by its first line of text and lacks a separate title, then the first line, rendered in
sentence case
, should be used as its title."
User:Imaginatorium reworded this at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Capital letters#The "incipit rule" to:
"If a work is known primarily by its first line of text (incipit), then this should be used as the article title, rendered in sentence case."
FS's proposal is unnecessarily verbose, but seems to express the same idea, and I won't object to using it overleaf. However, to insert it at
MOS:CT, it probably ought to be discussed there. -- Michael Bednarek (talk
) 10:52, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
Re. "If a work is known primarily by its first line of text (incipit), then this should be used as the article title, rendered in sentence case." – still wrong, and, as a side-note, authors of MOS guidance would do well to leave the article titling advice to naming conventions guidance. Why it's wrong: e.g. Christ Lay in Death's Dark Prison is the title of an English version of a cantata "known primarily by its first line of text". OTH, "Christ lay in death's dark prison" may refer to the second movement of that cantata version, but that capitalisation is not suitable for a Wikipedia article on the entire cantata (if we would ever have a separate article on that particular English version of the cantata). --Francis Schonken (talk) 12:53, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
I'm perpetually perplexed by the number of red herrings thrown into this discussion. FS, I expect your Requested Move at the long suffering talk page of Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4 -> Christ Lay in Death's Dark Prison, BWV 4. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 13:30, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
Well, no red herrings. "If a work is known primarily by its first line of text (incipit), then this should be used as the article title, rendered in sentence case" is wrong, period. A Boy Was Born "is known primarily by its first line of text", yet we don't apply "article title, rendered in sentence case". --Francis Schonken (talk) 14:01, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
"Articles for arias, cantatas, songs, that are named after their first line or incipit are named in
sentence case (etc.)" is as wrong and misleading, trying to push an OP's opinion as operational guidance in project space during an ongoing WP:RM. --Francis Schonken (talk
) 14:17, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
Can you explain what "Wrong, Period" means, exactly? "I Francis Schonken decree that this is wrong?", or do you have any reasoned support for your claim? Note that I am not trying to change the import of the guideline, I am just trying to clarify it. If you think the rule should be changed, then AIUI you have to garner support for the change, and not merely issue decrees. (I see you have cited
A Boy was Born: an extremely odd choice, since the article starts by mentioning that the WP title is not quite the same as the original.) Imaginatorium (talk
) 14:20, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
I wrote "...is wrong, period." I didn't write "Wrong, Period" (mind the capitalisation). I did not cite
A Boy was Born, I cited A Boy Was Born (mind the capitalisation). As to the content of your question: I have given two examples now: one hypothetical (...don't think we'll ever have a separate article on the English version of the Bach cantata), one of an actual article title, A Boy Was Born
, which is definitely not in sentence case (even if the capitalisation of the first print were used it would not result in sentence case). Both examples illustrate that "If a work is known primarily by its first line of text (incipit), then this should be used as the article title, rendered in sentence case" is wrong.
PS, if people suggest to keep a discussion in one place ("Please comment there not here"), then please don't start a new discussion on the same topic in the other place. --Francis Schonken (talk) 14:51, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
Anyhow, here's still another example: We'll to the Woods No More. --Francis Schonken (talk) 15:38, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
You do not appear to be listening. You said something was "wrong". (Kindly desist from the lawyercrap. I could play, but prefer not to: you did cite
A Boy was Born, or you do not understand what "style guide" means.) What do you mean by "wrong"? Normally such words are used when it is crystal clear that there is some sort of disagreement with empirical results. This is a style issue, and almost nothing is "wrong" in any normal sense. You seem to be simply saying that in your personal opinion the style guide "incipit rule" is "wrong", but this would normally be expressed by a competent English speaker as "I disagree with the incipit rule". You keep listing all sorts of examples; but these can only show that there are examples which do not follow (at least your interpretation of) the style guide, and they cannot determine whether anything is "right" or "wrong". Imaginatorium (talk
) 15:55, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
Please don't misquote me, I quoted the actual Wikipedia article title, which is A Boy Was Born.
I find the current incipit rule misguiding while, as Yodin explained above, it requires that one reads between the lines that a different capitalisation of the incipit can be perceived as "a separate title" in some circumstances (while these circumatances are left unexplained in current guidance). Removing the "separate title" caveat from the guidance is wrong while it is different from what the community decided, and while it leads to erroneous article titling guidance, as illustrated by three examples by now. --Francis Schonken (talk) 17:50, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
If I expressed my opinions too strongly I apologise, and am perfectly OK with a rephrasing in the sense of IMVHO the update prosal that wants to get rid of the "separate title" caveat is a further deterioration of badly formulated guidance, in other words a rewrite proposal that would render that guidance completely unsalvageable. --Francis Schonken (talk) 18:06, 24 September 2016 (UTC)
  • Support the original formulation, Articles for arias, cantatas, songs, that are named after their first line or incipit are named in
    WT:MOS. The applicability to article titles is secondary and incidental.  — SMcCandlish ¢
     ≽ʌⱷ҅ʌ≼  19:34, 2 February 2017 (UTC)

Some italicisation issues

See Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Text formatting#RfC: some italicisation questions regarding catalogues, sets, collections and types of creative works – please comment there, not here. --Francis Schonken (talk) 10:55, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

Forked out from WP:NCM in 2016

For past history see https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(music)&oldid=367612229 etc.. In ictu oculi (talk) 16:58, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

Cry Me a River (1953 song) or Cry Me a River (Arthur Hamilton song)

A discussion as to whether the qualifier form "(YEAR song)" should be used for this song or, with wider implications, for any other song, is currently active at

08:48, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

A discussion as to whether elements such as accents, diacritics, symbols or punctuation within main title headers obviate the need for qualifiers is currently active at Talk:Hate Me!#Requested move 31 December 2017. The other affected discussion is at Talk:Hate Me (Blue October song)#Requested move 21 December 2017. —Roman Spinner (talk)(contribs) 09:12, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

Please help clarify

With respect to the guidelines at

WP:SONGDAB
where it says:

If two or more musical compositions share the same title, and disambiguation is necessary: