Work Type

class django_musicbrainz_connector.models.WorkType(*args, **kwargs)

PostgreSQL Definition

The work_type table is defined in the MusicBrainz Server as:

CREATE TABLE work_type ( -- replicate
    id                  SERIAL,
    name                VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    parent              INTEGER, -- references work_type.id
    child_order         INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    description         TEXT,
    gid                 uuid NOT NULL
);

Work Types

Last checked on 2025-04-25, there are 29 work types in the MusicBrainz database:

id	name	description
1	Aria	An aria is a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment. They are most common inside operas, but also appear in cantatas, oratorios and even on their own (concert arias).
2	Ballet	A ballet is music composed to be used, together with a choreography, for a ballet dance production.
3	Cantata	A cantata is a vocal (often choral) composition with an instrumental (usually orchestral) accompaniment, typically in several movements.
4	Concerto	A concerto is a musical work for soloist(s) accompanied by an orchestra.
5	Sonata	“Sonata” is a general term used to describe small scale (very often solo or solo + keyboard) instrumental works, initially in baroque music.
6	Suite	A suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting. They may be extracts from a ballet or opera, or entirely original movements.
7	Madrigal	The madrigal is a type of secular vocal music composition. In its original form, it had no instrumental accompaniment, although accompaniment is much more common in later madrigals.
8	Mass	A mass is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Christian Eucharistic liturgy (Kyrie - Gloria - Credo - Sanctus - Benedictus - Agnus Dei, with other portions sometimes added) to music.
9	Motet	“Motet” is a term that applies to different types of (usually unaccompanied) choral works. What exactly is a motet depends quite a bit on the period.
10	Opera	An opera is a dramatised work (text + musical score) for singers and orchestra/ensemble. In true operas all dialog is sung, through arias and recitatives, but some styles of opera include spoken dialogue.
11	Oratorio	An oratorio is a large (usually sacred) musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. While it has characters and a plot, it is usually not performed theatrically (it lacks costumes, props and strong character interaction).
12	Overture	An overture is, generally, the instrumental introduction to an opera. Independent (“concert”) overtures also exist, which are generally programmatic works shorter than a symphonic poem.
13	Partita	A partita is an instrumental piece composed of a series of variations, and it’s by its current definition very similar to a suite.
14	Quartet	A quartet is a musical composition scored for four voices or instruments.
15	Song-cycle	A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. In most cases, all of the songs are by the same composer, and often use words from the same poet or lyricist.
16	Symphony	A symphony is an extended composition, almost always scored for orchestra without soloists.
17	Song	A song is in its origin (and still in most cases) a composition for voice, with or without instruments, performed by singing. This is the most common form by far in folk and popular music, but also fairly common in a classical context (“art songs”).
18	Symphonic poem	A symphonic poem is a piece of programmatic orchestral music, usually in a single movement, that evokes a painting, a landscape, the content of a poem, a story or novel, or other non-musical source.
19	Zarzuela	A zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic work that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance.
20	Étude	An étude is an instrumental musical composition, most commonly of considerable difficulty, usually designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular technical skill.
21	Poem	A poem is a literary piece, generally short and in verse, where words are usually chosen for their sound and for the images and ideas they suggest.
22	Soundtrack	A soundtrack is the music that accompanies a film, TV program, videogame, or even book.
23	Prose	This represents literary works written in prose, that is, written in relatively ordinary language without metrical structure (e.g. novels, short stories, essays…).
24	Operetta	The operetta is a genre of light opera, in terms both of music and subject matter. Operettas are generally short and include spoken parts.
25	Audio drama	An audio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on an audio medium (tape, CD, etc.).
26	Beijing opera	Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics.
28	Play	A play is a form of literature usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, and intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading.
29	Musical	Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance.
30	Incidental music	Incidental music is music written as background for (usually) a theatre play.