14. How are composers' works usually indexed? Why so many ways? (Classical music)
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This article is from the Classical music FAQ, by Gabe M. Wiener gabe@panix.com with numerous contributions by others.
14. How are composers' works usually indexed? Why so many ways? (Classical music)
I just heard this radio guy announce "Foobar's string quartet #13
in E flat minor, opus 173 number 3, the `Boiled Egg,' FWV 145."
Why did he identify it four times over?
Newcomers to the classical repertoire are often disturbed to discover
that a work may have a "catalog number" and an "opus number" and a
name (e.g. The Jupiter Symphony, the Clock, the Cuckoo and the
Nightingale, the Goldberg Variations, etc). Many early composers did
not catalog their works at all, and thus it was left to scholars in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to compile thematic catalogs.
Bach, for instance, is catalogged with BWV numbers (Bach Werke
Verzeichnis, "Bach work catalog"), etc. Handel, however, published
some of his work in collections called opera (that's the Latin plural
for "Opus" and has a meaning entirely different from the word meaning
sung musical drama). Thus a Concerto Grosso of Handel might be
referred to as Opus 3 No. 3, but will still have an HWV number. To
make matters worse, some works have their own names and numbers.
Sticking with Handel as example, Organ Concerto #13 is also known as
"The Cuckoo and the Nightingale," and as HWV 295.
Here is a list of the major thematic catalogs...
B - Catalog of the works of Dvorak by Burghauser
BeRI - Catalog of the works of Roman by Bengtsson
BuxWV - "Buxtehude-Werke-Verzeichnis" Catalog of the works of
Buxtehude by Karstadt
BWV - "Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis" Catalog of the works of J.S. Bach
by Schmieder (sometimes designated by "S.")
D - Catalog of the works of Schubert by Deutsch
D - Catalog of the violin concertos of Tartini by Dounias
E - Catalog of the symphonies of L. Mozart by Eisen
F - Catalog of the works of Vivaldi by Fanna
F - Catalog of the works of W.F. Bach by Falck
G - Catalog of the works of Boccherini by Gerard
G - Catalog of the works of Torelli by Giegling
G - Catalog of the violin concertos of Viotti by Giazotto
H - Catalog of the unpublished works of Beethoven by Hess
H - Catalog of the works of Charpentier by Hitchcock
Hob - Catalog of the works of F.J. Haydn by Hoboken
HW - Catalog of the works of J.C.F. Bach by H. Wohlforth
HWV - "Handel-Werke-Verzeichnis" Catalog of the works of Handel by Baselt
J - Catalog of the works C.M. von Weber by Jahns
K - Catalog of the works of W.A. Mozart by Koechel (same as KV below)
K - Catalog of the works of Rosetti
K - Catalog of the works of D. Scarlatti by Kirkpatrick
KV - "Koechel-Verzeichnis" Catalog of the works of W.A. Mozart by Koechel
L - Catalog of the works of D. Scarlatti by Longo
L - Catalog of the works of Debussy by Lesure
LWV - "Lully-Werke-Verzeichnis" Catalog of the works of Lully by Schneider
M - Catalog of the works of Vivaldi by Malipiero
MS - Catalog of the works of Molter
Op - Opus number, generally a chronological publication number that may
have been assigned by either the publisher or composer
P - Catalog of the works of J.M. Haydn by Perger
P - Catalog of the works of Vivaldi by Pincherle
R - Catalog of the works of Vivaldi by Malipiero as published by Ricordi
R - Catalog of the works of Gottleib Muffat by Riedl
RO - Catalog of the works of Gottschalk
RV - Catalog of the works of Vivaldi by Ryom
S - Catalog of the works of Liszt by Searle
SR - Catalog of the works of Soler by Padre Samuel Rubio
SWV - "Schutz-Werke-Verzeichnis" Catalog of the works of Schutz by
Bittinger
TWV - "Telemann-Werke-Verzeichnis" Catalog of the works of Telemann
by Kassel
VB - "Valentini Bakfark Opera Omnia" Catalog of the works of Balint
Bakfark
WoO - "Werk ohne Opuszahl" or "Work without opus number", typically
unpublished works or works that were not assigned an opus number
by the composer
Wq - Catalog of the works of C.P.E. Bach by Wotquenne
WWV - "Wagner-Werke-Verzeichnis" Catalog of the works of Wagner by
Deatheridge, Geck & Voss
Z - Catalog of the works of Purcell by Zimmerman
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