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Thematic Catalogue - Grove Music
Thematic Catalogue - Grove Music
Thematic catalogue
Barry S. Brook
https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.27785
Published in print: 20 January 2001
Published online: 2001
A thematic catalogue is an index to a group of musical compositions that incorporates citations of their
opening notes (incipits), or principal melodic features (themes), or both. These citations may be given in
various forms, such as conventional notes, neumes, tablatures, syllables, numbers, letters or computer
codes.
In practice, defying etymology, most thematic catalogues are concerned with incipits rather than with
themes. The semantic confusion arose in the late 18th century, when the terms ‘theme’ and ‘thematic
catalogue’ were first regularly used. Because compositions almost always began with their main theme,
the words ‘theme’ or ‘themata’ were treated as synonymous with what has only recently come to be called
‘incipit’. In the 18th century, they were used interchangeably with ‘initia’, ‘beginnings’,
‘commencements’, ‘Anfänge’, ‘subjects’ or ‘first few bars’. The combined term ‘thematic catalogue’ was
first used in print by J.J. Hummel in 1768 for what was really an incipit index (but not the earliest: see §2(i)
and (iii) below). In the 20th century, in the relatively few instances where true themes rather than incipits
are catalogued, the adjective ‘thematic’ is avoided in the title (e.g. H. Barlow and S. Morgenstern: Dictionary
of Musical Themes, New York, 1948, 2/1975, H. Schiegl and E. Schwarzmaier: Themensammlung
musikalischer Meisterwerke, Frankfurt, 1959– and D. Parsons: The Dictionary of Tunes and Musical
Themes, Cambridge, 1975).
The thematic catalogue is superior to the non-thematic one as a research aid since its incipits provide
identification in a minimum of space and symbols. For most music an incipit of about a dozen pitches
suffices. When rhythmic values accompany the pitches, the incipit is almost inevitably unique. While the
non-thematic list may identify a work by its composer, title, opus number, key, instrumentation,
movement headings, first line of text, date, publisher, dedicatee, plate number etc., no one of these, indeed
no combination of these, can normally provide as certain an identification as an incipit. Even transposed
works can be readily identified in properly organized incipit files. In dealing with works that are
anonymous or of disputed authorship, incipits become indispensable.
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The organization of a thematic catalogue will vary in accordance with what it covers. Ideally it should
include (as suggested by A. Hyatt King) the following elements: (a) title, opus or other identification
numbers, references to standard and complete editions, author or other source of text, date and place of
composition; (b) incipits of each movement, noting the number of bars in each movement where
applicable and indicating variants among sources; (c) full description, location and shelf-mark of
autographs; (d) description of significant copies, their shelf-marks, dates and important differences or
special markings; (e) bibliographical description of first editions, including date, imprint, price and plate
number, and of all subsequent editions or arrangements published in the composer’s lifetime or reflecting
changes made or sanctioned by him; (f) references to contemporary diaries, memoirs and newspapers,
thematic and non-thematic catalogues; and (g) references to significant citations in scholarly studies.
With the burgeoning of musical source studies since King’s article, in many situations (e.g. voluminous
major composers or surveys of large repertories) this ideal cannot result in traditional publication.
While the few notes of an incipit may be sufficient for the recognition of a particular work, their
presentation must take into account the requirements of the genre from which they are quoted. Two
incipits for a single piece may often be required, for example, a vocal entry after an orchestral ritornello, or
the beginning of an aria following a recitative. Furthermore, the practice of quoting only the uppermost
voice may be misleading in polyphonic works when that voice is not the first to enter. In such cases, it may
be useful to quote the opening of the piece in short score, with indication of vocal disposition or
instrumentation. The original clefs, tempo, expression, phrasing and dynamic indications should normally
be included, following the chosen (and specified) source. In certain repertories, reproduction of the
original notation may be advantageous.
The history of thematic catalogues may best be outlined in terms of their functions, eleven of which may
be specified.
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Among the earliest printed thematic library catalogues are those by Coussemaker of the anonymous
masses in Cambrai (in Notice sur les collections musicales de la Bibliothèque de Cambrai, 1843), by Haberl of
sacred works in the Cappella Sistina at the Vatican Library (in Bibliographischer und thematischer
Musikkatalog des päpstlichen Kapellarchives zu Rom, 1888), and by Kade of the collections in Schwerin (Die
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During 19th century there was a flowering of catalogues of this type, such as those of Mozart (published by
Monzani, c1805), Mauro Giuliani (Steiner, 1815), Beethoven (Hofmeister, 1819), Gelinek (André, ?1820),
Czerny (Diabelli, ?1827), Mendelssohn (Breitkopf & Härtel, 1843), Schubert (Diabelli, 1852), Schumann
(Schuberth, 1850s), Chopin (Breitkopf & Härtel, 1855) and Schumann (Dörffel, 1860). In some instances
the catalogues were prepared or corrected by the composers themselves, like those of Moscheles
(published by Probst, 1825) and Liszt (Breitkopf & Härtel, 1855). The high season of publishers’ sales
catalogues was reached in the mid-19th century, but similar ones continue to be produced, mainly in
France.
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The model for this scientific approach was Ludwig Ritter von Köchel’s Chronologisch-thematisches
Verzeichnis of Mozart’s works. He began research in the early 1850s and published it with Breitkopf &
Härtel in 1862. Köchel went far beyond the mere listing of a work’s title, date, instrumentation and
opening bars by providing such additional information as location of autographs, lists of early editions,
references to literature about the work, and multiple-staff incipits for all movements.
This new direction in cataloguing coincided with the 19th-century development of musicology as a
discipline and the publication of complete editions, especially in Germany. Many of the catalogues that
appeared during the second half of the century were prepared in conjunction with such editions. These
rarely approached the Köchel catalogue in scholarship, and remained closer in purpose and coverage to
publishers’ sales catalogues (F.W. Jähns’s detailed work on Weber is a notable exception).
After a lapse following World War I, publication gained momentum primarily with the work of Alfred
Einstein on the third edition of the Köchel catalogue, published in 1937. Catalogues also appeared for
Reger, Kreisler, Volkmann and Domenico Scarlatti, as well as a number of facsimiles of 18th-century
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manuscript catalogues (especially Larsen’s invaluable Drei Haydn Kataloge in Facsimile, Copenhagen, 1941).
It was not until the 1950s and the postwar resurgence of musicological activity that the full impact of
Köchel’s innovations began to be felt. At last there appeared definitive, scholarly thematic catalogues of
the works of Bach (W. Schmieder: Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke, Leipzig,
1950, enlarged 2/1990), Beethoven (G. Kinsky: Das Werk Beethovens: thematisch-bibliographisches
Verzeichnis seiner sämtlichen vollendeten Kompositionen, Munich, 1955), Couperin (M. Cauchie: Thematic
Index of the Works, Monaco, 1949), Schubert (O.E. Deutsch and D.R. Wakeling: Schubert: Thematic Catalogue
of All his Works in Chronological Order, London, 1951), Haydn (A. van Hoboken: Joseph Haydn: thematisch-
bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis, Mainz, 1957–78), Boccherini (Y. Gérard: Thematic, Bibliographical and
Critical Catalogue of the Works, London, 1969), Handel (B. Baselt: Thematische-systematisches Verzeichnis,
Leipzig and Kassel, 1978–86), Chopin (K. Kobylańska: Thematisch-bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis,
Munich, 1979; J.M. Chomiński and T.D. Turło: Katalog dzieł Fryderyka Chopina/A Catalogue of the Works of
Frederick Chopin, Kraków, 1990), Lully (H. Schneider: Choronologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher
Werke, Tutzing, 1981), Telemann (W. Menke: Thematisches Verzeichnis der Vokalwerke, Frankfurt, 1982–3,
2/1988), Wagner (J. Deathridge, M. Geck and E. Voss: Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke, Mainz, 1985),
Vivaldi (P. Ryom: Répertoire des oeuvres d’Antonio Vivaldi: les compositions instrumentales, Copenhagen,
1986), Berlioz (D.K. Holoman: Catalogue of the Works, Kassel, 1987), C.P.E. Bach (Thematic Catalogue of the
Works, New Haven, CT, 1989), and others.
During the 1980s and 90s it became increasingly apparent that Einstein’s third edition of Köchel’s
catalogue of Mozart’s works, long a model of musicological excellence, was no longer adequate. Not only
had Einstein included many works of dubious authenticity and provided excessive information for genuine
compositions, but a vast quantity of significant new research had taken place (Alan Tyson’s paper studies,
Wolfgang Plath's studies of Mozart’s handwriting, Gertraut Haberkamp on first editions). A new and
completely revised Köchel appeared inevitable. This new revision has commenced under the editorship of
Neal Zaslaw, Ulrich Konrad and Cliff Eisen; it will also reflect the new discoveries reported in the many
conferences and periodicals of the Mozart year, 1991.
A dramatic example of how Einstein’s edition of Köchel could be misleading occurred in 1982 in Odense,
with the discovery of a set of manuscript parts bearing Mozart’s name and matching the incipit listed as
K16a/Anh.220 in the Köchel catalogue. Amid great publicity the work was published and performed, and a
conference held with the participation of leading Mozart experts (Die Sinfonie KV16a ‘del Sigr. Mozart’:
Odense 1984). The majority opinion was that this work could not have been composed by Mozart. There was
no valid physical evidence linking the work to him, and those who studied it were convinced it was by
someone else. Einstein had included the incipit from a list he had found in a publisher’s archive; the parts
had been distributed by an unscrupulous manuscript dealer. The work was paraded throughout the world
in print, concert and recording as a ‘newly discovered’ work by Mozart.
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Melodic Index to the Works of Johann Sebastian Bach, New York, 1938, enlarged 2/1962), Mozart (G.R. Hill and
M. Gould: A Thematic Locator for Mozart’s Works, Hackensack, NJ, 1970) and Haydn (S.C. Bryant and G.W.
Chapman: Melodic Index to Haydn’s Instrumental Music, New York, 1982).
In recent decades there has been a tendency to create all-inclusive thematic catalogues that exceed
existing ones in size and coverage. This development is in part a result of the work on RISM, which was
originally intended to include all early music, printed and manuscript, up to 1800 (in some countries it has
been extended to 1900). This ‘mega-catalogue’ expansion has been facilitated by advances in automation
and has been applied to library holdings, specific genres and individual composers.
Broad interest in the machine processing of musical data developed in the early 1960s, but it was not until
the 1980s and 90s that computers became available with sufficient power to store the quantities of
information and provide the quick access necessary for electronic thematic catalogues to become a reality.
The advent of CD-Rom and the Internet have provided the possibility for the complete distillation of
musical, analytical, literary, contextual and chronological information, its quick and inexpensive
dissemination, and facilities for sorting and searching the material. The fifth, cumulative edition of RISM
appeared in 1997 on both CD-Rom and the Internet.
Bibliography
ČSHS (‘Inventáře hudební’)
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