Opus Number - Alternative Catalogues

Alternative Catalogues

To deal with inconsistent opus number usage, especially by those of the baroque and classical eras, musicologists have comprehensively catalogued the works of many composers and allocated unambiguous new catalogue designations to them. Among the best known of these are:

• Johann Sebastian Bach's works are referred to by BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis) number assigned in the catalogue by Wolfgang Schmieder. Older sources sometimes use S numbers.

• Frédéric Chopin: Three major attempts have been made to catalogue all Chopin's works systematically. Maurice J. E. Brown uses B numbers, Krystyna Kobylańska uses KK numbers, and Józef Michał Chomiński allocates numbers to a variety of letters (A, C, D, E, P and S). These alternative designations are generally used to identify only the works that were not given opus numbers.

• Claude Debussy's works are usually referred to by the L or Lesure numbers, after François Lesure's comprehensive catalogue.

• Antonín Dvořák's works are usually now referenced by B numbers, after Jarmil Burghauser's comprehensive catalogue which resolved a great many difficulties with the often misleading and duplicated opus numbers given by different publishers to Dvořák's works.

• Joseph Haydn's works are referred to by their Hob. or Hoboken numbers after Anthony van Hoboken's 1957 classification. Hoboken assigned numbers to the string quartets, but these are generally still known by their opus numbers.

• Franz Liszt's works are referred to by their S or Searle numbers after Humphrey Searle's 1960s classification The Music of Liszt.

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's works are referred to by their K or Köchel numbers, after Ludwig Ritter von Köchel. In continental Europe, the German abbreviation KV for Köchel-Verzeichnis is more common.

• Domenico Scarlatti's works can appear under three different catalogue systems. Alessandro Longo's 1906 catalogue (L numbers) was superseded by Ralph Kirkpatrick's 1953 catalogue (K or Kk numbers). Giorgio Pestelli's 1967 catalogue (P numbers) also has its adherents.

• Franz Schubert's works are referred to by their D or Deutsch numbers after Otto Erich Deutsch's catalogue.