Glossary
for the Chopin Online Catalog of the collection of early editions
of the works of Frédéric Chopin in the University of Chicago Library
The purpose of the Glossary is to state the intended meanings of technical terms used in this online catalog in reference to Chopin’s works and to the Chopin Collection. The Glossary includes a selection of standard bibliographical terms. It also includes unconventional terms intended to apply only to this catalog. For example, score number as used here is not a standard term, and in particular it is not a Library term.
Sources consulted for Glossary information are: Randel (1986), AACR2 (2002, Appendix D), Boorman (Krummel & Sadie, 1990), Library of Congress (1991), Sadie (1995), Carter (1995), Gaskell (1995), Glaister (1996). and Schultz & Shaw (2003).
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acquisition number
— a code that uses acquisition data to identify a particular score. It consists of an alphanumeric array that begins with the numerical lot number of the lot that includes the score, and ends with a letter that identifies a score within the lot. For example, if “04-7B” is the acquisition number, then “04-7” is the lot number and “B” identifies a score in this lot. Letters are assigned by arranging the lot’s scores by increasing work number and then identifying them in that order by A, B, C, …. Thus “B” identifies the score that has the second smallest work number in the lot. (If the lot has only one score, the letter is omitted.) Scores of works without opus number are listed by increasing Brown number (for example, B134, B140) after the scores with opus number.
Some scores acquired as gifts from private donors have a different form of acquisition number. A hypothetical example is (“98-Smith-1”), which would be the acquisition number for the first gift received in 1998 from donor “Smith”. In some cases there is insufficient information. For example, “(Menn)” only names the donor, the Library’s Menn Foundation fund. In some early cases there is no information at all; then “(---)” is entered.
advt
— abbreviation for “advertisement”. An advertisement is described only if it is by the score’s publisher. Two types of advertisements should be distinguished: those included in the score’s imposition and those printed as part of the score’s wrapper. The former are assumed here to have the same date as that of the score, while the latter may have a different — perhaps later — date.
agent
— a score’s vendor who is not one of its publishers but whose name is printed on the title page (see dealer). An agent may be a publisher of other works.
area
— one of the two parts into which the template in description methods summary for a score’s description is divided, namely the work area and the score area. Each area consists of one or more groups of fields.
bar
— a unit of musical time, usually consisting of a fixed number of beats in all bars within each movement. Bars are separated by vertical ‘bar lines’; they are also called ‘measures’.
Barcarolle
— Italian gondolier song. Chopin used this name for one of his works (Opus 60).
Berceuse
— lullaby. Chopin used this name for one of his works (Opus 57).
bibliographic category
— in this catalog, a partition of the Collection’s 85 works into four categories according to whether a work was published before or after the composer’s death, and with or without opus number. The categories are: before death with opus number (Opus 1–3, 5–65), before death without opus number (Brown 70, 113, 130, 134), after death with opus number (Opus 4, 66–74), and after death without opus number (Brown 6, 14, 35, 36, 56, 82, 140).
bifolium
— a sheet folded once to make two leaves (see leaf), thus four pages; plural, bifolia; see Boorman in Stanley & Sadie (1990, p. 493).
Bolero
— Spanish dance. Chopin used this name for one of his works (Opus 19).
Brown number
— index number in the thematic index source: Chopin. An index of his works in chronological order, second edition, by Maurice J. E. Brown. London: Macmillan, 214 pp., 1972. Brown (pp. 204–207) lists the 74 Chopin works with opus number, and 39 of those without opus number, a total of 113 works. This catalog includes all of the works with opus number and 11 of those without opus number, a total of 85 works. The catalog’s work number uses the Brown number only for works without opus number.
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call number
— an alphanumeric reference number assigned by the University of Chicago Library to identify an item in the Library’s catalog and to shelve and retrieve the item in the book stacks; analogous to ‘shelf-list’ number. For music scores and some other monographic publications, the call number consists of three parts. To illustrate, consider a score of the Chopin Sonata Opus 4, in particular the one with call number M23.C54 S67. The first part M23 identifies the subject as music (M) and as a piano sonata (23). The second part C54 identifies the composer as Chopin. In the third part, S is taken from the first word of the uniform title, which in this case is “Sonatas”. Following this the number 67 gives the score a shelf location consistent with locations of other scores of the same work.
The notation “c.1” (copy 1) is implicit at the end of the call number unless there is a second copy, in which case c.1 is shown explicitly in copy 1, and c.2 in copy 2. Multiple copy numbers do not imply that the ‘copies’ are bibliographically strictly identical.
caption title
— the text above the first system of music in a score, excluding the headline. The caption title may be absent.
catalog
— a bibliography of a collection (AACR2, Appendix D). Its concern is with particular physical objects (such as music scores), rather than with the more abstract entities (‘ideal’ copies) of a thematic index of works.
Chominski & Turlo number
— index number of works in the thematic index source: Katalog Dziel Fryderyka Chopina. A Catalogue of the Works of Frédérick Chopin, by Josef Michal Chominski & Teresa Dalila Turlo. Kraków: Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 518 pp., 1990.
Chopin Collection
— a collection of music scores that consists primarily of first and other early individual editions of works by Frédéric Chopin. The Collection includes only items published before 1881. It has a selection of collective editions but does not include facsimile editions. The Collection is located in the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago Library. (The Library’s holdings of facsimiles can be found by searching the Library Catalog for call numbers that begin with ML96.4.C and ML96.5.C.)
Chopin Early Editions
— a University of Chicago Library internet site Chopin Early Editions. Its principal features are a description and a Library image of the scores currently held in the Library’s Chopin Collection (preceding Glossary entry). It provides a variety of ways to search for a particular score, specifically by title, uniform title, date of publication, opus number, place of publication, publisher, dedicatee, subject, genre, plate number, and general keyword.
Chopin Online Catalog
— this internet site, based on a revised and enlarged version of the Chopin print catalog (next Glossary entry). For more information about it, please see Overview.
Chopin print catalog
— A Descriptive Catalogue of Early Editions of the Works of
Frédéric Chopin in the University of Chicago Library,
second edition, by George W. Platzman. Chicago: University of Chicago
Library, 356 pp., 2003. The catalog is distributed by the
University of Chicago Press.
collective
— a term used in reference to the publication of a series of Chopin’s works, such as were issued by Brandus, Breitkopf & Härtel, and Wessel, usually with a collective title page. The series may consist of one genre (such as mazurkas), or may be intended to include the composer’s complete works.
composition
— a basic unit of musical form. For example, a work with three nocturnes, such as Opus 9, has three compositions. A composition often consists of a succession of the more basic unit, the movement.
conjugate
One leaf of a bifolium is said to be the conjugate of the other.
contemporary
— at or near the time of publication. “In its application to bindings […] the term is by general agreement interpreted fairly broadly: anything in the style of the decade […] being accepted as contemporary.” (Carter, 1995, p. 73).
copy
In this catalog the meaning of ‘copy’ is analogous to the first of two given by Carter (1995, p. 73): “A single, therefore unique, example of the complete edition of a book.” In reference to a physical object (rather than a format), score is usually used here, rather than copy.
copy-specific element
— part of a score’s description that refers to a modification of the score after it left the printer (Library of Congress, 1991, p. 64). Such modifications are described in a field of the “copy-specific group” of the description. For a list of the copy-specific elements used in this catalog, please refer to the template in description methods summary.
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dealer
— a vendor of a score who is not the score’s publisher and may not be the publisher’s agent. If the dealer’s name is not printed on the title page, it is usually indicated by a title-page stamp. A dealer is often a publisher of other works.
description
— a written account of a score’s printed and physical characteristics. It includes various print-specific elements and copy-specific elements, as well as notes that give the basis for an estimated publication date. For more details about these and other descriptive elements, please refer to the template in description methods summary.
description set
— all score descriptions (preceding entry) for one work in the Collection. Each of the 85 sets is available as a PDF file linked to a work title in the Register.
Écossaise
— Scottish dance. “Trois Écossaises” is the name used for a composition (Opus 72#3) in one of Chopin’s works published after his death.
edition
— all copies of a work that are printed in one or more impressions based on one writing of the music on a printing surface, including impressions with modifications of the original writing, provided the changes are not extensive; German: Ausgabe; French: édition. The AACR2 definition includes “and issued by the same entity”. Thus, a Brandus printing from Schlesinger’s original plates would be considered a new edition. (See also impression, state, issue and first edition.)
engr
— an abbreviation for engraved (next entry); used in a score’s description.
engraved
— the result of writing on a hard surface, such as a metal plate, by making incisions with a pointed tool; also, a print made from such a plate.
field
— the base level of organization in a score’s description; see group.
first edition
— the first printing of a work issued by one of Chopin’s primary publishers (see also edition). Two points should be noted about this catalog’s use of the term “first edition”: (a) A later printing issued by the same publisher with the same plate number is considered to be a variant of the first edition but not a separate edition, even though it may have a different title page. (b) If the work has more than one composition, and if the publisher issued one or more of the compositions with separate plate numbers and title pages, those issues are considered to be separate editions. An example is Wessel’s publication of the three Nocturnes, Opus 9. These appeared in two first editions, one with the first and second nocturne and plate number 916, the other with the third nocturne and plate number 917. These two first editions were published separately but simultaneously, in 1833.
For a census of Chopin first editions, including those not yet acquired for the Chopin Collection, please see the First Editions section.
folio format
A score is said to have folio format when each section consists only of one or more bifolia (see bifolium). Most Chopin scores are imposed to form a single section of nested bifolia. They sometimes include a singleton in the middle of the section. Depending on the paper used, there is a practical limit to the number of bifolia that can be accommodated in one section. In the Chopin Collection, the 23 leaves of score 11-mS-1 were imposed to form one section with 11 nested bifolia and a singleton, while the 28 leaves of 10-mS-1 were imposed in 14 successive sections, each with one bifolium.
footline
— the line of text below the last system of music on each music page, usually containing at least the plate number; used in a score’s description.
full score
— a form of music notation in which the notes for separate instrumental parts are presented on separate staffs arranged in vertical alignment to indicate simultaneity of performance.
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gathering
— (a noun) bibliographically equivalent to section.
genre
— the musical style of a work. In this catalog 16 genres are selected in which to classify Chopin’s works: Ballade (4), Concerto (2), Etude (3), Fantaisie (3), Impromptu (3), Mazurka (16), Nocturne (8), Polonaise (10), Prelude (2), Rondo (5), Scherzo (4), Sonata (4), Song (1), Trio (1), Variation (4), and Waltz (8). The number in parentheses is the number of works in the genre. The total number of works in all selected genres is 78. Each of these has a name that includes the name of the genre. In addition there are seven other works with names that do not include any of the selected 16 genre names. These additional works account for the total of 85 works in the Collection. They are: Bolero, Opus 19; Tarantelle, Opus 43; Allegro de Concert, Opus 46; Berceuse, Opus 57, Barcarolle, Opus 60; Nocturne, Marche Funèbre, Trois Écossaises, Opus 72, and Duo Concertante, Brown 70.
The number of works in a genre ranges from one for the Song and Trio genres to 16 for the Mazurka genre. After the Mazurka genre the next most numerous is the Polonaise with 10 works. This is followed by the Nocturne and the Waltz, each with 8 works. These four dance-type genres account for about half of the 85 works in the Chopin Collection.
group
— a set of fields having common properties in the organization of a score’s description. There are two groups in the work area and four in the score area. For more information, please refer to the template in description methods summary.
half-title
The half-title is a shortened form of the title page’s full title. It is usually printed on the recto of the leaf that precedes the title-page leaf, sometimes without imprint information.
headline
— a line of text above the first system of music on each music page, typically used in four-hand piano scores and in scores for compositions with more than one instrumental part; equivalent to ‘running head’. If there is a caption title on the page, the headline is above it.
image number
— a number (here three digits) assigned by the University of Chicago Library to identify a Library-scanned image of a score in its Chopin Collection. It is included in the score’s bibliographic descriptions given in the Library general catalog and in the library web site for the Chopin Collection. It is also used as one of the identifiers in the Register of Scores.
imposition
— the printer’s arrangement of plates for printing one or more pages on one side of a sheet.
impression
— all copies of an edition that are printed at virtually the same time, often to meet demand, but also typically to make small changes in the music or text; German: Abdruck, Abzug; French: tirage.
imprint
In this catalog an imprint consists of a place of publication, the name of the publisher, a plate number (in parentheses), and a date of publication. More specifically, a “work imprint” refers to imprint data for the first edition from a publisher to whom Chopin assigned copyright for the original publication. A “score imprint” refers to a specific score, whether or not it is a first edition and is based on data taken from the title page and usually also from the first page of music.
The date of publication for a work imprint is available from standard sources such as Chominski & Turlo (1990, pp. 42–44). For a score imprint the date [in square brackets] is an estimate mainly based on information from the score itself.
incipit
— the first few bars of music in a thematic index, usually not more than about five and usually shown for each movement of a composition; used as a graphic form of identification.
issue
— (a noun) all copies of a work that are printed and identified as one publishing event; German: Auflage; French: tirage.
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layout
— the music-writer’s arrangement of notes into bars, systems, and pages of music.
leaf
— “The basic bibliographical unit: the piece of paper comprising one page on its front side (recto, obverse) and another on its back (verso, reverse).” (Carter, pp. 133–134).
lith
— an abbreviation for lithographed (next entry); used in a score’s description.
lithographed
— the result of writing music using one of three methods; also, a print made from the result. The methods are: (1) writing directly on stone or other planographic printing surface, (2) writing on transfer paper for transfer to the printing surface, and (3) writing by engraving for transfer to the printing surface (Twyman, 1996, p. 113). For further comment please see “Printing method” on p. 14 of Appendix 9.
lot
— all scores acquired in a single acquisition transaction.
lot number
— acquisition data that identify a specific lot (preceding Glossary entry). For example, in acquisition number 04-7B, the lot number is 04-7, where “04” is the last two digits in the year of acquisition and “7” indicates that the lot is chronologically the seventh acquired for the Collection that year. As another example, three lots were acquired in 1994 so the corresponding lot numbers are 94-1, 94-2, 94-3, in chronological as well as numerical order. The “B” in 04-7B is explained in the acquisition-number entry.
Marche Funèbre
— the name used for a composition (Opus 72#2) in one of the works published after Chopin’s death.
Mazurka
— (variant: “mazourka”) Polish dance. Chopin used this genre for 16 of his works, which have 52 compositions. These are larger numbers of works and compositions then he composed in any other genre.
music page
— any page of a score that has printed notes and other signs of music notation.
Nocturne
— a genre of ‘night’ music with vocal origins, adapted to the piano by Field and Chopin. Chopin used this genre for eight of his works. Nocturne was also used as the name of a composition (Opus 72#1) in one of the works published after his death.
opus number
— one of 74 numbers (Opus 1 to Opus 74) assigned to his works by Chopin or his editors or publishers.
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page
— one side of a leaf.
plate
— a printing surface of metal or stone, on which one or more pages of a score are written.
plate number
— the publisher’s identification number for a set of plates used to print a score, usually placed on the title page and almost always in the footline of each of the music pages. Most of Chopin’s scores have only one plate number, but in some cases there are two or more. For example, the two books of Kistner’s edition of the Etudes Opus 10 have separate plate numbers, presumably because they have separate title pages and were sold separately. The same is true of the Wessel edition of this work, but Schlesinger sold both books under one title page, for which there is only one plate number.
Polonaise
— (variant: “polonoise”) Polish dance. Chopin used this genre for 10 of his works.
primary publisher
— typically a French, a German or Austrian, or an English publisher who purchased rights either directly or indirectly from Chopin during the composer’s lifetime. Prominent examples are: French: M. Schlesinger, Brandus, Troupenas; German: Kistner, Breitkopf & Härtel, A. Schlesinger; English: Wessel.
print-specific element
— anything printed on the pages of a score, including music, text and artwork. For a list of print-specific elements used in the catalog, please see the template in description methods summary.
publication date
— in this catalog, the date of the earliest issue of the first edition of a Chopin work, as compiled by Kallberg (1983) and by Chominski & Turlo (1990); also used for a score’s estimated issue date.
publisher number
— the publisher’s identification number for the work as a whole. Chopin’s publishers instead used the plate number, so there is no reference to publisher numbers in this catalog.
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Register of Scores
— a page in the Chopin Online Catalog that has 85 tables, one for each work in the Collection. Each work table lists all of the Collection's scores for one of its works. The Register provides a direct and comprehensive overview of the Collection, and enables the user to browse the Collection by work number.
score
— commonly used in reference to music notation in which separate instrumental parts are presented as separate systems in vertical alignment. In this catalog it has a different meaning: here a ‘score’ is the physical entity that is the result of printing a particular musical work (or one or more of the work’s compositions). It is thus the entity whose description is the purpose of the catalog. For further comment, please see “Score and copy” in the discussion of terminology on pages 2 and 3 of the Description methods summary section of the catalog.
score area
— the area of a score’s description that contains the “score-identification” group, the “print-specific” group, the “copy-specific” group, and the “notes” group.
score number
— data that identify a specific score (preceding Glossary entry) by a combination of publication and acquisition data. In score number 1-Ho-3, for example, “1” is the work number (in this case for Opus 1), “Ho” is an abbreviation of the publisher’s name (in this case Hofmeister), and “3” is an ordinal sequence number that in this case identifies 1-Ho-3 as the third Hofmeister score of Opus 1 acquired for the Chopin Collection. (A publisher may issue several slightly different versions of the same work at different times.)
section
— a bibliographical term for printed sheets assembled and sewed by the binder before sewing with other sections. Most Chopin scores consist of a single section of nested bifolium sheets (see folio format). In this catalog “section” is also used in reference to one of the nine parts into which the content of the catalog is divided.
sheet
— a single piece of paper on which one or more pages are printed.
singleton
— a leaf printed without a conjugate.
staff
— a set of five horizontal lines across a page of music, used as a template for entering notes in music notation; also called a “stave”.
state
Two impressions are said to be in different states if their print specific elements differ in any way; German: Variant.
sub-caption
— text in front of (and on the same line as) the score’s first music system (next entry).
system
— strictly, “Two or more staves [staffs] connected by means of braces or bar lines … ” (Randel, 1986, p. 828).
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Tarantelle
— Italian dance. Chopin used this name for one of his works (Opus 43).
text
— printed material that is not music or artwork.
thematic index
— a bibliography of a composer’s complete works, traditionally including incipits (and thus a ‘thematic’ index); German: Verzeichnis, Werkverzeichnis; French: catalogue thématique.
Titelauflage
— strictly, an issue that differs from previous issues only in having a different title page. The use of the term therefore assumes that the text and music have been compared with those of the original edition, to determine whether there are other differences. Since such comparisons were not made for this catalog, the term is not used here except to cite its use by others.
title-page stamp
— an inked or embossed impression made almost always manually on a score’s title page to record provenance. In this catalog the term is restricted to publisher and dealer stamps.
transfer
— a lithograph made by transfer of an engraved image. Please see lithographed, third method.
uniform title
— a title by which a work is identified by the Library for cataloging purposes. For most music scores the first word of the uniform title corresponds to the work’s genre.
Waltz
— German dance. Chopin used this genre for eight of his works.
work
— one or more music compositions identified by a single work number (second entry after next).
work area
— the area of a score’s description that contains the “work title” group and the “work identification” group.
work name
— a name adopted for this catalog from the name assigned by the composer or his editor, publisher, or bibliographer; usually the genre of the work’s compositions. For lists of work names, please see Tables 1A and 1B in the Tables section of the catalog.
work number
— the number for the work assigned by the composer or his editor, publisher, or bibliographer. Here the work number is defined as the opus number or, for works without opus number, the Brown number. In the Chopin Collection there are 74 works with opus number and 11 selected works without opus number.
work table
— a table with identification data for each of the Collection’s scores of one of the works in the Collection. The data for each score occupy one row of the table and consist of five elements of information: the imprint of the score, the acquisition number of the score, the score number, the Library image number, and the Library call number of the score.
work title
— a title adopted for this catalog by combining the work name and work number; similar to the uniform title but not identical to it in all cases.
wrapper
— a separate bifolium designed to enclose a score, often on tinted paper of slightly lighter stock than that of the score. Normally, on the first page it has a duplication of the score’s title-page title, or (rarely) a shortened form of the title, similar to a half title. Frequently, one or more of the wrapper’s other pages have publisher advertisements.