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MUSC255: Music History Since 1750: Finding and Evaluating Musical Editions: Composers' Works Lists

Using Grove Music Online to Find Pieces in Composers' Collected Works

Once you find the article in Grove Music Online about a composer, scroll down under Article contents to the Works link to find a list of all the composer's compositions.

"Beethoven, Ludwing van" Grove Music Online article with a circle around the "article contents" sidebar

Selection of work citations in the Beethoven GMO article, with circles around the "[GA]" and "[NA]" indicators at the end of two citations

 

Works by Beethoven are identified in the left-hand column by opus and WOO (Werk ohne Opuszahl, "work without opus") numbers. His works published in GA are identified by the volume in which they appear (roman numeral) and the position in the publisher’s continuous numeration (arabic number). His works published in NA are identified by category (roman numeral) and volume within each category (arabic number). The works lists for less prolific composers aren't presented in tables, but the organizational principles are the same.

Table containing selection of Beethoven piano sonatas, which includes "no.," "title, key," "composition, first performance," "publication," "dedication, remarks," and "GA/NA." Highlighted example demonstrates the roman and arabic numerals of the GA and NA numbers.

 

Then perform an ALL FIELDS (Keyword) search of the composer's complete works in the library catalog to find its call number; for example, "Beethoven neue ausgabe samtlicher werke"

Grove Music Online

To find out information about people (composers, performers, etc.), places, and concepts related to music, start with Grove Music Online in Oxford Music Online.  It's the most important scholarly music encyclopedia.  This online resource is updated regularly.

 

"schubert franz" in the Grove Music Online search bar