Did the great composers all keep catalogues of their Music ?

[Keats]

Hello there. I am a student of music and am very interested in the history of music. Did all the great composers keep a catalogue of their works ? From what I read Hadyn doesn't seem to have kept a catalogue till quite late in his career and it was arranged for him by other people. (Bernhard Kees, for example). And Mozart doesn't seem to have kept one till late in his career also. Beethoven ?

Thanks

[Peter]

Hello Keats - I've been longing to talk to you for nigh on 200 years!

Yes Haydn's catalogue was begun late, but Mozart's was started in 1784 when he was only 28 and he couldn't have known he only had a few more years to live so I suppose that was really quite early in his eyes.
Beethoven kept no comparative catalogue of his own.

[Keats]

Thank you Peter for information on catalogues and the great composers. It seems the picture is very mixed. But on Mozart and Beethoven I've 2 more questions -

1. A sort of catalogue of Mozart's works was made for him by his father when Mozart was (I think) 12 years old. Where can we see details of it ? Are details of it known to anyone here ?

2. Does anyone know if the recording of incipits within a music catalogue began only in 1784 with Mozart ?

Thanks again.

p.s. 200 years for Keats ? The whole world waited far longer !!!!

[gardibolt]

Beethoven was, however, interested in the assignment of opus numbers to his compositions; he was very particular about the issuance of op. 1 to the first set of piano trios, for instance, though he had already completed numerous compositions before that time. Sometimes publishers would assign opus numbers without his wishes, which must have proven annoying or frustrating. At times this resulted in dual opus numbers (such as the two op. 81s).

There's also an odd piece of correspondence in which Beethoven states a desire (ultimately ignored) that an opus number be assigned to a piano transcription of the Seventh Symphony---even though he didn't do the transcription himself. He had made a start at it but never even got out of the opening section. But for some reason he believed this transcription (the actual transcriber is unknown) worthy of counting as part of his catalogue of works.

One also wonders about op. 63 and 64, which are likewise transcriptions of Beethoven compositions, but which are generally believed not to be by his hand. He seems to have accepted them as op. 63 and 64, which offers them some credibility, which they would not have otherwise, and continued with numbering of works at op. 65, without making any fuss at all.

[Hofrat]

What about "Fidelio?" In its first publication, it carried an opus 88.

[Keats]

Wow, thanks. That's really interesting. I wonder where they got the idea of 'Fidelio' being Op.88.

[LizR]

Hello there. I am a student of music and am very interested in the history of music. Did all the great composers keep a catalogue of their works ? From what I read Hadyn doesn't seem to have kept a catalogue till quite late in his career and it was arranged for him by other people. (Bernhard Kees, for example). And Mozart doesn't seem to have kept one till late in his career also. Beethoven ?

Thanks

Hello, Colleen?