The Da Capo Catalog of Classical Music Compositions [Hardcover]

Jerzy Chwiakowski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996 | ISBN-10: 030679666X | ISBN-13: 978-0306796661

The "Da Capo Catalogue of Classical Music Compositions" comprehensively lists the works of 132 major composers, from Vivaldi and Bach to Webern and Cage. A classical music lover's reference, it contains all the essential information about classical compositions within the convenient covers of one volume. This catalogue is designed for listeners, readers, collectors and connoisseurs alike. The catalogue can tell the reader at a glance: which works would complete a collection of Dvorak's string quartets; which Gershwin songs appeared in which of his shows; in which Mozart opera the aria "Il Mio Tesoro" appears; at what age Brahms composed his first symphony; whether Beethoven's Piano Sonata No 14 is the "Moonlight" or the "Waldstein"; and how many symphonies Borodin composed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions exhaustively lists the works of 132 major composers, from Vivaldi and Bach to Webern and Cage. The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions is a classical music lover's dream reference book. It is the only source containing all the essential information about classical compositions within the convenient covers of a single volume. The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions is designed to be "user friendly" for listeners, readers, collectors, and connoisseurs alike. The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions will show at a glance which works would complete a collection of Mozart's serenades or Dvorak's string quartets. The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions relies on authoritative sources (many of which are available only in the language of the composer), is easy to use and hard to put down. The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions will prove to be a vital component of any personal, academic or community library classical music reference shelf! -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jerzy Chwialkowski started work on this catalog over two decades ago. In his spare time he practices architecture in Ottawa, Ontario.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1412 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Pr (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030679666X
• ISBN-13: 978-0306796661
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 2.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,018,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Fantasia for a String Quartet - a novel about search for spirituality in classical music.
A warning: The classical music establishment might find the views and opinions expressed in the book highly unconventional. Some readers might be left speechless or gasp for air in indignation. "But the truth needs to be told . . ."

The Forbidden Lectures (Kindle Edition series of 12 lectures extracted from Fantasia) offer unconventional insights into the minds of classical music composers and their music.

The Da Capo Catalog of Classical Music Compositions
- The Catalog is long out of print; however, a limited number of brand new signed paperback copies of the Catalog are available directly from the author at USD 100.00 + shipping costs. First come, first served. Please send your request by email to the author at [e-mail]

How to buy the electronic rights to the Catalog ?
- Please email your inquiry to Jerzy Chwialkowski at [e-mail]

In popular music or jazz, listeners look for an artist (or band) and his/her recordings; in classical music, for a composer and his/her compositions. On-demand music providers ignore the difference and offer classical music in the same way they do popular music or jazz - with a focus on the recordings and not on compositions.

The classical music selection process

Classical music needs to be offered through its own catalog, so that classical music lovers would be able to browse and see where a particular composition fits into the oeuvre of the composer, and explore whether or not there are any other compositions in the same genre by this composer, or whether they were composed before or after this one, etc.
Instead, classical music lovers are offered lists of recordings organized by particular recording labels. These do not offer the browsing experience suitable for choosing classical music to listen to.

The browsing experience :

"I am browsing through the catalog of classical music displayed on my computer while listening to compositions. I can see all the works, genre by genre, ever composed by the composer I am interested in. I compare dates of different compositions. I calculate the age of composers at the time of composing. I see what they composed before and after. I see more complex works broken down into their component parts. I see literary sources of vocal works. I see who else set to music a particular piece of poetry besides, say, Schubert . . I feel I am enriching myself each time I browse through the Catalog. And when one composition ends, I am ready with my next selection.
Now, I would like select a particular composition displayed in the Catalog and, in the next window, see what recordings of it are available, and then choose one to listen to."

Does such a catalog for classical music lovers exist at all?

As a matter of fact, it does. I am the author of it.

The Da Capo Catalog of Classical Music Compositions
ISBN 0-306-80701-7 (paperback)
ISBN 0-306-79666-X (hardcover)
Copyright © 1996 by Jerzy Chwialkowski
Published by Da Capo Press, Inc.

The Catalog is the first in the history of classical music and the only one. It took a life time to put it together. On its 1,400 pages, the Catalog lists all compositions of 132 major composers. It includes all pertinent information about each composition, i.e. its full title, key, date, literary source, instruments, nickname, opus number, and catalog number if any. Larger compositions are broken down into their component parts. Literary sources are cross-referenced when used by more than one composer.

The way that classical music is offered by various music-on-demand services needs to be corrected. So currently, I am offering the electronic rights to the Catalog for sale to the interested providers of the classical music-on-demand service.
The Catalog is available in form of 132 Microsoft Word files, one per composer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must have" for classical music lovers., July 14, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions (Paperback)

The complete works of 132 composers in 1 volume! Comprehensive in scope, yet concise in presentation; "The De Capo Catalog of Music Compositions" documents
the voluminous output of Bach, Beethoven, et al. The arrangement by composer is very logical, with operas and orchestral works generally listed first
followed by chamber music and smaller pieces. Even unfinished and "lost" compositions are listed for the sake of continuity and completeness. I recommend
this catalog to musicians, recording collectors, classical radio announcers and the reference section of any public library.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Reference, July 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions (Paperback)

This volume provides an encyclopedic reference of musical compositions that is sure to be useful to the professional as well as to those amateurs like me who enjoy collecting and listening to concert music. A little overwhelming to the novice perhaps, but invaluable none the less. I have never before seen a reference that listed the individual arias in an opera. One quible. The earliest composer cataloged is Monteverdi. As a lover of Renaissance music, I missed Byrd, Palestrina, Josquin Desprez and others in that period. No doubt the material from those earlier eras poses research challenges beyond the scope of the project but the book feels a little incomplete without them.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Includes these 132 composers, April 27, 2003

By 

Stephen Malinowski (Richmond, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Da Capo Catalog Of Classical Music Compositions (Paperback)

Albeniz Albinoni Bacewicz Bach (CPE, JC, JS, WF) Balakirev Barber Bartok Beach Beethoven Berg Berlioz Bernstein Bizet Bloch Boccherini Borodin Boulez Brahms Britten Bruch Bruckner Busoni Buxtehude Cage Castelnuovo-Tedesco Cavalli Chabrier Charpentier Cherubini Chopin Copland Corelli Couperin Debussy Delius Dohnanyi Donizetti Dupre Elgar Falla Faure Franck Frescobaldi Gershwin Glazunov Glinka Gluck Gounod Granados Grieg Handel Haydn Hindemith Holst Honegger Hummel Ives Janacek Kabalevsky Kalinnikov Khachaturian Kodaly Lalo Lehar Leoncavallo Liszt Lully Lutoslawski Mahler Martinu Massenet Mendelssohn Messiaen Meyerbeer Milhaud Moniuszko Monteverdi Mozart Musorgsky Nielsen Offenbach Orff Paderewski Paganini Penderecki Poulenc Prokofiev Puccini Purcell Rachmaninov Rameau Ravel Respighi Rimsky-Korsakov Rodrigo Rossini Roussel Saint-Saens Sarasate Satie Scarlatti (P, G) Schoenberg Schubert Schumann Shostakovich Sibelius Skryabin Smetana Spohr Stockhausen Strauss (J, J, R) Stravinsky Sullivan Szymanowski Tchaikovsky Vaughan Williams Verdi Villa-Lobos Vivaldi Wagner Weber Webern Wieniawski Wolf