I am not a musician. I have no academic training in any field of music. I do not sing, nor do I play any musical instrument. I say, when asked, that all I play is my stereo system (although I sometimes note that that system includes a pair of Klipschorns)!

          Over the past 65 years, as I have listened to broadcasts or recordings, or attended performances of, classical music (in all its forms) I became aware that the works of certain composers, in addition to any Opus Numbers they might have, were also designated by alphabetical letters which identified the various compositions according to a catalogue of that composer’s works compiled by musical scholars. The use of some of these catalogue numbers is pervasive and the letter notations are well-known. I accepted and became familiar with these dual systems of identification without much thought.

          As I came to know more music by more composers, and encountered additional catalogue numbering designations, my OCD tendencies activated and I began an effort to see how many of these catalogues actually existed. After much searching, with only limited success, the Internet finally revealed a site listing catalogue designations for 162 composers (be careful what you wish for!). So my proposed article featuring an inclusive list of some 20 or so composers became a choice of 20 of the composers and catalogues most likely to be known and recognized by those of my readers who care about such things. The works of certain of these composers are included in more than one catalogue, thus multiple letter designations are shown for many of the musicians contained in my list.

          This article will be of interest to only a limited number of my readers, and I apologize to those of you who find it too pedantic.

For the composers shown in Column A, match the catalogue letter designations contained in Column B.

 

Column A	Column B
Johann Sebastian Bach	A, B, KK
Béla Bartok	BWV
Ludwig van Beethoven	C
Hector Berlioz	D
Luigi Boccherini	DD, Sz, BB
Anton Bruckner	F, M, P, RN, RV
Frédéric Chopin	G
Antonin Dvořák	H
Giovanni Gabrielli	H, B, S, T
George Frideric Handel	H, Saf
Franz Joseph Haydn	Hess
Franz Liszt	Hob
Bohuslav Martinů	HWV, HG, HHA
Felix Mendelssohn	K, WSF
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	L, Kk, P, S
Domenico Scarlatti	L, LW, R, S, S
Franz Schubert	MHV
Georg Philipp Telemann	TWV
Antonio Vivaldi	WAB
Richard Wagner	WWV

 

ANSWERS

 

Column A	Column B
Johann Sebastian Bach	BWV	Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, Schmieder, Wolfgang
Béla Bartók	DD, Sz, BB	Dille, Denijs Szőllősy, András Somfai, László
Ludwig van Beethoven	Hess	Hess, Willy
Hector Berlioz	H	Holoman, D. Kern
Luigi Boccherini	G	Gérard, Yves
Anton Bruckner	WAB	Werkverzeichnis Anton Bruckner, Grasberger, Renate
Frédéric Chopin	A, B, KK	Chomiński, Józef M.; Turło, Teresa Dalila Brown, Maurice J. E. Kobylańska, Krystyna
Antonin Dvořák	H, B, S, T	Herbert, Peter J. F. Burghauser, Jarmil; Clapham, John Šourek, Otakar Trufitt, Ian T
Giovanni Gabrielli	C	Charteris, Richard
George Frideric Handel	HWV, HG	Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis, Baselt, Bernd Händel-Gesellschaft
Franz Joseph Haydn	Hob	Hoboken, Anthony van
Franz Liszt	L, LW, R, S, S	Liszt, Franz Rena Charnin Mueller and Maria Eckhardt Raabe, Peter Searle, Humphrey Winklhofer, Sharon
Bohuslav Martinů	H, Saf	Halbreich, Harry Šafránek, Miloš
Felix Mendelssohn	MHV	Hellwig-Unruh, Renate
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	K, WSF	Köchel, Ludwig van Ritte Wyzewa, Teodor de; Saint-Foix, Georges de
Domenico Scarlatti	L, Kk, P, S	Longo, Alessandro Kirkpatrick, Ralph Giorgio Pestelli Beaudry, Claude
Franz Schubert	D	Otto Erich Deutsch
Georg Philipp Telemann	TWV	Telemann-Werkverzeichnis, Ruhnke, Martin
Antonio Vivaldi	F, M, P, RN, RV	Fanna, Antonio Malipiero, Gian Francisco Pincherle, Marc Rinaldi, Mario Ryom, Peter
Richard Wagner	WWV	Wagner Werk-Verzeichnis, Deathridge, John; Geck, Martin; Voss, Egon