Citizendia

Opus, from the Latin word opus meaning "work", is usually used in the sense of "a work of art". Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. In Fine art, a work of art (or artwork or work) is a creation such as a Song, Book, Film, Video game, In this sense the plural of opus, "opera", is used to refer to the genre of music drama. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto

Early usage

Since about the 17th century, many composers, such as Ludwig van Beethoven, have identified their musical works by opus numbers. A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. This is abbreviated "Op. "; the plural is "Opp. " Throughout the nineteenth century, these were normally assigned by publishers who published groups of like works together, usually in sets of 3, 6, or 12. They consequently often have little relationship to chronological order of composition, even when this may be determined. Those works that did not happen to get published at the time lack opus numbers. Also, gaps and duplications in the numbering sequences, especially when multiple publishers are involved, are frequent. Some examples of this are discussed below under individual composers.

Many opus numbers, such as those of Mozart and Bach, are so useless and so adequately replaced by catalogs that they are no longer used to identify the works at all. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" The multiple-set opus numbers best-known today are those of the string quartets of Joseph Haydn. A string quartet is a Musical ensemble of four String instruments &mdash usually two Violins a Viola and Cello &mdash or a piece Haydn's Op. 76, for instance, consists of six quartets, known individually as Op. 76 No. 1, etc. , while his Op. 74 consists of three quartets, similarly identified.

19th Century and modern era

Starting about 1800, especially with the works of Beethoven, opus numbers tended to be assigned by the composer. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. These were usually applied to individual works, though later composers often continued to assign opus numbers to sets, especially of short piano pieces and songs. Gradually the connection between opus number and publication has been lost, and many composers since 1900 have given opus numbers to works that are not necessarily published at all. Consequently opus numbers, when present, are a better guide to chronology of composition, though they are not always reliable.

Beethoven was very selective in his early years about which works he assigned opus numbers to, omitting numbers even on some works he sent for publication. Many in this category have since his death been assigned numbers labeled "WoO", standing for "Werk ohne Opuszahl" or "work without an opus number. " However, in later years he published some very early works with higher opus numbers, and some works published posthumously were also given opus numbers.

The practice of posthumous opus numbers, sometimes but not always labeled "Op. posth. ", is most striking in the case of Felix Mendelssohn. Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and generally known as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3 1809 &ndash November 4 1847 was a German Composer Subsequent to his death, many works were published by his heirs with opus numbers. For example, Mendelssohn published in his lifetime three symphonies, numbers 1-3, with the opus numbers 11, 52, and 56. Two symphonies composed between No. 1 and No. 2, but withdrawn by the composer, the "Italian" and the "Reformation", were published after his death and called No. 4 and No. 5 respectively, with the opus numbers 90 and 107.

Some composers, such as Cesar Franck and Béla Bartók, used opus numbers early in their careers but soon dropped them. César Franck (December 10 1822 – November 8 1890 a Composer, Organist and music teacher of Belgian and German origin who lived in France Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25 1881&ndashSeptember 26 1945 was a Hungarian Composer and Pianist, considered to be one of the greatest Others, such as Carl Nielsen and Paul Hindemith, used them inconsistently. Carl August Nielsen (9 June 1865 &ndash 3 October 1931 was a conductor, Violinist, and Composer from Denmark. Paul Hindemith (16 November 1895 &ndash 28 December 1963 was a German Composer, Violist, violinist teacher music theorist and conductor. Yet others have been strict and conscientious, most notably Sergei Prokofiev. Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев Sergéj Sergéjevič Prokófjev) ( - 5 March 1953 was a Russian composer who He habitually assigned opus numbers to works before beginning to compose them, leaving some fragmentary or planned works with opus numbers on his death. He even assigned new opus numbers to revised works; thus his Symphony No. 4 is both Op. 47 and Op. 112, and his Piano Sonata No. 5 is both Op. 38 and Op. 135, depending on the edition.

Because of the problems of using opus numbers to identify works particularly for composers from the baroque and classical eras, and the absence and scattered use of opus numbers by composers of all eras, many composers' works have been definitely catalogued by individual scholars, and in such cases their works may be unambiguously referred to by their thematic catalog abbreviations. The dates of the Classical period in Western music are generally accepted as 1750 to 1810

Individual examples of usage

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic