Margit L. McCorkle

Schumann Thematisch-Bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis

Editor: Margit L. McCorkle
Linen
Awarded the German Music Edition Prize
Pages: 1132, size 17.5 x 25.8 cm

Under the title Robert Schumann Thematisch-Bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis is now presented the long-awaited, comprehensive bibliographical study of Schumann's musical works. Here the unique opportunity could be used to compile the catalog raisonné of this important composer of the 19th century parallel to the progressing New Schumann Complete Edition. Work on the catalog raisonné began in 1991 and benefited directly from the extensive collection of primary and secondary sources that had already been compiled as part of the Complete Edition. In turn, the publicity given to the catalog raisonné project also led to new source discoveries. In all, manuscripts and contemporary printed music from over 90 public and private collections in Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia were evaluated.
In addition to source documentation, the catalog entries for Schumann's 148 opus-numbered works also contain detailed information on the 'environment' of each work: notes on its composition and publication (with numerous supporting documents from letters, some as yet unpublished), as well as on early performances, including important rehearsal or private performances prior to the respective publication. The reception history of the works is also recorded: contemporary concert and work reviews, subsequent editions after the first editions, and arrangements for other instrumentations (produced by the composer himself or under his supervision, or - after his death - commissioned by his publishers as part of the 30-year protection period).

For the first time, the catalog raisonné is systematically devoted to Schumann's musical estate in its entirety, providing all 275 entries with an identifying number. This includes the eight works that he published or planned to publish without an opus number (WoO 1-8). A multi-part general appendix A through R, arranged by genre, provides a detailed account of Schumann's other diverse output-including surviving occasional compositions not intended for publication, fragments, sketches and sketchbooks, composition plans, and the extensive collection of juvenilia. Schumann's numerous arrangements, transcriptions, studies, and editions of works by other composers are also documented. Where relevant, the sources are cited and historical and bibliographical details of the estate works are given. The extraordinarily numerous and close connections within the estate pieces, as well as between the estate and works with opus numbers, are presented through a series of cross-references to illustrate Schumann's development as a composer and his compositional approach.

Valuable assistance in using the catalog is provided by a bibliography and a total of 18 indexes. The main body of the catalog appears in German, with the preface and introduction in German and English.

The work on this catalog was funded primarily by the Peter Klöckner Foundation (Duisburg). Additional financial support came from the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, represented by the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Berlin), the Ministry of Science and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Düsseldorf), as well as the Saxon State Ministry of Science and Art (Dresden), Deutsche Bank AG (Düsseldorf), Degussa AG (Düsseldorf), and G. Henle Verlag (Munich).

With its detailed documentation of the surviving sources, as well as its diverse historical information on the genesis, publication, and reception of the individual works, the new Schumann-Werkverzeichnis is an indispensable source work for Schumann researchers, but will also be welcomed by Schumann lovers as an informative reference work on the master's complete oeuvre.