Basic Music Research Tools

A catalogue is a list of works. It can be distinguished by composer or era. Catalogues can be helpful when you want to find out:

• What else a composer wrote in the same year.
• The date of a composition.
• The catalogue number of a composition.
• Similar pieces from the same era.

Sometimes, catalogues will also tell you the location of an original manuscript. For a current location, online catalogues are most reliable; older print versions may be outdated.