Mozart’s Thematic Catalog

When you think Mozart’s Thematic Catalog, you naturally think Köchel. But did you know Mozart compiled his own thematic catalog? From February 1784 until December 1791 (three weeks before his death) he kept a record of his completed pieces. Here he included the dates, titles and sometimes instrumentation, along with the opening bars of each work.

The brilliant, technically advanced and well-funded people at the British Library have put together an online gallery called “Turning the Pages”. Here you can [virtually] flip through Jane Austen’s early work in her own hand; Mercator’s first atlas of Europe compiled in the 1570’s; the Diamond Sutra, the oldest printed “book” (China, 868) and Mozart’s thematic catalog, among many others.

You’ll need Adobe’s Shockwave plug-in to do the flipping. Mozart’s catalog also includes soundclips of the entries, text, and even the capability to hear the text read to you.