Annotated Catalog of Works and Work Editions of Igor Strawinsky till 1971



About K Catalog

K Catalog (also Kirchmeyer-Verzeichnis or KV) by musicologist and historian Helmut Kirchmeyer is a catalog of works and work editions of Igor Strawinsky. Originally started in the 50’s as an accompanying appendix for other research and works on Strawinsky by Kirchmeyer, the first edition of this catalog of works was published in Germany in 2002. The catalog has been updated ever since. It is abbreviated “K”.

In addition to its directory of works, the K Catalog contains notes related to performances including information about roles and playing times, editions with their sales result, short analyses, information on biographical assignments, and historical performances.

A number of libraries have adapted to the K Catalog numbers, among them the Paul Sacher Archive and Research Center for the Music of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries in Basel.

All texts of the K Catalog by Helmut Kirchmeyer have been revised and updated by the author. To different degrees, six translators (Julian Black, Lesley Bollinger, Angelika Kirchmeyer, Ursula Schickling, Stewart Spencer, Monika Stark) and two revisers were involved in the translation. The original cover art for the German book has been created by the German artist and painter Emil Schult.

Contact KCatalog

Enter Strawinsky's first name here

How to use K Catalog

K Catalog searches for a methodologically new way to represent a historically and philosophically significant artist and his work by connecting biographical, analytical, historical, performance practical and subject bibliographical investigations as a method of a merged documentation and interpretation of works.

All chapters contain:

  • Title of the composition in several languages
  • Interpretation of the title
  • Original instrumentation
  • Further comments such as descriptions of roles, summary of content, text sources, history of translation, construction and structure of the piece, style, dedication, duration, date of origin, first performance, time-context and remarks, dramaturgical and choreographic information, significance, versions, and known editions and sales.
  • Every chapter also contains a bibliographical part with information about errata, autograph scores, historic recordings as well as an overview about editions and a list of their characteristics.

The information presented in Helmut Kirchmeyer’s annotated Strawinsky catalog help both the musicologist and the antiquarian to time editions and to estimate their value; they help the performing musician — for himself or his ensemble — to identify performance options of a work in advance; they help the librarian to properly expand their collection, and they help the music pedagogue and the general user to quickly and comprehensively familiarize themselves with the intellectual world of a particular work.

K-Catalog is an ongoing project that consists of approximately 150 chapters. Already published chapters might be modified or updated from time to time. In the K Index file as well as on the bottom of each chapter, you can see the latest modification date for each article, so you can be sure to always have the current version.

Further Reading

weitere Online-Dokumente von Helmut Kirchmeyer

Das zeitgenössische Wagner-Bild, Siebter Band: Dokumente 1853

aus: Situationsgeschichte der Musikkritik und des musikalischen Pressewesens in Deutschland dargestellt vom Ausgange des 18. bis zum Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts