Date:         Mon, 23 May 2005 09:00:22 -0400
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Steven Smolian <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Cataloging. Schubert Songs Sample
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Here is one of the ways I want my listings to appear, based on how I use my catalog.

I'm sending this as an attachment and as text, though I'm never sure if the layout on the receiving computer will appear as I sent it.  Let's try.
 

SCHUBERT, Franz

SONGS

An den Mond, "Fuehlest wieder Busch und Tal" (Goethe), D. 259
        Pregardien, Christopher, ten; Staier, Andreas, fp
                1994/10/10-13           rec sess        Deutch HM 77342, 1.07  (707)
        Walker, Sarah, sop; Johnson, Graham, pf
                1989/05/29-31           rec sess        Hyperion CDJ-33008, 1.01 (719)
An den Mond, "Fuehlest wieder Busch und Tal" (Goethe), D. 296
        Baker, Janet, alto; Johnson, Graham, pf	
                1987/02/18-19           rec sess        Hyperion CDJ-33001, 1.12 (711)
        Rokyta, Erika, sop; Gallon, N., pf
                1948?                   (78 10" el)     Oiseau Lyre OL-33 (perf)
An den Mond, "Gruess, lieber Mond" (Hoelty), D. 193
        Ameling, Elly, sop; Johnson, Graham, pf
                1989/08/15-18           rec sess        Hyperion CDJ-33008, 1.107 (718)
        Streich, Rita, sop; Werba, Erik, pf
                1961/04         rec sess        DGG POGC-9301/4, 2.09 (10032)
An den Mond, "Was schauest du so hell und Klar (Hoelty), D. 468
        Popp, Lucia, sop; Johnson, Graham, pf	
                1992/04/07-09           rec sess        Hyperion CDJ-33017, 1.14 (736)	


For 50+ years I've been fascinated by German art song.  It's been one of my major specialties as a record collector- all speeds, tapes of recitals, etc.  I was at the New York debut recitals of Schwarzkopf, Seefried and Fischer-Dieskau.  Making a catalog of the recordings, including those of Lieder, that meets my needs has been an ongoing problem, solved, for the most part, with a now obsolete computer program.  

I thought I'd put together a sample report from an idealized version of my present catalog.  It exists in Excel, but that program only allows sorting on three fields, inadequate for this purpose.  Looking at one selection at a time in a database is hopeless- I loose the sense of historical organization and perspective that the admittedly klutzily arranged list allows me.  Eventually, I'll put it into Access, but this is how I'm doing it for now.  

From the brief list with summarized entries above, I get enough data to choose what I want to hear and to find it.  I can also select items to compare, a technique I've used in many of the talks I've given over the years, and one that allows me deeper insight into the music.  

There are four Schubert songs titled, "An den Mond."  Two are settings of the same text by Goethe and the others are of two different texts by Hoelty.  All four use the same title.  

For the title, I want the classification- Songs, the title, the opening of the text, the poet and the work number.

I find that when the song titles don't tell me what the music will be, the opening of the text can make the music pop into my head.  

For each performance of that work, I want the main performers listed alphabetically, In the event a main performer records a selection more than once, I want them in chronological order, one of the reasons I need recording dates.  Note the first is made with a forte piano.  I also want to know, as with the Hogwood Haydn Symphonies, if they deliberately tune to other than A=440. I want to know if it was made at a recording session, in concert, as a broadcast, etc.  Here is where I learn if it is an actual recording or a dub and, if so, from what.  

I then want the manufacturer and number and, in the case of CD or LP, the track of the sound holder, in most cases here, a CD.  The number in parenthesis is an accession number so I can find the item.  

These are the first screen components of the catalog that I want to see, sorted, among other options, in this way.  

By clicking on the entry, I should then get a second screen with this and additional data.  But this is the minimum.  The input screen would have to be designed back from the report.

Steve Smolian