Wq (Wotquenne)

Wq (Wotquenne)
Name	Wq (Wotquenne)
Type	Cataloguing system
Creator	Alfred Wotquenne
Date	1907
Subject	Works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Language	French

Wq (Wotquenne) is the standard catalogue number system devised by Alfred Wotquenne for the compositions of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. It provides a chronological and thematic ordering used in scholarly editions, concert programmes, and recording catalogues, and interacts with other systems such as the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis and the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The Wotquenne catalogue remains a reference point in musicological literature, critical editions, and performance practice debates.

Overview and Origin of the Wq Catalog

Alfred Wotquenne compiled the catalogue during the early twentieth century in the context of scholarship associated with institutions like the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Conservatoire de Bruxelles, and the burgeoning research led by figures such as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Philipp Spitta, and Hugo Riemann. The work responded to earlier attempts at organising the oeuvres of composers exemplified by catalogues such as the Köchel catalogue for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and informed later projects like the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis for Johann Sebastian Bach and the Hoboken catalogue for Joseph Haydn. Wotquenne's publication established a practical reference used by editors at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, bibliographers at the RISM, and performers in conservatoires from Paris Conservatoire to the Royal Academy of Music.

Structure and Numbering System

The Wotquenne system arranges compositions into numbered entries (Wq numbers) reflecting perceived genre groupings and approximate chronology, similar in intent to the numeric sequences of the Köchel catalogue and the Hoboken catalogue. Wotquenne grouped keyboard sonatas, chamber works, symphonies, concertos, and vocal pieces into contiguous blocks comparable to the classification methods used by the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis editors and by cataloguers such as Ludwig von Köchel. The numbering facilitated cross-referencing in critical editions produced by publishers like Breitkopf & Härtel, C.F. Peters, and Barenreiter, and aided discographers at labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Philips Records, and Archiv Produktion.

Usage in Musicology and Performance Practice

Musicologists employ Wq numbers in thematic catalogues, dissertations at institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Harvard University, and in articles in journals like Early Music, The Musical Quarterly, and Journal of the American Musicological Society. Performers and pedagogues reference Wq numbers in program notes at venues including Gewandhaus, Carnegie Hall, and Konzerthaus Berlin, and in recordings by artists such as Glenn Gould, Mitsuko Uchida, and András Schiff. Historically informed performance advocates linked Wq references to treatises by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach himself and to editorial practices exemplified in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe and the Neue Bach-Ausgabe.

Comparison with Other Cataloguing Systems (e.g., Köchel, Hoboken)

Unlike the thematic-chronological ordering of the Köchel catalogue for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or the genre-based Hoboken system for Joseph Haydn, Wotquenne's Wq combines genre blocks with an attempt at chronology analogous to revisions seen in the Köchel catalogue's later editions and the revised volumes of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis. Subsequent catalogues and revisions—paralleling efforts by scholars such as Alfred Einstein, Otto Erich Deutsch, and Franz Giegling—highlighted omissions and reattributions, prompting crosschecks with archival resources at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.

Notable Works Listed and Examples

Prominent entries include keyboard sonatas, symphonies, and concertos often cited by Wq number in scholarship and performance. Examples frequently referenced alongside Wq numbers appear in catalogues and recordings of works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and are discussed in relation to contemporaries such as Johann Christian Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Editions presenting Wq numbers often juxtapose them with manuscript sigla held in collections like the Berlin State Library, the British Library, and the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze.

Legacy, Editions, and Criticism

Wotquenne's catalogue influenced critical editions and pedagogical materials issued by houses such as Breitkopf & Härtel, C.F. Peters, and Barenreiter, and it informed discographic practices at Decca Records and Sony Classical. Critics in musicology—drawing on methodologies advocated by Donald Tovey, Carl Dahlhaus, and Nicholas Temperley—have pointed to inconsistencies, misattributions, and chronological uncertainties in the Wq numbering, prompting revisions and supplements in later catalogues and projects associated with the RISM and the Neue Gesamtausgabe initiatives. Modern scholarship integrates Wq numbers with newer systems, digital databases at institutions like the Bach Digital project and the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, and with cataloguing norms promoted by the International Musicological Society.

Category:Music catalogues Category:Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach