Pauline Viardot Datenbank

Christin Heitmann
Pauline Viardot. Systematic and bibliographic catalogue of works (VWV)

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Contents
Purpose and structure of the VWV
Ordering of works
VWV numbers
Use of birth, married and double names
Systematic Search
Free Search
Untitled works, alternative titles, parts of works, cross-references
Structure of a work entry
Information on source materials
Printed collections of songs
Textual references
Structure of the indexes
Musical incipits
Acknowledgments

 Pauline Viardot as a composer

Purpose and structure of the VWV

The VWV is intended for musicologists, musicians and all other interested users. It catalogues the extensive compositional and editorial œuvre of Pauline Viardot and indexes the manuscript and printed sources as completely as possible in the form of an online database. This research tool enables all users to arrange Viardot's works for themselves by category (different work groups such as 'Vokalmusik' (vocal music) or 'Instrumentalmusik' (instrumental music), 'Bearbeitungen fremder Werke' (arrangements of works by others), 'Editionen' (editions) and different 'Besetzungen' (scorings)) or by 'TextautorInnen' (text author), or to search directly for 'Titel' (titles) or 'Textanfänge' (first lines). This structure makes it possible to obtain a rapid overview of the different work groups, scorings and fields of activity in Viardot's output, and of the texts she set and their authors.
Detailed information on the individual works may be located under the work's title and first line of text, such as indications of different versions of the work, key, time signature, scoring, the original versions of works arranged or edited by Viardot, texts of vocal compositions and stage works and their translations where appropriate, and the dedicatees of the works.
You will find comprehensive guidance to the different search possibilities on this page under the headings Systematic Search and Free Search.

Ordering of works

There is currently no sure basis for a chronological ordering of the works, since the time of writing of most of them can only be determined approximately or not at all. Pauline Viardot's autographs very rarely carry an indication of their date, or else are dated only with the day and month, but not the year. Album leaves and presentation copies more often carry an original date, but such dates are only of limited use in drawing conclusions about when the work was written. In addition to the textual evidence of the works themselves, it is above all letters that have been used for purposes of dating, but this too has not yet produced a coherent chronology of composition.
It is a great deal easier to date the printed editions: over 90% of the printed source materials consulted can be assigned a reliable date. However, this merely enables us to determine the terminus ante quem with certainty, not the length of time between the actual genesis of the work and the moment of publication. The earliest documented data on composition fall in the year 1838, so that printing dates until around 1845 can reasonably be taken as a terminus ante quem. In the few cases in later years when both composition and first edition can be dated, it turns out that publication often followed completion of the work fairly swiftly. But there are also examples showing that a lengthy period of time could elapse between genesis and publication, as in the case of Viardot's arrangements of Chopin mazurkas (VWV 4020–4031), which were made at least in part as early as the 1840s, but were not printed until the 1860s.
In any case, a mixture of dates of completion and publication does not provide a serious basis for a chronological ordering of the works, especially as some 40% of Pauline Viardot's original works and arrangements remained unpublished and have come down to us only in undated manuscripts. So if, as in Viardot's case, only around 50% of the completion dates can be determined, any attempt to establish even a relative chronology represents an inadmissible distortion of the actual evidence.
For this reason, we have dispensed with a chronological index in the VWV. For the time being, the entries on individual works include only the heading 'Chronologische Einordnung' (chronological position); this specifies the exact moment of completion where possible, or, failing that, a timeframe or else the terminus ante quem (taq) or terminus post quem (tpq). Detailed justification for these indications is provided in the commentary. If no dating information is available, the heading will not appear. It is possible that further exploration and evaluation of newly discovered source materials and additional secondary sources may yield at least a relative chronology, and in some cases one can form groups of works, since Pauline Viardot frequently went through phases of setting poems by one or more specific authors (e.g. poems by Mörike around 1865) or texts from specific collections (e.g. the Canti popolari toscani, probably c.1878–1880 or the Chansons du XVe siècle, c.1885), and some individual pieces in these categories are dated. The VWV will continue to be updated in the light of recent research.

VWV numbers

Neither Pauline Viardot nor any of her contemporaries gave her compositions opus numbers. This is why the VWV uses work numbers to make each composition clearly identifiable. The works are not numbered consecutively in a given sequence; instead the numbering follows the systematic layout of the catalogue of works. The first digit of the VWV number (which invariably consists of four digits) indicates to which superordinate group the work belongs:
1: all vocal genres, including the vocal method Une heure d'étude (1001–1231)
2: all stage works (2001–2010)
3: all instrumental genres (3001–3018)
4: all arrangements of compositions by others and of songs (4001–4045)
5: all sketches/fragments (5001–5015)
6: all editions of works by others (6001–6075 for École classique du chant, 6101–6150 for 50 Mélodies de Franz Schubert, 6201–6257 for Échos d'Italie)
7: all doubtful/false attributions (7001–7012)
Records without a VWV number contain cross-references to complete work entries (more details are given in Untitled works, alternative titles, parts of works, cross-references).
Within larger groups such as the vocal genres the numbering is further classified into subgroups, e.g. VWV nos. 1016–1231 comprise, within the vocal genres, the work group 'Vokalmusik / Lieder' (vocal music/songs). In the work group 'Editionen', the numbering follows the sequence prescribed in the printed editions of the individual titles.
You can find out more about Pauline Viardot's œuvre and the various work groups on a separate page: Pauline Viardot as a composer.

Use of birth, married and double names

In the introductory texts and categories of the VWV, the standardised name used for the composer is Pauline Viardot, the married name she predominantly utilised after marrying Louis Viardot in April 1840. The exception to this is in continuous text concerning the period before 1840: here her birth name Pauline Garcia is used.
This is contrary to the recommendation of the 'Gemeinsamen Normdatei' GND (Universal Authority File of the German National Library), which fixes the double name Pauline Viardot-García as the standard. The decision to use only the married name in the VWV is based on the source material, which suggests that Pauline Viardot herself preferred this form and saw it as representing her: in general she personally supervised the publication of her works, as is confirmed by many documents in publishers' correspondence. Most of the printed editions of her works were issued under the name Pauline Viardot. Only about 20% of the editions printed after 1840 bear the double name Pauline Viardot-Garcia (sporadically also 'Viardot Garcia', but never '...García'), without any discernible criteria governing the choice of name. It is true that the first prints from her marriage until 1845 appeared under the name Pauline Viardot-Garcia (such as the first song album of 1843), but from 1847 onwards the simple married name prevailed (e.g. in the second song album of 1849). From the 1860s, however, there was no longer any norm.
From that time on, the use of the married or the double name can be neither narrowed down to a specific period nor related to the type of publication. Both large song collections and editions and publications of individual songs bear now the married name, now the double name. In the same way, German and French editions use now one, now the other. Only the Russian editions, most of which were issued by the St Petersburg firm of A. Iogansen (Johansen), almost always bear the double name. These Russian prints generally came into existence on the initiative and through the intermediary of Ivan Turgenev.
In her manuscripts, Pauline Viardot consistently utilised her simple married name from her marriage onwards. Of the 300 or so autographs and partial autographs by her recorded for the database, only one is signed with the double name: a fair copy of the mélodie L'Ombre et le jour VWV 1035 from 1843, which was published in the same year, along with seven more songs, in her first song album, also with the double name. After her marriage, Viardot signed letters exclusively with the simple married name, and her printed visiting cards, on which she wrote brief notes, also read 'Madame Pauline Viardot'.
Since one might perhaps surmise that the double name was used more to represent Pauline Viardot the singer, as she was and is substantially better known, it was decided to complete these data with a study of the contemporary musical press. As an example, we checked through the Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris (RGM), which followed Pauline Viardot's career as a singer closely and with great regularity. In parallel with the published editions of songs from the 1840s, the RGM also switched from the double to the married name during this period. In the volumes from the marriage to 1848, both the married and the double name are used, with the latter occurring very frequently in the year 1847, for example. In the volume for 1848, however, there is a break: until the month of March it is almost exclusively the double name that is used, but subsequently the simple married name appears very much more often. The volume for 1849, which also happens to be the one with the most frequent mentions of Pauline Viardot (nearly 200), is the first in which, as in subsequent years, 99% of references use only the married name.
The information concerning the source materials in the VWV makes it clear which manuscripts are signed with which name and which printed editions appeared under which name; the original wording of titles, dedications and autographs is precisely reproduced here.

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Systematic Search

The 'Sucheinstieg Werke' (access point for works) enables you to locate individual works via the classifications by 'Werkgruppen' (work groups) and 'Besetzungen', via the 'TextautorInnen', or directly via the 'Titel' or 'Textanfang':
By clicking on the menu items Werkgruppen or Besetzungen you obtain a systematic overview of the work groups or instrumental and vocal forces found in Pauline Viardot's works. A click on a specific work group or scoring leads to an index of the works belonging to the category selected. Assignment to a work group is dictated exclusively by the original version, so that in this category each work is listed only once. In the Besetzungen category, on the other hand, a work may be found several times under different scorings, insofar as arrangements exist for different forces.
Almost all Pauline Viardot's vocal works were translated into one or more languages and therefore possess several titles. No uniform title has been imposed among these translations. Each work appears in both systematic categories, Werkgruppen and Besetzungen, with all known translations of its title. If diverging titles have come down to us in a single language in different source materials, the title given in a printed edition, or in the autograph in the case of unpublished works, is used as the main title. Alternative titles can be found as cross-references in the index of Werktitel (work titles).
By clicking on the menu items Werktitel and Texte/Textanfänge you obtain alphabetical indexes of all Pauline Viardot's compositions, arrangements of works by other composers, and editions. In the work titles and texts, each title and each text is listed separately, so that the titles or first lines of each work in the different languages lead to the same record (e.g. the two titles Le Dernier Sorcier and Der letzte Zauberer lead to the same work entry VWV 2002).
By clicking on the menu item AutorInnen you obtain an index of all authors whose texts are set in Pauline Viardot's original compositions and editions of works by other composers, or who wrote texts for her vocal arrangements of works by other composers. A click on a name leads to the work or a list of all works that contain a text by the author selected. If the author of a text is not known by name, an attempt has been made to narrow the origin of the text down chronologically or geographically. Hence all settings of poems in Middle French can be found by clicking on 'unbekannt, 15. Jh.' (anonymous, 15th c.), or all the Canti popolari toscani by clicking on 'unbekannt, toskanisch' (anonymous, Tuscan).
In all indexes of the systematic search function, the triangles in the column headings indicate that the table can be sorted in ascending order by clicking on the heading, e.g. alphabetically by titles or first lines (default), or by VWV numbers.

Free Search

In the menu items Werktitel and Texte/Textanfänge you will find a search mask in addition to the indexes. In the first search box you have the possibility of locating a specific work by entering a search term from the desired title or first line of text. Whatever the page you are currently viewing, the search will always cover all titles in the index of Werktitel, and all first lines in the index of Texte/Textanfänge. It is sufficient to enter a keyword; no distinction is made between upper and lower case. Russian titles and first lines are accessible via both the Russian original and the transliteration. Special characters in French, Spanish and Polish titles and in the transliterations of Russian titles and texts (é, ô, ç, ï etc.) can also be found by entering the Latin characters.
In the second search box you can look for VWV numbers. Entering a four-digit VWV number will lead to the desired work and the relevant translations of the title or first line if applicable. When you enter a one-, two- or three-digit number the search functions on the principle 'beginnt mit' (begins with): in this case all records are shown whose VWV number begins with the requested sequence of digits. Thus specific work groups can be displayed here too. For example, if you enter '3' this leads to all records in the 3000 range, i.e. all works in instrumental genres, while entering '61' yields all records in the 6100 range, i.e. all the songs published in 50 Mélodies de Franz Schubert.
Both keyword search and search by VWV number is activated by clicking on the 'suchen' (search) button on the far right or pressing the 'enter' key on your computer. The search results for keyword search are arranged alphabetically by titles or first lines; in the case of search by VWV number the results are sorted in ascending numerical order.

In the menu item 'Suche' you will find an overview of all different search boxes given in the VWV.

Untitled works, alternative titles, parts of works, cross-references

For some unpublished compositions no title has come down to us in the source materials; in these cases the first line of text (or the tempo marking in instrumental works) has been used as a title and marked with a * to indicate it is an inferred title. Text incipits used as titles are found in the indexes of both Texte/Textanfänge and Werktitel. The scholarly literature and library catalogues sometimes also treat first lines as titles even when there is an authorised title. Such text incipits appear here only in the index of Texte/Textanfänge, not the index of Werktitel. Hence if you cannot find a composition in the index of Werktitel, you should also search in the index of Texte/Textanfänge.
Some titles or first lines without a VWV number lead not to complete work entries but to 'Querverweise' (cross-references). These are either alternative titles, if the source materials give different titles, or individual pieces from larger works that have come down to us in separate manuscripts or separate printed editions (e.g. Chanson de la pluie from Le Dernier Sorcier / Der letzte Zauberer VWV 2002). In these cross-references you will find both links to the individual source materials and an indication of the title of the complete work in question, which will lead you to the relevant work entry.

Structure of a work entry

You can access information on individual works by clicking on the appropriate work title or first line. The work entries indicate the work group, VWV number, all known titles and subtitles, and the dedicatee (with source reference). This is followed by a summary of the known musical versions, defined by scoring, or, in the case of songs with versions for high and low voice, by the different keys. Where it is an arrangement by another hand, this is indicated under 'BearbeiterIn' (arranger). As far as possible, each version is assigned a 'chronologische Einordnung' which is justified in the 'Kommentar' (commentary). For all arrangements and editions of works by others, the names of both the composer(s) of the original work and Pauline Viardot as arranger or editor are given. All vocal and stage works are followed by information about the text set to music, with the text incipit or libretto and all known translations. Where appropriate, the commentary includes explanations of and evidence for the chronologische Einordnung, additional information on the work and references to further reading. In the entries for arrangements and editions of and cadenzas for works by other composers, concise information about the original composition is appended after the commentary.
Cross-references are differently structured, but they contain at least a reference to the title(s) and the VWV number under which the work requested is to be found in the VWV. If it refers to a single piece from a larger work (e.g. Chanson de la pluie from Le Dernier Sorcier / Der letzte Zauberer VWV 2002), the cross-reference includes direct links to the source materials in which the piece in question has come down to us in this form.

Information on the source materials

Information about Pauline Viardot's works is taken as far as possible only from the primary source materials themselves or inferred on the basis of scholarly evaluation of these and/or other sources such as letters and reviews in the press. It is backed up by detailed descriptions of the known manuscript and printed source materials of a work, including information on dating and bibliographical references. In the case of vocal works, the information on source materials also specifies the language(s) in which they appear in the sources in question. If a specific version of the text is consistently associated with a specific musical version/scoring in the sources, this will also be mentioned in the commentary on the work entry. The information on source materials is accessible via the links to be found in the work entries beside the relevant versions of the work.
For each source the 'Fundort' (source location) – or sometimes, in the case of printed editions, several locations – is specified, so that users may themselves consult manuscripts and prints if required. In the case of printed editions, the enumeration of locations makes no claim to be exhaustive. Indications of additional source locations, especially those holding prints not accessible at present, are welcome.
Libraries and archives are cited by RISM sigla (  RISM); a key to these and links to the web pages of the locations will be found at the access point Quellen (sources) under Fundorte.
Whenever secondary sources and literature have been used, they are fully identified in the commentary on the work entry. Titles of reference works cited in abbreviated form are given in full in the menu item Literatur (Literature) at the access point Quellen (sources).

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Printed song collections

Most of Pauline Viardot's songs appeared in printed collections, often in several different collections. The prints listed in the information on source materials are therefore distinguished under 'Bezeichnung' (description) not only by country of origin, but also invariably between 'Sammlung' (collection) or 'Einzeldruck' (individual print). In the case of a collection, the link 'zeige Einzeltitel' (show individual titles) appears to the right of the description. This leads to a detailed breakdown of the individual titles contained in the collection in question, including indications of the number of pages, the original unit prices, the plate numbers, and the source locations and shelf marks. Where a collection contains versions for both high and low voice, the alternative versions and their keys are specified here.

Textual references

In the case of stage works, the links beside the versions of the texts lead to the source materials of the libretti, which were generally written in close collaboration with Pauline Viardot or entirely by her. In all song genres, which generally consist of settings of poetry of independent origin, references to the song texts are given. These are either editions of the time or modern scholarly editions which contain not only a reliable critical text, but also information on dating and first publication. However, they are not references to the versions of the texts used by Viardot herself, because there is usually no evidence for these in primary or secondary sources. Only in the group of Chansons du XVe siècle do some of the primary source materials refer to the edition Chansons du XVe siècle publiées d'après le manuscrit de la Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris par Gaston Paris. Et accompagnées de la musique transcrite en notation moderne par Auguste Gevaert (Paris: 1875).
These textual references are given only for the original versions of the texts of those songs composed by Pauline Viardot herself. The translations of the sung texts are not separately documented, since these have usually survived only with Viardot's settings. References are also omitted in the work groups 'Editionen', since here Viardot must have taken the texts directly from those in the compositions she edited, and in the 'Bearbeitungen fremder Kompositionen', since these texts were generally written especially for Viardot's arrangements and have come down to us only in conjunction with the latter (there is one exception: the Canzonetta de Concert VWV 4014, for which she used a text by Metastasio; q.v.). The information on the source materials (see above) makes clear which source contains which version of the relevant sung text.

Structure of the indexes

Please note that the listed works are divided into original compositions, arrangements and editions only in the overview of Werkgruppen; in the indexes of Werktitel and Texte/Textanfänge the order is purely alphabetical. Similarly, the indexes of Besetzungen and AutorInnen do not distinguish between original compositions, arrangements or editions. For ease of reference, the work group 'Editionen' is also subdivided into the titles of the three large collections that Pauline Viardot edited: Échos d'Italie, École classique du chant and 50 Mélodies de Schubert. This gives the user an immediate overview of the contents of each edition.
All the tabular indexes are sorted in strict alphabetical order by first word (including articles and pronouns). The Russian titles and first lines are sorted at the end of the table according to the Russian alphabet. With the help of the alphabet bar at the top of the page you can filter the search results by first letter or select all Russian titles or texts and return to All Titles. By using the buttons 'erster Datensatz' (first), 'zurück' (previous), 'vor' (next), 'letzter Datensatz' (last), you can navigate both within the complete index and within the chosen filter results.

Musical incipits

Since it was not possible to incorporate musical incipits within the framework of the VWV, we refer users to the register of incipits, compiled by Nicholas G. Žekulin, which is included in the catalogue of Viardot's works by the Slavist and Turgenev researcher Patrick Waddington. See Patrick Waddington: The musical works of Pauline Viardot-Garcia (1821–1910). A chronological catalogue, Second online edition, Heretaunga (New Zealand), Calgary (Canada) 42013. The 2013 edition is freely available online at http://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/49849.

Acknowledgments

The VWV was created in the framework of the research project "Orte und Wege europäischer Kulturvermittlung durch Musik. Die Sängerin und Komponistin Pauline Viardot" at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg (HfMT).
The project and thus all work on the VWV and the procurement of the necessary sources were financed from 2007 to 2011 by the 'Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft' (DFG). For additional funding in the year 2012 I must thank the Mariann Steegmann Foundation and the 'Konferenz der Gleichstellungsbeauftragten der Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg' (KoGl). Purchase of reproductions from the Bonynge-Sutherland Collection (Houghton Library, Harvard) in 2013 was made possible by funding from the Mariann Steegmann Foundation and the Kulturfonds der VG-Musikedition.
I thank all my colleagues on the DFG-project for a lively working environment and fruitful exchanges on the subject of Pauline Viardot. To Prof Dr Beatrix Borchard, who conceived and directed the project, I am grateful for the freedom not only to envisage, but also to implement the switch from the originally planned print version to the online database. My thanks go also to Silke Wenzel, MA, for enlightening questions and countless valuable insights and suggestions. For their energetic research support and their help with the linguistic diversity of the enterprise I thank Anastasia Mattern, MA and Verena Mogl, MA (procurement of sources from Russian libraries, research and data collection for the Russian songs, their texts and primary sources), Johann Layer (research on the original works in the École classique and 50 Mélodies de Schubert) and Lucie Faggiani (proofreading in all languages...).
I cannot adequately express my gratitude to Melanie Schütte, Diplom-Informatikerin (Frauen Computer Zentrum Bremen), for the conception and realisation of the database and the online presence, her wonderful collaboration, her willingness to get involved with the tortuous requirements of the VWV, and her communication skills, which made learning database software easy and the rapprochement of musicology and computer science an exciting and enriching experience.
My special thanks go to Dr Annette Steinsiek and Dr Ursula Schneider, Forschungsinstitut Brenner-Archiv (Universität Innsbruck), for manifold personal and collegial advice.
Finally, I would like to thank here all the library and archive staff and private individuals who made source material available. A table of source locations and a description of the most important large holdings may be found in the database at the access point Quellen.

 Pauline Viardot as a composer

(Translation Charles Johnston)


Christin Heitmann: Pauline Viardot. Systematisch-bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis (VWV), Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, seit 2012, Online-Datenbank https://www.pauline-viardot.de/Werkverzeichnis.htm (Abrufdatum).


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