words :: Bibliographic Relationships in Music Catalogs

Bibliographic Relationships in Music Catalogs

14 Mar 08

Vellucci, Sherry L. Bibliographic Relationships in Music Catalogs. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1997.

whole-part relationships

hierarchichal and fairly obvious; quite common in musical compositions which are often in segments that can be performed independently of the whole
can be a relationship involving a specific physical entity, such as a song in an anthology
more importantly, a physical part can be related to a work as an abstract whole; this concept of the work is used to create the primary element in a uniform title
in principal both part and whole can be abstract, although you wouldn’t normally find this in a library catalogue
a whole-part relationship can be either inclusive or extractive
an inclusive relationship exists when the part is contained entirely within the whole
an extractive relationship exists when the part is removed from the whole to exist as a separate entity
a part can be extracted vertically from the work, such as when a segment is excerpted to be a complete, performable unit; Vellucci gives the example of a chorus from an opera
or a part can be extracted horizontally, such as when the music for one instrument is extracted from the complete score; in bibliographic terms this would normally occur in the publication of a score “with parts”, but one could imagine a performance of a single instrumental part from a larger work (although this might be more accurately described as a derivative relationship)

derivative relationships

a derivative relationship “exists between any new conception of a work and its original source”
a derivative relationship is normally considered to involve some kind of modification; however, a recording of a musical performance should be considered derivative even where the performers carefully follow the score
new editions are considered derivative, but subsequent printings of an edition, facsimiles, etc. are not; I’m not sure if this means a CD release of an original LP is derivative, although probably yes if it’s “digitally remastered”
an amplification is a derivation that adds to an original
includes arrangements, involving a change in either the medium of performance (e.g. with different instrumentation) or the musical intellectual content (e.g. a simplified version for the beginning musician)
also includes adaptations (where the intellectual content of a work is so altered as to be considered a new work), translations (not of interest to music per se, but relevant where choral works might involve translation), and notational transcription (e.g. from a medieval to a modern notation)

accompanying relationships

the relationship between a primary musical item or work and complimentary material that accompanies it
may be physically separate from one another, or may share the same container
restricted to the function of augmentation, not a continuation
for sound recordings, examples would include booklets and other inserts, and might even be extended to include liner notes; such items might also exhibit a descriptive relationship to the primary material

sequential relationships

equivalence relationships

exist between exact copies of the same manifestation of a work
reproduction is a mechanical rather than intellectual process
the reproduction is normally intended to serve as a substitute for the original
related to derivative relationships, except that in an equivalence relationship absolutely no alteration is made to the intellectual content
examples include exact copies, microform copies, manuscript reproductions, issues/reissues/impressions, photocopies; Vellucci studied only scores and gives no specific examples for sound recordings

descriptive relationships

exist between a work and a criticism, evaluation, or description of the work
includes annotated editions, commentaries, analyses; may or may not include the musical work being described

Posted by pzed on March 14, 2008 at 11.48am
Categories: none of the above