the britten thematic catalogue nemla fall meeting 2011 jonathan manton britten-pears foundation
TRANSCRIPT
The Britten Thematic CatalogueNEMLA Fall Meeting 2011Jonathan Manton Britten-Pears Foundation
Summary of the project
A publicly available, fully integrated online research resource presenting – for the first time – a complete chronological set of individual records spanning Benjamin Britten’s entire compositional output, both published and unpublished, including all juvenilia.
Catalogue records will initially include:
• Composition details (date, revision, dedicatee, text set, etc)• Brief composition history (for complex works)• Details of manuscript sources• Publishing information• Incipits (in both audio and notation form)• Recording, broadcast and performance histories
Timeline 2005-2009
• 2005: Planning• Decision to create an online thematic catalogue of Britten’s manuscripts in time
for the composer’s centenary in 2013 • Application to AHRC with University of East Anglia to fund the project • Award granted for three years
• 2006: Project began• Project staff appointed – Dr Lucy Walker (Research Assistant), Jonathan Manton
(Cataloger)
• 2006-2007: Project scoping• Project aims established • Initial investigation of source materials• Creation of database schema and cataloging system• Decision to dedicate first three years to Britten’s Juvenilia due to the volume of
material and lack of previous research
• 2007-2009: Juvenilia• Research and cataloging of juvenile manuscript sources• Development of the resource’s technical infrastructure • Typesetting and recording of notation and audio incipits• Beta version released April 2008 – www.brittenproject.org
Timeline 2010-2013
• 2010: Second phase• Britten-Pears Foundation takes over funding of the project following the end of
the AHRC grant phase• Staffing change – Dr Lucy Walker (Director of Learning and Development),
Jonathan Manton (Technical Support Officer – based in USA), Sarah Nicholls (Cataloger)
• 2010-2013: Mature works and technical development• Mature works cataloged • Additional research data integrated• Further incipit preparation• Usability and overall design of the resource • Chronology finalized (all works will eventually bare a BTC number)
• 2013: BTC launched
The material
Non Holograph material:
e.g.-Copyists’ manuscripts-Instrumental
parts
Holographs:
e.g.-Sketches
-Composition drafts
-Fair copies
Interim material:
e.g.-Dyelines-Proofs
TO CATALOG:
Libretto material:
e.g.- Typescripts- Handwritten- Annotated text sources
Database and Data Entry Tool
• Online Data Entry Tool to create and populate BTC records
• Database online delivery process
Incipit recording update
• Recording projects with a variety of musicians in both the USA and UK• Diller-Quaile School of Music – students and resident string quartet• Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra (UK)• BPF staff and visiting musicians to the library
• Incipit crowdsourcing tool - http://www.brittenproject.org/incipit-recordings
• Further reading: Jonathan Manton , “ ‘Some Quite Nice Little Tunes’: An Overview of the Preparation and Recording of 'Incipits' for the Britten Thematic Catalogue”, Notes 67, no. 2 (December 2010): 249-62
2010 User Survey
• User survey conducted of potential users• Made available for a month via Beta Version• Mailing lists – IAML, MLA, AMS, RMA etc• Students and faculty at selected UK institutions including Kings College,
London and Cambridge• 65 Respondents
• Survey assessed three principal areas• Content• Usability• Design
• Subsequent comparative survey of: • The Aaron Copland Collection (Library of Congress)• Beethoven-Haus Bonn : Digital Archives • Chopin Institute : Works Catalogue
Survey Results - Content
• Digitized Manuscript sources to be removed from the resource for now• Current images need to link to a higher resolution copy of each manuscript• Users would prefer to view complete manuscript sources not just the cover page• Analytical tool needed for closer inspection of materials• Survey suggestions not possible at the this stage. Images will therefore be
dropped for now • Hopefully added at a later date following a designated digitization project
• Traditional length incipits to be added• Survey suggested having both traditional length and extended incipits• Shorter incipits more easily referenced by the researcher
Survey Results - Usability• Browsing
• More prominently displayed browse parameters• Additional Genre browse option• More entries per results page• Navigation bar to enable browse results to be narrowed further• Category browse to be added to delineate different groups of works
• Searching• Basic keyword search found to be highly effective• First version of advanced search engine now operational but not available to
the public
Survey Results - Design
• Manuscript source information layout• Remove any archival terminology• Addition of color coding for levels within the cataloging structure• Link to documentation about the cataloging structure on each page
• Tagged data• Current use of links to be maintained despite survey • Links should be a color other than blue so as not to be confused with
hyperlinks directing the user to a different page
Remaining tasks before 2013• Finish cataloging manuscript sources including all published works,
operas, and film and stage work scores
• Finalize the BTC chronology, including all unfinished, unachieved and missing works as well as realizations and arrangements
• Create notation incipits for all juvenilia
• Record audio incipits for as many unpublished juvenile works as possible
• Upload digitized scores and audio extracts for all published works
• Add publication, performance and broadcast histories
• Include links to upcoming performances and bibliographies for each work
Remaining tasks (cont)
• Technical • Finalize the advanced search engine, browse facilities and filtering• Finalize design and overall usability • Ensure alignment with current W3C accessibility guidelines and devise an
accessibility statement
• Documentation• Background to the project• How to use the BTC• Cataloging and musicological decisions / justification• Plans for the future expansion of the resource
Possible future additions• MEI encoded incipit images to enable thematic searching
• Ability to print out, in print-friendly form, 'booklets' of specific groups of works – i.e. a mini catalogue of operas
• Ability to interrogate catalogue data to produce graphic illustrations of compositional trends
• Integration of other current or future BPF projects detailing:• Correspondence (TEI encoded) • Diary entries (TEI encoded)• Digitized manuscript sources• Photographs• Production materials (costumes, set designs, programs)• Concert programs
www.brittenpears.org