As a cataloguer at the Netherlands Radio Music Library (NRML) one is privileged. With some 400.000 items of classical and popular sheet music, its collection counts among the largest in Europe (and maybe even the world). The cataloguing standards are high as well, so our professional skills are challenged to the full.
The basis of the catalogue’s records are the rules of the International Standard Bibliographic Description. To this other metadata are added in order to make it possible for music lovers to find scores not only by their title, composer or publisher but also by, for example, the year of composition, the nationality and birth/death years of the composer or the instrumentation of the piece. This service is provided via online public catalogues in Dutch as well as English.
As part of our efforts (as NRML cataloguers) to keep ourselves up-to-date, we came upon Peter Maxwell Davies's Opus and WoO [Without Opus] numbers: a new work list by Nicholas Jones and Richard McGregor (Musical Times, Vol. 151, p. 53-86). This new thematic catalogue is authorized by the composer and therefore we decided to use it to recatalogue all PMD editions in our collection (approximately 300) so that each can also be found by its thematic number (opus or WoO).These editions used to be catalogued by my former colleague Annelies van der Saag, who is an admirer of the composer’s music and a regular visitor to the St. Magnus Festival. She is, however, enjoying her well-deserved retirement. So – being a lover of modern music – I volunteered for the task of entering the new opus numbers and sometimes adding the original title given by Sir Peter to the one presented on the score as published.
Some of the Peter Maxwell Davies editions held by the Netherlands Radio Music Library, and recently re-catalogued(Picture: Eric van Balkum)
The Dutch radio’s classical orchestras and chorus have regularly performed the music of Peter Maxwell Davies, including Veni Sancte Spiritus (op. 22) as early as 1966. In 1996 the composer came to Hilversum for the first time to conduct the Radio Symfonie Orkest (A Spell for Green Corn: the MacDonald Dances and Caroline Mathilde: Concert Suite from Act I of the Ballet). Sir Peter was also the conductor when two of his compositions received their Dutch premieres; Antarctic Symphony (Symphony No. 8) (in 2003, RSO) and Strathclyde Concerto No. 4 (in 2009, Radio Kamer Filharmonie).
The Dutch government has decided to cut the budget of the Netherlands Broadcasting Music Center - of which the NRML is part – by more than 50%. This means that the existence of the music library and some of the ensembles is seriously threatened.
