1. The Britten Thematic Catalogue NEMLA Fall Meeting 2011 Jonathan Manton Britten-Pears Foundation

2. 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chronological set of individual records spanning Benjamin Brittens entire compositional output, both published and unpublished, including all juvenilia.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

3. Timeline 2005-2009 2005: Planning Decision to create an online thematic catalogue of Brittens manuscripts in time for the composers 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 Brittens 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 resources technical infrastructure Typesetting and recording of notation and audio incipits Beta version released April 2008 – www.brittenproject.orgwww.brittenproject.org

4. 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

5. 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

6. Cataloging structure

7. Database and Data Entry Tool Online Data Entry Tool to create and populate BTC recordsOnline Data Entry Tool to create and populate BTC records Database online delivery process

8. 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 quartetresident string quartet Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra (UK) BPF staff and visiting musicians to the library Incipit crowdsourcing tool - http://www.brittenproject.org/incipit- recordingshttp://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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Beta Version and Feedback www.brittenproject.org j.manton@brittenpears.org @jonmanton @britten_project

17. www.brittenpears.org