What are collected editions?

For many composers, their complete works have been published in a single scholarly edition (called a collected edition).

In these editions, the variant readings in the primary sources are shown, either in the main volumes or in separate supplementary volumes.

Some of these editions are still in progress, so you may find that a specific work has not yet been published in the composer’s collected edition.

How do I find out if a collected edition has been published for my composer?

Look up the composer's worklist in Oxford Music Online (available on our Databases page). The composer's collected edition(s) will be cited at the top of the worklist.

Foreign terms you may see that mean "collected edition": Werke,  Samtliche Werke,  Gesamtausgabe,  Opere, Oeuvres.

How do I find out if ZSR Library owns a collected edition for my composer?

See the tabs above for a list of the collected editions we own. There, you can find out:

• If an online version is available, and click a link to it.
• If we have a print copy in the ZSR building. A link is provided to the catalog record.
• If we have a print copy housed offsite. A link is provided to the catalog record, where you can request to have it delivered. (We can deliver same day.)

How do I find a specific work in a composer’s collected edition?

You can do this several ways:

Check the composer's worklist in Oxford Music Online (available on our Databases page). For each work, the volume number in the collected edition is given.

Online versions will have their own hyperlinked table of contents.

Or, consult the following separately-published indexes, shelved in the Reference room:

• Collected editions, historical series & sets & monuments of music: a bibliography. Compiled by George R. Hill. Call number: Ref ML113 H55 1997.
• Historical sets, collected editions, and monuments of music: a guide to their contents. Compiled by Anna Harriet Heyer. Call number: Ref ML113 .H52 1980.

Websites that contain composers' collected editions

• IMSLP
• Munich Digitization Center  
• Hathi Trust  (Log in using your WFU username and password to enable full-text view of public-domain editions.)