WoO Works without Opus Numbers
Werk ohne Opuszahl — the number given to works published without an opus, above all in Beethoven
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WoO stands for Werk ohne Opuszahl, "work without opus number". It is not exclusive to Beethoven, but his catalogue is the one most often cited: Kinsky and Halm compiled WoO 1–205 in 1955, covering songs, dances and variations alike.
"Without an Op." does not mean "unimportant" or "unpublished". "Für Elise" is WoO 59 and the Thirty-Two Variations in C minor are WoO 80; they simply never received a publisher's opus number. WoO is not chronological either: WoO 59 was written in 1810, while WoO 80 dates from 1806.
WoO and Op. are mutually exclusive: a work either has an opus number or belongs in WoO. WoO covers completed works only; unfinished and doubtful pieces are listed elsewhere, so a Beethoven search still needs the title and the manuscript source. The number is an entrance, not a conclusion.
Read deeper → Opus · Theme and Variations
Sources
- 贝多芬 WoO 编号与目录范围，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Beethoven, Ludwig van"；目录本体参 Kinsky–Halm, Das Werk Beethovens（1955）；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.