Two born-digital thematic catalogs

Sara Andreacchio and Claudio Bacciagaluppi

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Two work catalogs, for composers Francesco Pollini and Luigi Cherubini, have recently been completed as born-digital publications. They supplement the growing number of digital versions of traditional thematic catalogs that can be accessed through RISM Online. These catalogs are directly linked to the RISM database that includes descriptions of musical sources, thereby establishing direct connections between works and their sources. This allows users to explore the contents or the performance locations, and to interact with the musical heritage cataloged internationally. The two born-digital thematic catalogs were created by using Muscat, RISM’s cataloging software. The essential data contained in the database is supplemented by its historical and musicological context as presented on a separate website.

The first catalog is dedicated to Francesco Pollini (1762–1846), an amateur composer, tenor, pianist, and fortepiano teacher. Pollini was a prominent figure in the Milanese music scene from the late 18th century through the early decades of the 19th century. Born in Ljubljana, and after pursuing his early studies in Italy, in the 1780s he completed his training in Vienna, where he also met Mozart. In 1793, he settled in Milan, establishing himself as an outstandingly active teacher and composer. Pollini’s oeuvre comprises 262 catalog numbers across all genres, with a predominance of piano compositions. His reputation as pianist and composer was international, as testified by the praise of Glinka, Liszt, and Schumann.

The other catalog now published is a partial catalog encompassing the theoretical and pedagogical oeuvre of Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842). This includes works such as solfège and basso continuo exercises, which are not generally considered as “compositions” but are of great importance for fully understanding Cherubini’s views on the art of composition and the teaching of music theory. There is still no comprehensive thematic catalog of Cherubini’s works. The standard reference remains the catalog of Cherubini’s estate compiled by Auguste Bottée de Toulmon (1797–1850) in 1843. It is hoped that our partial catalog will provide a stimulus for the compilation of the long-awaited general catalog of Cherubini’s works.

The new catalogs presented here are the outcome of two research projects conducted at the Bern Academy of the Arts: Francesco Pollini and the Early Italian Piano Tradition and Luigi Cherubini and Composition Teaching at the Paris Conservatoire.

The catalogs created with Muscat rely on a large-scale, long-term international research infrastructure. The series Work catalogs in RISM Online was developed in accordance with FAIR principles and with an eye to long-term sustainability. In this sense, these first two publications serve both as tools for studying the works of these composers and as models for exploring the future of thematic catalogs in a digital environment.

Category: RISM Digital Center