CC:DA/TF/Works for Performance/[4]

June 17, 1997

Task Force on the Cataloging of Works Intended for Performance

Please note that the purpose of this page is to facilitate the work of the Committee and to provide a means for outreach to both library and non-library cataloging communities. This document is intended for the exclusive use of CC:DA and its cataloging constituencies, and is presented as a discussion document in the ongoing process of rule revision. Under no circumstances should the information here be copied or re-transmitted without prior consultation with the current Chair of CC:DA.

Following the Task Force's report is a summary of subsequent developments stemming from the CC:DA discussion of the report.

Table of Contents Recommendations Executive Summary Discussion Paper Section 1 Section 2          Approach 1          Approach 2          Approach 3          Approach 4          Approach 5          Approach 6 Section 2, Summary Section 3 Matthew Wise, Analysis of Various Types of Improvisation Additional TF Comments

Recommendations

The Task Force recommended the following:

Rewrite and reorganize rules 21.8 to 21.27 in AACR2R as follows:

1. Develop general rules for works of mixed responsibility that can be applied to such works in any form or format, whether they are new works or are based on pre-existing works.

2. Develop rules for works realized through performance that can be applied to such works in any form or format.

3. Develop a general rule covering pre-existing works reissued in any form or format with the addition of matter of all kinds, including commentaries, and biographical/critical material, as well as non-textual matter such as posters, film trailers and new sound tracks. Usually, inclusion of such material should not be held to create a new work.

4. Add a definition of "work" to the glossary.

On the basis of discussions of the various approaches (outlined in Section 2) at the 1996 ALA Annual Meeting in New York, the Task Force roughed out the following amalgam approach for recommendations 1 and 2 above for consideration by the cataloging community:

New works of mixed responsibility in which creation of a text is just part of the collaborative production of the work should be entered under title, unless there are only two authorship functions involved, and a more specific rule assigns primacy to one of the functions.

Realizations of pre-existing texts which consist of instructions for performance should be entered as follows:

If the instructions are detailed, and if they are closely followed in the performance, the performance should be considered the same work as the pre-existing text, and creation of the text should be considered the primary function in the creation of the work, with performance being subsidiary.

If, however, the original instructions are not detailed and/or are not closely followed in the performance, the performance should be considered a new work, but one related to the pre-existing text; i.e., if improvisation and/or adaptation and/or creative or intellectual work beyond mere performance occur, the performance should be considered a new work. This new work should be entered under title, unless there are only two authorship functions involved, and a more specific rule assigns primacy to one of the functions.

It should be emphasized in the rules for added entries that it is crucial to make an added entry for the main entry of any pre-existing work which is adapted into a new work in the course of performance.

Some clues that might be taken to point to adaptation having occurred in the course of making a film based on a pre-existing work might be a screenplay credit and/or a cinematography credit.

This approach would have the following results:

A score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Main entry: Beethoven

A printed text of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth

Main entry: Shakespeare

An opera (score plus libretto):

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte)

Main entry: Mozart

A ballet (score plus Laban notation choreography):

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine)

Main entry: The dying swan

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris

Main entry: Mozart

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of an opera:

Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti); Metropolitan Opera, New York

Main entry: Donizetti

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare

A film based on an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris; directed by Joseph Losey

Main entry: Don Giovanni

A straight through videorecording of a ballet:

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine); performed by the Royal Ballet

Main entry: The dying swan

An adaptation of a play for a film:

Polanski's Macbeth

Main entry: Macbeth (1971)

A videorecording of a film with an original screenplay:

Gone with the wind (dramatization of a novel)

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A screenplay written for a film:

Gone with the wind, script by Sidney Howard

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A music score written for a film:

Gone with the wind, music score by Max Steiner

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A music video:

Michael Jackson's Bad, directed by Martin Scorsese

Main entry: Bad

Section 1. Examine the rules and identify those areas that are in conflict or have been particularly problematic.

Section 2. Identify and summarize the interrelated underlying concepts within the cataloging rules which touch on these issues (including those noted above).

Section 3. Make recommendations regarding what course of action CC:DA should take, including possible recommendations to the Joint Steering Committee regarding rules/concepts to be addressed in JSC's upcoming Conference of Cataloguing Experts

In Section 1, we list the rules which have been problematic, and indicate some of the problems that have been noted by various commentators.

In Section 2, we discuss the work and authorship issues raised by works intended for performance. We begin with a discussion of the concept of main entry, pointing out the ways in which it continues to function to organize the catalog in an online environment, and pointing out that it remains the only available device allowing the collocation of editions of works, particularly the collocation of works intended for performance with the performances that realize them. Next we consider six possible approaches to the question of main entry for works intended for performance. We test each approach by applying it to a group of 17 cases, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

In Section 3 (now moved to the beginning of the document), we recommend an approach that draws on several of the approaches examined in Section 2. The recommended approach distinguishes between new works and works which consist of the realization of pre-existing texts. With works based on pre-existing texts, the recommended approach distinguishes between 1) cases in which the instructions for performance are detailed and have been closely followed in the performance, and 2) cases in which the instructions are not detailed or have not been followed closely in the performance. Under this approach, new works of mixed responsibility would be entered under title (unless more specific rules dictated otherwise). Realizations of pre-existing texts in the first category would be considered the same work as the pre-existing text and entered under the main entry appropriate for the pre-existing text. Realizations of pre-existing texts in the second category would be considered new works of mixed responsibility and would be entered appropriately.

Discussion Paper

Works of Mixed Responsibility

21.8 Works of Mixed Responsibility:

Works That Are Modifications of Other Works

21.9 GENERAL RULE

Modifications of Texts: 21.10 - 21.15

Art Works: 21.16 - 21.17

Musical Works: 21.18 - 21.22

Sound Recordings: 21.23

Mixed Responsibility in New Works: 21.24 - 21.27

[No general rule]

1. Most rules are based on format rather than on conditions of authorship. For example:

   21.13 is defined as "Texts published with commentary." There are now lots of examples of musical performances and films (and probably other types of work) being republished with audio tracks containing commentary by people involved in the production, critics, etc. Many of these are works intended for performance, but the phenomenon is probably not limited to them. There are lots of videodisc examples in the UCLA Film and Television Archive; another example is the interactive multimedia version of Magic flute, which, according to a summary on a cataloging record, contains "a complete performance of Mozart's The magic flute, enhanced by over one hour of commentaries and other music. Includes ... long-form analysis of Mozart's music, story of the opera... "

   21.15 is defined as "Texts published with biographical/critical material." The republications mentioned above can also include biographical/critical material. For example, Microsoft multimedia Mozart, according to a summary on a cataloging record, contains "Multimedia information on Mozart and his Dissonant quartet, including a recording of the quartet, an examination of the historical and social context in which it was composed, a visual guide through the music."

   21.11, Illustrated texts. It is now possible to publish discursive works which use fragments of pre-existing performed works as illustration, e.g. musical performances or excerpts from films. Cataloging musical moving image material, edited by Lowell Ashley, recently published as MLA technical report no. 25, has an example (on p. 67) of a videocassette of lectures at Harvard by Leonard Bernstein that are illustrated by various musical performances.

   Commentaries, biographical/critical material, and "illustrations" do not cover all of the categories of material that can be added to a pre-existing work in a republication of it (or to a new work, as in the Leonard Bernstein example). For example, the multimedia version of A hard day's night "features the complete, uncut movie, Alun Owen's original script, additional Beatles songs, an essay on the Beatles by critic Bruce Eder, the theatrical trailer and clips from Richard Lester's early work." Many people would consider this to be a version of A hard day's night.

2. There are no general rules for mixed responsibility in new works; therefore, most audiovisual materials are excluded from treatment as new works of mixed responsibility. Thus, catalogers of these classic works of mixed responsibility are thrown back to rules 21.1c1 and 21.6C2 for entry.

3. The rules are not numbered logically--see indentations above.

4. There is potential cross-classification if some sound recordings are considered to be musical works. In general, there seems to be confusion about the meaning of "musical works"--does the category include videorecordings of musical performances or is it limited to graphic/textual representations of music intended for performance? The glossary definition ("musical composition ... intended for performance") may imply that it is meant to cover only the graphic/textual representations of music. Further evidence that "musical works" might not be meant to cover sound recordings is provided by the fact that 21.23A1 refers back to rules 21.18 - 21.22, calling for use of the "heading appropriate to the work." If it is true that "musical works" is intended to refer only to graphic/textual representations of music, but not to the performances of music recorded on sound and video recordings, the cataloging world is using the term "musical works" in an oddly narrow way compared to the way the rest of the world uses the term.

5. The section on WORKS THAT ARE MODIFICATIONS OF OTHER WORKS includes rules that cover some new works of mixed responsibility, e.g. the rule for musical works that include words (21.19), some of which are new works.

6. 21.23C1, which calls for entering a sound recording compilation of works of multiple composers under performer, seems to be a throwback to the old rules for entering textual compilations under editor, and thus does not fit with the general principle of consistent treatment of underlying conditions of authorship regardless of format. Current practice is generally to enter under title, when a subsidiary authorship function such as editing or compilation has been carried out, but there is no primary author.

7. The application for the scope note at 21.18A is unclear. Grace Fitzgerald notes that only 21.18B-C and 21.21 fall within the framework of the scope note.

8. "Musical works that include words" (rule 21.19) implies the priority of music over words; instead, these works are better characterized as "works consisting of words and music."

9. Clarification of the meaning of "musical setting" in 21.20 is needed (Grace Fitzgerald).

1. 21.1B2e, in explicitly encouraging entry under performing groups for films and videorecordings, implies that all other functions that are carried out in the creation of a moving image work are subsidiary to the performance of a group, in the case of this particular type of performance. This approach is not consistent with the treatment elsewhere in the rules of performance of music as subsidiary to composition.

2. 21.28: When the parts of a work of mixed authorship are published separately, they are treated as works in their own right, rather than as parts of a greater whole. For example, the following may be published separately: sound tracks of films, choreographies, librettos, screenplays. Some might argue that these should be considered parts of the pre-existing works, even though published (or existing) separately.

The first approach was to consider a work intended for performance, such as a graphical representation of musical notes, or the script of a play, as a set of instructions meant to be carried out by the persons who perform or realize the work. One possible way to deal with the question of when the performance results in a new work is to ask the cataloger to make a judgement as to how detailed the original instructions were, and how closely they were followed in the performance. One Task Force member reminds us that some performances are "realizations of 'texts' that contain an inadequate set of instructions (and therefore a new work MUST be created with each performance) or a set of instructions that provides for the performer to contribute to the essential nature of the work in performance (John Cage provides some extreme examples of this)."

One of the Task Force members suggests drawing the following distinction: "On the one hand, there is the collaboration of producer, director, scriptwriter, performers, etc., that is responsible for most films. On the other hand, there is the collaboration of performers, etc. with the "text" (musical or literary) of an existing work intended for performance. One difference is that in the former category, the creation of the "text" is part of the collaboration, whereas in the latter case, the "text" is/may be an existing work which the performers simply realize with greater or lesser faithfulness. Within this latter category, there are performances (jazz, ballets) that essentially CREATE (or re-create) new works (or modifications of a work), and there are those which leave the original creator's work essentially intact."

Pros and cons: This approach would require cataloger judgement and that might lead to inconsistency in application. However, there is already a precedent in AACR2 in that most of the rules for works of mixed responsibility require cataloger judgement. This approach was seen as a particularly fruitful one, and forms a major part of our final recommendation.

A score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Main entry: Beethoven

A printed text of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth

Main entry: Shakespeare

An opera (score plus libretto):

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte)

Main entry: Mozart

A ballet (score plus Laban notation choreography):

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine)

Main entry: The dying swan

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris

Main entry: Mozart

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven (as long as the video camera was fairly stationary?)

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of an opera:

Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti); Metropolitan Opera, New York

Main entry: Donizetti

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare

A film based on an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris; directed by Joseph Losey

Main entry: Don Giovanni

A straight through videorecording of a ballet:

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine); performed by the Royal Ballet

Main entry: The dying swan

An adaptation of a play for a film:

Polanski's Macbeth

Main entry: Macbeth (1971)

A videorecording of a film with an original screenplay:

Gone with the wind (dramatization of a novel)

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A screenplay written for a film:

Gone with the wind, script by Sidney Howard

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A music score written for a film:

Gone with the wind, music score by Max Steiner

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A music video:

Michael Jackson's Bad, directed by Martin Scorsese

Main entry: Bad

Another related approach would be to consider whether the realization involves the addition of a major component to the original work, such as the addition of a visual aspect (cinematography, editing, production design, acting). As one member of the Task Force has argued, "a visual recording of a dramatic work is something more [than simply an artistic realization of the author's instructions]. The author did not design the costumes, the settings, the lighting, the choreography, etc."

Perhaps it would be wise to require that in order for addition of a component to create a new work, the additional component must be an integral part of the work, not separable, the way the illustrations to a text are separable?

Is it possible for addition of a textual or some other type of component to occur and/or be major enough to cause the creation of a new work? Woody Allen's film, What's up Tiger Lily, in which he wrote an entirely new dialogue track for a pre-existing Japanese film, comes to mind...

Pros and cons: Catalogers would need to learn to distinguish between a major and a minor addition. Some might also wish to argue that the addition of a sound component is a major addition. Of course, such a radical approach would preclude the current treatment of performances of music as manifestations of the graphic/textual musical work, as well as the current film practice of treating a silent film with a new music track as a version of the original silent film. Since both music and script tend to specify the sound aspect of the intended realization more closely than the visual aspect, perhaps this should be excluded from consideration. On the other hand, if only the addition of a visual component is considered to be a major enough change to create a new work, we could end up with a situation in which recordings of the same performance of the same work are entered differently, because one is a sound recording and the other a videorecording.

Addition of a visual component (only) held to create a new work:

A score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Main entry: Beethoven

A printed text of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth

Main entry: Shakespeare

An opera (score plus libretto):

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte)

Main entry: Mozart

A ballet (score plus Laban notation choreography):

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine)

Main entry: Saint-Saens

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris

Main entry: Mozart

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven? (as long as camera is used merely to record? see below)

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of an opera:

Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti); Metropolitan Opera, New York

Main entry: Lucia di Lammermoor

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Macbeth

A film based on an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris; directed by Joseph Losey

Main entry: Don Giovanni

A straight through videorecording of a ballet:

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine); performed by the Royal Ballet

Main entry: The dying swan

An adaptation of a play for a film:

Polanski's Macbeth

Main entry: Macbeth (1971)

A videorecording of a film with an original screenplay:

Gone with the wind (dramatization of a novel)

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A screenplay written for a film:

Gone with the wind, script by Sidney Howard

Main entry: Sidney Howard

A music score written for a film:

Gone with the wind, music score by Max Steiner

Main entry: Max Steiner

A music video:

Michael Jackson's Bad, directed by Martin Scorsese

Main entry: Bad

Another related approach would be to ask the cataloger to distinguish between "mere recording" (e.g. filming a musical performance with a stationary camera) and recording which adds so substantially to the work that it becomes a new work (e.g. substantive cinematography and editing).

Pros and cons: This approach begs the question of the other functions besides recording that go into realizing a work intended for performance, such as directing, acting, production design and so forth. This approach would require cataloger judgement and that might lead to inconsistency in application. However, there is already a precedent in AACR2 in that most of the rules for works of mixed responsibility require cataloger judgement. In addition, this approach would require viewing of films and listening to sound recordings in order to make such judgements. This would increase the amount of time required to catalog items containing such works. Another potential problem is that sound recordings may often not be straight recordings of live performances; they may commonly consist of bits of several performances edited together.

A score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Main entry: Beethoven

A printed text of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth

Main entry: Shakespeare

An opera (score plus libretto):

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte)

Main entry: Mozart

A ballet (score plus Laban notation choreography):

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine)

Main entry: Saint-Saens

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris

Main entry: Mozart

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven (as long as camera is fairly stationary, and screenwriter, editor and cinematographer are not credited?)

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of an opera:

Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti); Metropolitan Opera, New York

Main entry: Donizetti (as long as camera is fairly stationary, and screenwriter, editor and cinematographer are not credited?)

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare (as long as camera is fairly stationary, and screenwriter, editor and cinematographer are not credited?)

A film based on an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris; directed by Joseph Losey

Main entry: Don Giovanni

A straight through videorecording of a ballet:

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine); performed by the Royal Ballet

Main entry: The dying swan

An adaptation of a play for a film:

Polanski's Macbeth

Main entry: Macbeth (1971)

A videorecording of a film with an original screenplay:

Gone with the wind (dramatization of a novel)

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A screenplay written for a film:

Gone with the wind, script by Sidney Howard

Main entry: Sidney Howard

A music score written for a film:

Gone with the wind, music score by Max Steiner

Main entry: Max Steiner

A music video:

Michael Jackson's Bad, directed by Martin Scorsese

Main entry: Bad

Another approach might be to ask whether a work intended for performance is essentially a work of single personal authorship, or essentially a work meant to be realized in a collaborative process. For example, some might argue that music in its purest form tends to be a work of single personal authorship, i.e. composed by a single composer, intended to be sound alone (with no visual component), and intended to be performed by a performer or performers who follow the instructions as exactly as possible, who almost act as translators of a text. On the other hand, some might argue that a dramatic work such as a play, a screenplay, a ballet or an opera is essentially a collaborative work; it cannot exist without many different artists practicing their crafts: composers, writers, directors, actors, singers, dancers, production designers, etc. It is interesting that musical works such as symphonies often have weak titles and cannot be identified without the use of the composer's name; in contrast, plays, films, ballets and operas tend to have fairly distinctive titles. The way people identify these kinds of works may be a clue as to the way they perceive them as works.

If dramatic works were to be considered to be inherently collaborative works, most usefully identified by title, this would allow the assignment of an identical main entry to all the various stages of realization of a work intended for performance, including the initial one. Another way to state this would be to say that this would allow all the stages in the production and distribution of the work to be represented to the user as parts of a single work, rather than as separate related works.

Pros and cons: One disadvantage to this approach is that it may fly in the face of the perception of the users of plays, who may perceive a play as being a work of literature with an author, as well as a work intended for performance. Another way to put this is to argue that a play can be realized as either text or performance.

Another disadvantage is that if all performances of a single dramatic work are considered to be the same work, the relationships that need to be demonstrated to particular manifestations of that work may be difficult to demonstrate under current cataloging practice. For example, if all performances of Macbeth throughout history are considered to be the same work, and are entered under a uniform title for Macbeth, how would one relate the CD of the score, the script, and the posters for a particular film of Macbeth to that film alone? Uniform title rules would probably need to become more complex, similar to current rules for the Bible.

A score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Main entry: Beethoven

A printed text of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth

Main entry: Macbeth

An opera (score plus libretto):

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte)

Main entry: Don Giovanni

A ballet (score plus Laban notation choreography):

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine)

Main entry: The dying swan

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Macbeth

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris

Main entry: Don Giovanni

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of an opera:

Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti); Metropolitan Opera, New York

Main entry: Lucia di Lammermoor

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Macbeth

A film based on an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris; directed by Joseph Losey

Main entry: Don Giovanni

A straight through videorecording of a ballet:

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine); performed by the Royal Ballet

Main entry: The dying swan

An adaptation of a play for a film:

Polanski's Macbeth

Main entry: Macbeth

A videorecording of a film with an original screenplay:

Gone with the wind (dramatization of a novel)

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A screenplay written for a film:

Gone with the wind, script by Sidney Howard

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A music score written for a film:

Gone with the wind, music score by Max Steiner

Main entry: Gone with the wind (Motion picture)

A music video:

Michael Jackson's Bad, directed by Martin Scorsese

Main entry: Bad

One possible approach might be to try to identify all the functions that could be carried out in realizing works intended for performance, and either place them in a list in priority order, or divide them into two lists, one for functions of primary responsibility and one for functions of subsidiary responsibility. Then it might be possible to develop rules for when a person principally responsible could be identified, and when one could not, so that (in the latter case) entry under title should be recommended.

Pros and cons: One suspects that the complexities of such an approach might rule it out as a practical solution. It would be extremely difficult to make an exhaustive list. There would have to be a different list for each medium of expression. The constant development of new media is constantly introducing new authorial functions. Those who have experience cataloging works of mixed responsibility will testify to the frequency with which statements of responsibility are ambiguous as to what function was carried out by the person credited.

This approach would also be overly rigid, given that in any given work the priorities might not hold; in the film field, for example, there are films that are widely considered to be writers' films, films that are considered to be directors' films and films that are considered to be actors' films. Also, while composition might be at the top of the priority list for a purely musical work, it could not be for a feature length motion picture with a music track. One Task Force member argues, "I would suggest that we cannot differentiate between kinds of performance SIMPLY by analyzing the nature of the performance functions. Rather, I would argue that we need to look at how performance realizes or modifies the work. For example, there seems to be a clear distinction between a film of a staged play, and a film adaptation of a play, and this distinction seems to me to lie in the extent to which the essential work has been preserved or modified."

Certainly, however, one of the key issues that arises in our examination of the current rules is why certain functions are considered to be primary and others secondary. For example, why does Schiller cease to be primarily responsible for his poem once Beethoven sets it to music? Clearly users are interested in both composers and performers of all kinds of music, not just popular music; the proof lies on the nearest Pavarotti album.

Examples cannot be cataloged without priority list being constructed.

A score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

A printed text of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth

An opera (score plus libretto):

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte)

A ballet (score plus Laban notation choreography):

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine)

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of an opera:

Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti); Metropolitan Opera, New York

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

A film based on an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris; directed by Joseph Losey

A straight through videorecording of a ballet:

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine); performed by the Royal Ballet

An adaptation of a play for a film:

Polanski's Macbeth

A videorecording of a film with an original screenplay:

Gone with the wind (dramatization of a novel)

A screenplay written for a film:

Gone with the wind, script by Sidney Howard

A music score written for a film:

Gone with the wind, music score by Max Steiner

A music video:

Michael Jackson's Bad, directed by Martin Scorsese

An approach related to approach 5 might be simply to assign primary authorship status to musical and textual composition, with music taking precedence over text, and with secondary status assigned to all other functions.

Pros and cons: This would have the effect of satisfying music and play users at the expense of film users.

A score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Main entry: Beethoven

A printed text of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth

Main entry: Shakespeare

An opera (score plus libretto):

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte)

Main entry: Mozart

A ballet (score plus Laban notation choreography):

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine)

Main entry: Saint-Saens

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare

A straight through sound recording of a live performance of an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris

Main entry: Mozart

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a score:

Beethoven's 5th Symphony, New York Philharmonic

Main entry: Beethoven

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of an opera:

Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti); Metropolitan Opera, New York

Main entry: Donizetti

A straight through videorecording of a live performance of a play:

Shakespeare's Macbeth; Royal Shakespeare Company

Main entry: Shakespeare

A film based on an opera:

Don Giovanni (Mozart and Da Ponte); Opera de Paris; directed by Joseph Losey

Main entry: Mozart

A straight through videorecording of a ballet:

The dying swan (Saint-Saens and Fokine); performed by the Royal Ballet

Main entry: Saint-Saens

An adaptation of a play for a film:

Polanski's Macbeth

Main entry: Shakespeare

A videorecording of a film with an original screenplay:

Gone with the wind (dramatization of a novel)

Main entry: Max Steiner

A screenplay written for a film:

Gone with the wind, script by Sidney Howard

Main entry: Sidney Howard

A music score written for a film:

Gone with the wind, music score by Max Steiner

Main entry: Max Steiner

A music video:

Michael Jackson's Bad, directed by Martin Scorsese

Main entry: Michael Jackson

Regarding making entry dependent on representation on the chief source of information, one Task Force member argues, "Choice of entry is an area where (unlike transcription) we should avoid submitting to the tyranny of the anonymous, usually VERY subordinate, and all-too-often incompetent creators of sources of information."

Subsequent to CCDA discussion of this document, Matthew Wise, the Music Library Association liaison to CCDA, prepared the following analysis of various types of improvisation:


In order to be absolutely thorough in my provision of examples, I've conducted a systematic study of the nature of musical improvisation, one which you may not have envisioned when you requested such examples in Washington. Nonetheless, I thought you might be interested in the process that I went through to categorize improvisational performances.

I began by conducting a survey of the musical literature, including articles about both Western historical and contemporary improvisational practices, and interviewed a few jazz performer-historians. My own background includes the study of "classical" performance practice and contemporary composition, notation, and performance techniques (both "uptown" and "downtown" styles). I then defined a set of four attributes common to an improvisational performance and constructed a matrix of sixteen categories emanating from those attributes.

The attributes were:

1. Did a work (or related work) exist prior to the performance?
2. Did the creator communicate a concept of the work to the performer(s)?
3. Did this communication include instructions to improvise?
4. Did the performer(s) improvise?

Definitions of the above concepts --

"Communicate the concept of the work"

I will use the phrase "communicate the concept of the work" throughout this study to mean any method by which the creator's intentions for the re-creation of a work were cognitively transmitted to the world. It is a concept parallel to the Task Force's phrase "instructions for performance". For example, in the "classical" music tradition the concept of a work is most frequently communicated by means of a manifestation (i.e. score). But for Western music in the oral tradition (e.g. folk music, popular music, jazz, etc.), such manifestations frequently do not exist. However, these works (or "standards") are nonetheless effectively communicated to performers through aural transmission.

[It has been pointed out to me that this definition relies upon my view of a "work" being separable from its first manifestation, a notion which may be in conflict with the Task Force's current view. It raises questions such as "When does the concept of a work begin and end?" and "Is the concept of a work stable during the creation of its first manifestation?" I think the assumption on both of our parts is that the first manifestation is always in alignment with the creator's "final" concept of the work. I, however, feel that the separation of these two ideas is important to the understanding of aurally/orally transmitted (un-manifested) works.]

"Instructions to improvise"

Throughout this study I will use the phrase "instructions to improvise" to mean the existence of notation in the score which defines the aspects of improvisation or to mean any other method by which such knowledge is transmitted to the performer (i.e. performance practice). In the "classical" music tradition this notation may include a fermata in a concerto at which point a cadenza is explicitly or traditionally implied, a contemporary score comprised of portions of staff notation intermixed with framed or graphical markings, or a score which is entirely diagrammatic (e.g. two transparent sheets of plastic with randomly scattered dots). Such "instructions" may also be inherent, yet "un-notated", in the performance style of a particular musical tradition, for example, ornamentation in Baroque music or melodic improvisation in jazz.

Having constructed the matrix of categories, I then reviewed and narrowed the possibilities to include only performances which were improvisational and which could exist in reality. For example, two of the categories represented performances for which works did not previously exist but for which a concept of the work was communicated to the performer(s) -- a null event. The result was the following three scenarios:

1. Yes, the work existed previously; Yes, it was communicated; Yes, it included instructions to improvise; and Yes, the performer(s) improvised.

2. Yes, the work existed previously; Yes, it was communicated; No, it did not include instructions to improvise; but Yes, the performer(s) improvised.

3. No, a work did not previously exist; but Yes, the performer(s) improvised.

5. Did this performance result in a new work?

Following are the sample performances.

Category A

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of a score which includes instructions to improvise:

Mozart's Piano concerto, K. 456; with cadenzas improvised by Robert Levin

Main entry: Mozart (same work)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of a score which includes instructions to improvise:

Telemann chamber music for various instruments; continuo realized at the harpsichord by Robert Veyron-Lacroix

Main entry: Telemann (same work)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of a score which includes instructions to improvise:

Earle Brown's Folio (graphic and diagrammatic notation); performed on the piano by David Arden

Main entry (following Rule 6.1G4): Brown (same work)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of a score for which authentic performance practice dictates improvisation:

Handel's Giulio Cesare; performed by various vocal soloists with Baroque ornamentation; Rene Jacobs conducting

Main entry: Handel (same work)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of an aurally-transmitted work for which authentic performance practice dictates improvisation:

Thelonious Monk's Round midnight; performed by the Herbie Hancock Quartet

Main entry (Rule 6.1G4): Monk (same work)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of an aurally-transmitted work for which authentic performance practice dictates improvisation:

Morgan Lewis' How high the moon; performed and adapted by Charlie Parker; renamed Ornithology

Main entry (Rule 6.1G4): Parker (new work)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of an aurally-transmitted work for which authentic performance practice dictates improvisation:

Charlie Parker's Ornithology; performed by Dizzy Gillespie

Main entry (Rule 6.1G4): Parker (same work)

Category B

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of a scored work which does not include instructions to improvise:

John Francis Wade's Adeste fideles; improvised organ variations by Pierre Cochereau

Main entry (Rule 6.1G4): Cochereau (new work)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of a scored work which does not include instructions to improvise:

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite; improvised upon by Duke Ellington and jazz orchestra; arranged by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

Main entry (Rule 6.1G4): Tchaikovsky? (same work?)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of a scored work which does not include instructions to improvise:

Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez; improvised upon by Miles Davis and jazz orchestra; arranged by Gil Evans

Main entry (Rule 6.1G4): Rodrigo? (same work?)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of a scored work which does not include instructions to improvise:

Rossini opera selections; improvised upon by the Mike Westbrook Sextet; arranged by Westbrook

Main entry: Rossini? (same work?)

Category C

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of free improvisation (no pre-existing work):

Organ improvisations by Jean Langlais

Main entry: Langlais (new work)

A straight-through sound recording of a live performance of free improvisation (no pre-existing work):

Solo guitar improvisations by Derek Bailey

Main entry: Bailey (new work)

General observations --

In looking over the examples, it soon became clear to me that the question we should be asking is not whether this performance resulted in a new work, but rather whether this performance was the result of an adaptation of the work. Let's put the horse back in front of the cart. Then we can ask the more specific question "Did the addition of improvisation into the concept of this work result in an adaptation?"

The examples in Category A are fairly straight-forward. Since the instructions to improvise existed in the concept of the original work, any performance which attempts to follow these instructions would be viewed by the music community as a "re-creation" of the original work, no matter the extent to which improvisation was included in the concept of that work by its creator (or the associated stylistic tradition). The "communicated concept of the work" was followed in each case by the performers, so the resulting manifestations are considered to be representations of the unadapted, pre-existing works.

[Parker's Ornithology was included only as an example of a work which has been "re-composed" (i.e. an adaptation of another work). It is a well-known example of a work which has been distinctly altered in musical concept beyond the mere addition of improvisational performance aspects. Note, for example, that an improvised performance upon Ornithology would not be considered a new work.]

But were the improvisations in Category A "authentic"?, an issue raised by the Task Force's phrase "instructions ... not closely followed". When are instructions to improvise not closely followed and how would this be determined if such instructions are inherently "un-detailed"? There has traditionally been quite a bit of latitude afforded in such determinations for musical works; and in fact, I was unable to find a significant example of this ever having happened (or having been perceived to have happened). One could theorize that a flock of chickens placed at a piano keyboard with Earle Brown's score in front of them would probably not closely follow the composer's instructions to improvise; but I don't believe that music librarians consider this to be an area of significant likelihood or concern. Performers have historically attempted to follow such instructions to the best of their abilities, with greater or lesser success. Yet to intentionally do otherwise, I believe, would not be an attribute of the performance, but rather of the "concept of the work". So again we must ask "Does the addition of improvisation into the concept of a work result in an adaptation?" -- now refer to Rule 21.18C and the AACR2 definition of Adaptation (Music).

Considering my necessarily broad definition of "instructions to improvise", I was unable to identify an example of a work whose concept had been adapted only through the addition of improvisation. Just as with the Parker example, the Cochereau variations in Category B are considered to be an adaptation because the original concept of the work has been "re-composed". Whether the variations were created "live" or composed over time on staff paper is irrelevant.

The difficulty in determining the main entries for the Tchaikovsky, Rodrigo, and Rossini works lies in the extent to which these works have been adapted, not solely in their inclusion of improvisation. Although the concept of each work contains an instruction to improvise which did not exist in the concept of the pre-existing work, does this inclusion constitute an alteration significant enough to judge these to be adapted works? Most music librarians would tend to lean toward judging them to be arrangements which merely include improvisation as a stylistic element. This "leaning" is represented in the last sentence of Rule 21.18C.

"In case of doubt about whether a work is an arrangement, etc., or an adaptation, treat it as an arrangement, etc. (see 21.18B)."

Also note that if any or all of these three works were judged to be adaptations, their main entries would be their "concept adaptors" (i.e. Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, and Mike Westbrook), not their "improvisers" (i.e. the Ellington Orchestra, Miles Davis, and the Westbrook Sextet). Here again is evidence that the addition of improvisation, in and of itself, does not alter the concept of a work.

Based upon that statement, I wonder whether the Task Force might consider removing the reference to improvisation in the paragraph in Section 3 beginning "If, however, the original instructions are not detailed and/or are not closely followed in the performance..." Aren't we really just trying to pin down a better definition of adaptation?

The performances in Category C are really not relevant to this discussion, since they are not related to any pre-existing work. They have no relationship to the "following of instructions" issue. They do, however, serve to illustrate a blur which often exists in the distinction between "instructions to improvise" (composition) and the improvisation itself (performance). Freely-improvised performances, unusual in their ability to flow unimpeded from concept to phenomenon, are curious examples of the simultaneous creation of a work and its manifestation. But then, one must ask, when does the concept of a work begin?

On that note, I'll leave you to mull all of this over. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance (or bewilderment, as the case may be).

Matthew W. Wise

Comment from Martha Yee, Chair of the Task Force:

Obviously Matthew's analysis strikes a serious blow to our current recommendation, based as it is on "detailed instructions closely followed." His analysis was shown to the members of the Task Force, and elicited the following two comments:

We cannot be too strict about instructions being detailed. Matthew clearly demonstrates that normally, arrangements/adaptations should be entered under the original composer (I avoid the use of the word "work"). I agree 100% that it is the degree of improvisation that tips the balance and I am not sure that we can regulate that for a cataloguer except by example. 21.18B and C are helpful here--we are trying to clarify when an arrangement (improvisation?) becomes an adaptation.

Ralph Manning