IMSLP Forums

Since we already have templates for librettists, arrangers, and editors, would it also be useful to have a template for dedicated works? This would be useful in that it would point users to works which could be similar in style or period to the person in question. Just putting this out there...

I'm sure that I brought this up at some point; agreed.

Hi everyone.

I think this is a very good idea in principle. I agree that it would finalize the {{Link}} templates and also make IMSLP much more comprehensive; although in practice, I'm not sure it would work too well. I don't know much about librarianship, so my thoughts right now may not hold too much ground. There are a few standardization problems, I think, that are inherint in this type of effort:

1. It might be difficult to standardize the form of the name. Many of you may rightfully disagree with me, but I think that the dedication should be what the composer wrote on the score. There are two problems that arise with the form of the name alone:

a. The form of the name sometimes changes from composer to composer and even piece to piece. Some will dedicate a work to "Smith", while others may dedicate it to "Angela Smith" or "Angela K. Smith".
b. Composers of different nationalities use different diacritics to refer to the same person.

I think that linking dedications might also strip the original and sentamental message of the composer. While we do link editors, arrangers, librettists, and translators, I think we should keep in mind that these are simply names without any attatched meaning other than authorship. They do not represent a greater picture.

2. Sometimes different composers will simply dedicate a piece to someone by his last name (e.g. "Lockhart"). We do not always, however, know the full name of the person. In cases like this, how will be possibly disambiguate the two peope?

I think that there is such a thing as over standardization, and I'm not wholeheartidly convinced this is worth the effort. Although I will probably be strongly disagreed with on this, is searching by dedication really a useful feature?

Respectfully yours,

Emery

I agree that it might be easy to lose the spirit or sentimental aspect of the dedication, but that wouldn't be lost. We could easily do a more-or-less diplomatic transcription of the dedication and for the name only add the LinkDed template. And for non-standard names, we could easily apply the template to our "standardized" name for the user category while still retaining the visual appearance. I think this template has the most use when works are dedicated to other musicians such as composers, for example. It would be pointless to apply a template to a monarch who otherwise does not exist on the site or at all in a musical capacity.

Example: A mes chers amis Mr. et Mme [[{{LinkDed|Lucien|Garban}}|L. Garban]], de Bordeaux / En mémoire de leur cher petit Donald.

The above is an exact transcription of a dedication (including line break) and retains the original wording while providing a link to the person in question.

I realize that some of Emery's points are valid, but on the other hand, I've been itching for a long time to get a comprehensive list of works dedicated to Richard Muhlfeld, the clarinettist who inspired Brahms. (Drool, drool, drool)

I'm not sure the reservations are enough to scupper the whole idea. Let's try to work through them rather so we can get the lists .

Hmm. The purpose of the {{LinkArr}}, {{LinkEd}} and {{LinkTr}} is to create sub-sections on the main category page for the person concerned, where these are listed together with any compositions of their own. Would we want {{LinkDed}} to work in the same way, with a heading for "Works dedicated to xxx"?

To be honest I have serious reservations about this, since the category page has the clear purpose of listing works to which the person has contributed, and that would become a little fuzzy if lots of other works were listed, some of which could date from centuries after the person's death. And wouldn't it be tempting for aspiring new composers to upload their brand new compositions with copious dedications to Beethoven, J S Bach, Mozart, Schubert, etc., so they would be prominently listed on the category pages for these famous old masters?

If the dedicatee already has their own category. I currently use the "{{LinkName}}" template for dedications, Since many dedicatees are friends and family members of the composers, and often not even musicians, they wouldn't ordinarily qualify for category pages on IMSLP in their own right. And as Emery has pointed out, identifying the person meant by "To my dear Sasha", etc., wouldn't always be easy, not to mention the works dedicated to institutions or places that would be difficult to handle.

If we make sure that names of dedicatees are written in full (maybe in addition whatever affectionate tributes are written on the score) then these should at least come up using the search button, and the "What Links Here" facility will find anyone referenced by {{LinkName}} who already has their own person category. There are a huge number of librettists, arrangers, translators and editors whose names have still to be linked, so there's still plenty to be getting on with...

Hi Davydov

Would we want {{LinkDed}} to work in the same way, with a heading for "Works dedicated to xxx"?

Probably not, for the reasons you mentioned. It would be impractical to have a jumble of works flood a category primarily meant for composers' works.

You bring up some good points, and I don't know if I have solutions for all of them. If we could make this feasible, it would be a unique feature and something that could potentially be useful for others as well as myself. I know of no resources which catalog dedications of musical compositions. But regardless, as you said, we have plenty to be getting on with.

I like the idea of perhaps using LinkName, but it would be nice to have these linked around—for example, Chopin dedicated Op. 10 to Liszt and Op. 38 to Schumann, Liszt dedicated the transcendental etudes to Clara Schumann and the B Minor sonata to Robert, and Schumann dedicated the Op. 17 to Liszt

I actually agree with Davydov and Emery. Probably not worth the effort, and it would be difficult to standardize.

@ Emery - you're an administrator and this is your first forum post??? I think that's unprecedented