In the field of classical music we have had, for a long time, Barlow
and Morgenstern's "A Dictionary of Musical Themes" (1st ed., 1948),
divided into three parts:
1. Musical themes in alphabetical order (beginning with Adolphe Adam's
opera, "The Nuremberg Doll, Act I, Scene I" = A1);
2. Index of titles (beginning with "Abduction from the Seraglio"
overture = M593);
and finally, the
3. Notation index, in which thousands of themes are listed in
alphabetical order, first being transposed to C major (or A minor),
beginning with
A A A A A A A A = S 1554, which is the 2nd theme of "Le Tour de
Passe-Passe" by Stravinsky,
and
A A A A A A A G = I 125, which means 2nd theme of "Danube Waves
Waltz" by Ivanovici.
Note that the alphabet begins with letter A, _not_ note C!
Best regards
Christofer Noering
Stockholm, Sweden
[ The book by Barlow and Morgenstern indexes only classical melodies,
[ without time durations; however, it is readily available and the
[ theme index could easily be converted into a computer data base.
[ -- Robbie
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