I'm just a lowly classical music lover, not a pianist.?

Question

But what do the designations "Op" and "No." mean in classical music? Ex: Chopin's Nocturne Op. 35, No. 1) Who assigned those designations? Also, what are Movements 1, 2 and 3?

Answer 1

"Opus" is a designation of publication. As noted by others, the translation is "work," but it's usually used to show a catalog and chronology of a composer's work. The first thing that was published is the author's first "Opus." (Sometimes there are gaps or renumberings because new works are discovered or old works are published later, but you get the idea.)

"No." is an abbreviation for "number." So, when a number of pieces are published together (in one "opus") they are numbered individually. For example, a book of piano pieces (like Chopin Nocturnes) would be published together, in one work (Opus 35). Individual pieces within that work are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc.

Generally, since the advent of publishing, the _publisher_ and/or a consensus of music historians assign those numbers. However, there have been some music historians who have sought to catalogue all of the works of particular composers. Those include the Kochel numbers for Mozart and the BVW numbers for JS Bach (the two most common "non opus" numbering systems). More info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_number

Movements are divisions of longer works. They are essentially sub-pieces inside larger pieces. Symphonies traditionally have 4 movements, but may have fewer (such as the Saint-Saens Organ symphony, which really only has two) or have more (such as some of Mahler's symphonies which have five or more). Depending upon the musical period you're listening to, each movement of whatever it is may have a very precise, definite form (like Mozart and Beethoven symphonies) or may just be a way of breaking up the work (like later symphonies).

They are a way of creating constrasting pieces in a musical work to aid the listener and give a short break. They're sort of like chapters in a book-- the chapter may stand alone, but it usually has to be understood in context of the whole work.

Answer 2

"Opus " rough translation is "work" -- it is used as a means of designating the chronology of works. So Opus 35 # 3 would mean the 3rd work within the group designated as the complete Opus 35, which would be the group of works he wrote after opus 34, usually (not always). Just a means of identifying pieces. Mozart, for instance, did not use any system -- a musicologist named Koechel later cataloged his works. Means just about the same thing.

Answer 3

Opus Number Classical music is made up of movements, therefore Movement 1, etc. So, per your question, that would be Chopin's Nocturne Opus 35 Number 1.

Answer 4

A classical musicians compositions are usually organised into bodies of work referred to as as Opuses(which is the latin word for ''work''), numbered in chronological order according to their dates of publication.

Each body of work, or Opus, would usually contain several pieces which are numbered in ascending order.
Because classical music compositions are rarely given song ''titles'', the works are usually referred to by their Opus number and the order they appear within that Opus.

Answer 5

OK all the above, but let's make things more complicated with an example:
L. v. Beethoven - Sonata no. 19 for piano - in G minor - op. 49 - no. 1

That is:
Author - Number of the sonata in the sequence of all the 32 sonatas B. wrote for piano - beginning tonality of the 1st movement - opus (work-lot) referred to the lot of works usually published together - number of work in the lot.
Rest assured that the following one is L.v.B.-Sonata no.20 for piano in A major op. 49 no.2.

Some composers had a single cataloging hand (K.oechel for Mozart, Hob.oken for Haydn, K.irkpatrick for D. Scarlatti, etc.); others, like Beethoven, were cataloged by different people, but at a point the catalogue was fully consolidated and generally accepted.

Answer 6

As far as I can remember, "Op" stands for "Opus", Latin for 'work'. "No." stands for 'number', same as in English. Can't help with movements 1, 2 and 3 though, sorry; in larger works they tend to be descriptive phrases (allegro con brio, etc) but this changes depending on the work.