Loading…
Loading…
A cataloging number assigned to a composer's works, usually in order of publication. Abbreviated Op.
Abbreviations: Op.
Opus numbers are assigned by publishers, not necessarily reflecting the order of composition. Some composers (Dvořák, Schubert) have wildly out-of-order opus numbers. Later catalog systems (K. for Mozart, D. for Schubert) provide more accurate chronological ordering; BWV for Bach is arranged by genre, not by date.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 is Op. 67 — published as his 67th work, though he composed many works simultaneously and earlier compositions have higher opus numbers.
Opus is one of 1760 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
Browse the full dictionary →