BWV

: This article is about the catalogue system of Johann Sebastian Bach's musical works. BWV is also the SIL code for the language Bahau River Kenyah spoken in Borneo.

A thematical catalogue

Unlike chronologically arranged catalogues for other classical composers, Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's works is arranged by type of work, which is called a thematical catalogue: choral works come first, then works for organ, then other keyboard works, and so on. For this reason, a low BWV number does not necessarily indicate an early work.

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Why Schmieder chose this thematical arrangement instead of a chronological is due to several reasons, of which probably the two most important were:

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• Many of Bach's works have an uncertain composition date. Even if a date is written on the score, this can mean no more than the date it was copied, re-arranged, etc... Nonetheless, since Schmieder's original publication of the BWV catalogue, scholars have established many more "probable" and "certain" composition dates than was imaginable in the 1950s (see below).
• The Bach Gesellschaft had been publishing Bach's works since 1851; these existing publications had grouped Bach's works by genre (or musical form), so listing according to this established practice was less confusing.