Music Cataloguing - I'm confused.

[maestro57]

Can someone please explain to me:

1) How come Mozart's first works are letters rather than just all numbers (and not just his first works but others along the way too)? K. 1 has a, b, c, d, e, f. But instead of a, b, c, d, e, f, why not just K 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6? This maybe has something to do with the Koechel 1 system versus the newly-revised Koechel 6 system? I don't understand.

2) How come Beethoven's work is mainly catagorized by Opus but some are "H"? Why couldn't the "H" ones be Opuses too?

Oh sigh.

Thanks!

PS: I tried googling this and reading Wikipedia, but it was all still confusing and unclear. Clearly, I'm not that bright.

[sasuke_10]

Mozart's K1a-f are his first pieces which are included in Nannerl's Music Book and this is how I explain the a, b, c, d, e, f instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. About Beethoven, "H" is a catalagoue by the violonist Willy Hess for Beethoven's works, while the opus numbers are what Beethoven gave to his works. Many composers - Chopin, Grieg, Schumann, - used opus numbers.