The thematic catalogue of Giuseppe Tartini's works, compiled as part of the interreg "tARTini" project, is currently the most updated and comprehensive tool for understanding the musical output of the Piranese composer. Since 1935, starting with the catalogue of concertos by the Greek musicologist Minos Dounias, several thematic catalogues have been drafted, focusing on partial aspects of Tartini's musical production. However, none of these have considered his entire body of work.

As is well known, Giuseppe Tartini was born in Piran in 1692 and moved to Padua around 1708. Excluding the 1710s, which he spent in Umbria, Marche, and Veneto, and a brief period from 1723 to 1726 in Prague, Tartini lived and worked in Padua until his death in 1770. Over more than fifty years, he was active as a composer, first violin and concertmaster at the Musical Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, violin and counterpoint teacher, and music theorist.

His musical production, which has come down to us through manuscripts and prints of the time, is quite substantial: there are more than 160 concertos for violin, cello, flute, and strings; about 190 sonatas for solo violin or violin and bass; duets for two violins or two violas, trio sonatas, and quartets. Additionally, there are some vocal compositions, both liturgical and paraliturgical.

This thematic catalogue, started in May 2018, revises, updates, and integrates the catalogues of concertos, sonatas, and trio sonatas compiled so far. Furthermore, it includes compositions that have only been partially explored, such as quartet sonatas and vocal music.

Three individuals were particularly involved in the creation of the catalogue: Guido Viverit, responsible for the structure of the catalogue, retrieval, processing, and partial data entry of works into the MerMEId software; Alba Luksich for data management and entry; and Simone Olivari for transcribing and entering musical incipits.

The data in the catalogue are based on direct consultation of some sources held in archives and libraries; the main repertoires that bring together European and North American musical sources, particularly the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales A/I (prints) and A/II (manuscripts); catalogues from numerous libraries; theses, doctoral dissertations, and musicological publications that have studied Tartini's compositions. Essential tools included the concert catalogues by Minos Dounias in 1935 and Margherita Canale in 2010, the trio sonatas catalogue, and the solo violin sonatas or violin and bass by American musicologist Paul Brainard, published respectively in 1969 and 1975.

The structure of the catalogue and the organization of compositions within it have been influenced by some characteristics that distinguish Tartini's work tradition.

The first characteristic is the wide dissemination of manuscript sources, now preserved in numerous libraries in Europe and North America, particularly in Padua, Ancona, Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Stockholm, and Berkeley (California). This dissemination is due to several factors. In some cases, these are manuscripts owned by Tartini's students, who, as is known, came to Padua from all over Europe between 1727 and 1770 to perfect their violin practice and counterpoint. In other cases, the dissemination reflects significant historical events, such as the collection that moved from Padua to Paris following the French invasion in 1797. Lastly, some collections were acquired by major libraries in recent times, the most notable example being the manuscripts, probably from Padua, acquired by the University of Berkeley Library in 1958.

Another distinctive feature of Tartini's source tradition is the almost total absence of indications clarifying the purpose or, especially, the dating of the works. Printed sources do not help in this regard, as only a small part of Tartini's compositions were published. This situation implies not only difficulty in understanding the internal stylistic evolution of the "Master of Nations" production but also the impossibility of using the chronology of works as an ordering criterion for the catalogue.

Finally, the state of the sources has often made it difficult to unequivocally identify the definitive version of many of Tartini's works. It is not uncommon to encounter revisions of the same work, including different movements or arrangements. Authorized editions, such as two collections of twelve sonatas each, provide some assistance: Op. I, published in Amsterdam in 1734 by Dutch publisher Michel-Charles Le Cène, and Op. II, published in Rome in 1745 by engraver Antonio Cleton. However, the level of authorization for the collections of concertos Op. I, book 1, 2, and 3 published by Le Cène between 1728 and 1730 is uncertain.

As mentioned, these peculiarities influenced the choice of the catalogue's structure. The compositions are not ordered by date, as the absence of indications in the sources does not allow for chronological ordering. The ordering hypothesis proposed by Margherita Canale in her doctoral thesis on violin concertos was used, with some modifications. Thus, the compositions are ordered by form and then by key, with numbering starting from 1 for each tonal group. This system allows for new compositions to be added later without needing a comprehensive renumbering.

The adopted code is alphanumeric and consists of the following elements: GT (Giuseppe Tartini), a digit indicating the form (1. concerto, 2. sonata, 3. duet, 4. trio sonata, 5. quartet, 6. vocal music), a separation point, the key, and a progressive number. For example, the code GT 1.C01 identifies the concerto in C major number 01.

The general structure of the catalogue is as follows:

GT 1. Concertos for solo instrument (violin / cello / flute and strings)

GT 2. Sonatas for solo or accompanied instrument (violin / flute and continuo)

GT 3. Duets (for two violins or two violas)

GT 4. Trio sonatas (for two violins and continuo)

GT 5. Quartets (for two violins, viola, and continuo)

GT 6. Vocal music

The catalogue also includes compositions with dubious attributions, as there are not enough studies that have addressed this issue to date. When the attribution appears uncertain or unreliable, it is noted in the work's record.

Additionally, when possible, links to catalogues (particularly OPAC of the National Library Service and the catalogue of the Bibliothèque nationale de France) and databases (RISM A/I and RISM A/II) that describe Tartini's sources have been included. Finally, links to digitized sources provided by some of the main Italian, French, German, and Swedish libraries have been added where available.