# Box sets you wish existed



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

For those of you who strive to be completists like me  box sets of complete such and such works are life savers. There aren't box sets for everything though, so which do you wish existed that don't? Personally, I think it would be awesomely epic if someone recorded a complete set of all 69 or whatever of Hovhannes' Symphonies.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

It would be cool if all of the symphonies so far of Per Norgard and Kalevi Aho were released in box sets.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

World Violist said:


> It would be cool if all of the symphonies so far of Per Norgard and Kalevi Aho were released in box sets.


Per Norgard was such an interesting composer! I have never heard his symphonies (I really want to) but i have all his string quartets so far and I love them, especially 4 and 5, amazing experiments!


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

The Complete Box Set of Classical Music with famous recordings of every classical piece ever written.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

violadude said:


> Per Norgard was such an interesting composer! I have never heard his symphonies (I really want to) but i have all his string quartets so far and I love them, especially 4 and 5, amazing experiments!


Yeah, his string quartets are amazing. He's still alive and composing; I got to meet him this past winter. It's what got me to listen to his music.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Ravellian said:


> The Complete Box Set of Classical Music with famous recordings of every classical piece ever written.


haha, that would certainly solve all of our problems wouldn't it.
How much do you think that would cost though O.O and how would anyone even ship that to your house??


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

violadude said:


> haha, that would certainly solve all of our problems wouldn't it.
> How much do you think that would cost though O.O and how would anyone even ship that to your house??


In installments of 100 CDs each. It keeps you listening until the next one arrives the next month. How's that for a lifetime guarantee?


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## Sofronitsky (Jun 12, 2011)

I wish someone would release a box set of the Beethoven symphonies :/


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Sofronitsky said:


> I wish someone would release a box set of the Beethoven symphonies :/


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...phonies&sprefix=beethoven+complete+symphonies

Your wish is granted


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## beethovenian (May 2, 2011)

violadude said:


> Your wish is granted


How about a wish for all the 35 Beethoven piano sonatas box set?:lol:


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Did they find new Beethoven sonatas? As far as I know he only wrote 32.


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## Stasou (Apr 23, 2011)

I wish there were more Shostakovich symphony box sets. As it is, there are really only the sets by Jansons, Haitink, Barshai, and Rostropovich. It just seems to me that there could be much more competition as none of these sets are better than sets that can be pieced together using individual recordings.


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## beethovenian (May 2, 2011)

violadude said:


> Did they find new Beethoven sonatas? As far as I know he only wrote 32.


Barry Cooper made a new addition for ABRSM publishing which include another 3 very early sonatas if i remembered right.


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## beethovenian (May 2, 2011)

Stasou said:


> I wish there were more Shostakovich symphony box sets. As it is, there are really only the sets by Jansons, Haitink, Barshai, and Rostropovich. It just seems to me that there could be much more competition as none of these sets are better than sets that can be pieced together using individual recordings.


How about the complete symphonies set by his own son, Maxim Shostakovich? Its available on supraphon.


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## Stasou (Apr 23, 2011)

Whoa! Thanks for that.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

The Complete Earl Wild Recordings (for under $300!!)


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

World Violist said:


> In installments of 100 CDs each. It keeps you listening until the next one arrives the next month. How's that for a lifetime guarantee?


Don't laugh, this appears to be the ultimate goal of Brilliant Classics.

The have box sets of the complete works of Bach (157 CDs), Beethoven (85 CDs), Mozart (170 CDs), Rachmaninoff (28CDs), and Chopin (17 CDs), and the damn-near complete works of Haydn (150 CDs), Vivaldi (40 CDs), Handel (40 CDs), and Liszt (30 CDs).


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I wish Hyperion would box up all the chamber works of Robert Simpson that were recorded on that label (although I gather the project of recording all of Simpson's chamber works remained unfinished by the time of Simpson's death) - they did it for his symphonies so it would be nice to see this as an accompanying set.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

elgars ghost said:


> I wish Hyperion would box up all the chamber works of Robert Simpson that were recorded on that label (although I gather the project of recording all of Simpson's chamber works remained unfinished by the time of Simpson's death) - they did it for his symphonies so it would be nice to see this as an accompanying set.


I have that set. I haven't listened to Simpson's symphonies carefully enough to get them, but they seem promising.  Which ones are your favorites. Just from the shallow listen I gave them I would say I like 5 the best, or 3 or even 4. 
Also, I haven't heard any of the string quartets, are they like the symphonies?


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Krenek chamber and orchestral.


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

I wish there existed Boccherini's box set of string quartet exclusively ("only" 91 according to wiki). I know a boxset of Venezia SQ doing it along with other Italian composers, but it is not complete. He has a Guitar Quintet set already. Another composer are Vanhal (70+ SQ), Cambini (149), Hoffmeister (50+). Of course they did to discovered it first....I think.

I glad there are complete set of Tartini VC, but hopefully a Viotti VC as well. 

I really mean it for those.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

violadude said:


> Did they find new Beethoven sonatas? As far as I know he only wrote 32.


No, Beethoven actually wrote 38 piano sonatas/sonatinas. Four early sonatas and two sonatinas were not published in Beethoven's lifetime and are little known. They are:

Sonatina in G major, Anh 5 No 1
Sonatina in F major, Anh 5 No 2
Sonata in E flat, WoO 47 No 1
Sonata in F minor, WoO 47 No 2
Sonata in D major, WoO 47 No 3
Sonata in C major, WoO 51 (two movements only exist)

The same with Mozart. Although there are 41 numbered symphonies, he actually wrote around 55. And the first four piano concertos are not original works, only transcriptions of sonatas by other composers (Raupach, Schobert, Eckard and Honauer). The first original Mozart piano concerto is the one we know as No 5, K 175.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

violadude said:


> I have that set. I haven't listened to Simpson's symphonies carefully enough to get them, but they seem promising.  Which ones are your favorites. Just from the shallow listen I gave them I would say I like 5 the best, or 3 or even 4.
> Also, I haven't heard any of the string quartets, are they like the symphonies?


I would argue that Robert Simpson's 5th Symphony is one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century.


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## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

I would like to have a complete box set of Haydn symphonies performed on period instruments. The two projects were both canceled. I would like a _bargain_ priced complete box set of Schubert lieder, instead of just the expensive hyperion one.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

Stasou said:


> I wish there were more Shostakovich symphony box sets. As it is, there are really only the sets by Jansons, Haitink, Barshai, and Rostropovich. It just seems to me that there could be much more competition as none of these sets are better than sets that can be pieced together using individual recordings.


What about the famous set conducted by Kondrashin? Or the Rozhdestvensky set?


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

World Violist said:


> It would be cool if all of the symphonies so far of Per Norgard and Kalevi Aho were released in box sets.


Sadly (and puzzlingly), Aho's 6th Symphony hasn't even been recorded yet.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Delicious Manager said:


> Sadly (and puzzlingly), Aho's 6th Symphony hasn't even been recorded yet.


I've noticed that; apparently it's even more difficult than his other symphonies (which I personally find alternately difficult and easy to believe). However, Robert van Bahr is committed to putting all of them on disc, so it's only a matter of time.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

World Violist said:


> I've noticed that; apparently it's even more difficult than his other symphonies (which I personally find alternately difficult and easy to believe). However, Robert van Bahr is committed to putting all of them on disc, so it's only a matter of time.


Well, I hope he hurries up; my Aho collection is exasperatingly incomplete without it (yes, I'm an obsessive completist!)


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

I haven't yet found a Rossini boxed set. There are some reasonable Verdi ones and a really great Puccini one, but no Rossini. Or Donizetti, for that matter. 

I am also slightly frustrated that a lot of boxed set are generally for completists and there is no middle ground between these and awful 'best of' sets that miss out movements of important pieces or have a lot of bad recordings among them. There are very few boxed sets of, say, 10-20 discs of the composers most famous works. For someone who is familiarising themselves with the repertoire, it can be annoying to have to buy everything seperately. As much as I enjoy his music, the Bach one is about 125+ discs fewer than I actually need or probably want (or have time to listen to!). 

Of course, that is how the record companies make money. 

Oh, a Saint-saens one too would be nice.

EDIT: I might add that I only have been searching on Amazon and this is more of a plea for folks to help me out on any options there might be available.


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

violadude said:


> haha, that would certainly solve all of our problems wouldn't it.
> How much do you think that would cost though O.O and how would anyone even ship that to your house??


Well, they managed to stuff all of Mozart's works into one tiny box. I'm sure it's possible..


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

You know now that I've been looking around, there is no complete and comprehensive set of Hugo Wolf's lieder.  How is that possible? He is one of the most important lieder composers if not the second most important after Schubert.


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## Noak (Jul 18, 2009)

I don't know. There are box-sets I wish existed in my home, in my music library. Like The Ten Symphonies of Alfred Schnittke or The Complete Symphonies of Allan Pettersson.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

violadude said:


> I have that set. I haven't listened to Simpson's symphonies carefully enough to get them, but they seem promising.  Which ones are your favorites. Just from the shallow listen I gave them I would say I like 5 the best, or 3 or even 4.
> Also, I haven't heard any of the string quartets, are they like the symphonies?


Violadude -sorry for my late replay.

Although I like them all I'd have to say my favourite Simpson symphony is the 9th - it doesn't so much proceed as logically unfurl towards that shattering climax and then, to cap it all off, an almost cosmically soothing coda. A longish work but it doesn't waste a single note in my opinion. As for the quartets, I've only heard three of them (1, 4 and 12 along with his string quintet no. 1), all of which I like but I have not assimilated them sufficiently to have a favourite. Assuming the others are in similar vein (apart from possibly the 9th which is a palindromic variations and fugue work based on a Haydn minuet from, I think, one of his symphonies) I could imagine the whole cycle complimenting his symphonies in the same way that DSCH's seemed to do.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

violadude said:


> I have that set. I haven't listened to Simpson's symphonies carefully enough to get them, but they seem promising.  Which ones are your favorites. Just from the shallow listen I gave them I would say I like 5 the best, or 3 or even 4.
> Also, I haven't heard any of the string quartets, are they like the symphonies?


I would have to agree with elgars ghost regarding the Robert Simpson string quartets. I have the whole set, plus the other trios, quartets and quintets which were included on the string quartet CDs. Simpson's quartets complement his symphonies rather in the way that Shostakovich's or Holmboe's quartets complemented THEIR symphonies. On the whole, the quartets are more private works than the symphonies. Also like the symphonies, they present a surprisingly even and homogeneous body of music - I couldn't pick a 'weak' piece among them. Neither would I attempt to choose a 'favourite'.

For me, Robert Simpson was one of the most important composers of the 20th century and had a staggering grasp on the balance of form and musical material. Get the lot!


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## Pieck (Jan 12, 2011)

I think Debussy's complete vocal music would be nice.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

The best recordings of all my favorite pieces that I haven't heard yet. (The pieces, not the recordings. (Which is always a challenge anyway.)) Now, _that_ would *really* be nice! (Although I wouldn't expect this box set to resemble a box in shape. More like a pancake at best.)


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