# Which do you listen to first



## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Just had this discussion on Twitter. When listening to a box set for the first time, which piece of music do you listen to first. Do you start beginning to end or end to beginning or any other order.

I go for the one I know the most first, then the next until I get to the less familiar ones.


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## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

When I purchase a box set, it is usually because some particular piece caught my attention, or was particularly well described in a review. So I usually listen to that first.

I purchased a box set of the Beethoven string quartets, Tekacs Quartet. I am listening to the Great Courses series on the Beethoven quartets and so I am listening in the order they are covered in the courses.


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## agoukass (Dec 1, 2008)

When I buy a boxed set, it’s usually because there are some things there that I cannot find anywhere else and so I listen to them first. If I am familiar with the performer or the composer, then I go for the things that I am not familiar with and listen to those first. When I received my boxed set of Martha Argerich’s complete recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, I listened to her recording of the Schumann violin sonatas with Gidon Kremer since I had never listened to them before.

If a boxed set is chronological, I start at the very beginning and work my way through to see how the artist or the composer develops over time. With artists like Cortot and Ciccolini that have made over forty years’ worth of recordings, it’s also interesting to see how the recording techniques change over time as well. 

To be perfectly honest, there is no right or wrong way to listen to a boxed set. Just dig in and enjoy!


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Since I listen to boxed sets on Spotify, I will start at the end and work backwards. I want to choose when to continue to the next piece, not have the computer do it automatically.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Judith said:


> Just had this discussion on Twitter. When listening to a box set for the first time, which piece of music do you listen to first. Do you start beginning to end or end to beginning or any other order.
> 
> I go for the one I know the most first, then the next until I get to the less familiar ones.


I go the other way around or in some cases if it's having "unique" material in them that goes first.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

From first to last. Always.


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

I only ever buy box sets which feature just the one composer but whatever the contents I always play a new box set in disc order first, just to make sure that there are no glitches or any damage to the discs themselves.  Thereafter if the works themselves aren't presented with any kind of chronological sequence I tend to play oldest to last unless it involves too much swapping between discs. This is easy to do with, for example, symphonic or string quartet cycles, maybe not so if the set features a plethora of shorter miscellaneous works, but whatever the contents I try to plot a chronological course wherever possible in order to gain some kind of overview of a composer's timeline.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I'm a very logical person.

Whenever I get a box set, I start with the first CD and work myself in successive order.

Expecting a 7 CD set of Schumann solo piano works played by Claudio Arrau, so I will be able to practice my "technique" very soon again.


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