# I might just have TOO much music



## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I'm a huge music fan...not just classical, but many kinds. I'll become obsessed with a genre for awhile and do a lot of collecting. I've been very heavily collecting classical for six or seven months. Including one 12 CD boxed set, one 16 CD boxed set, as well as about five of the "99 Essential" digital albums off of Amazon.

Now faced with all this music, I'm a touch overwhelmed. I've realized it's going to take a good 3-4 years of listening to REALLY get to know all of the music I've acquired recently...


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

I was like that when I first got into CM - I had this feeling that I had to make up for lost time and went through a fast-track policy when it came to collecting basic repertoire. I didn't really go down the big box set route to begin with (apart from Solti's Ring Cycle, Barenboim's Mozart piano concertos and Haitink's Shostakovich symphonies) but initially I was spending about £40+ a week on average and then kind of 'plateau'd out' after about a year to about half that amount. The obvious advantage in your case is that you have a lot of listening pleasure ahead with what you've already got - you have the rest of your life to listen to it all and don't feel guilty or intimidated just because an expensive investment sits on your shelf untouched for a month! You say it's going to take about 3-4 years to really get to know the music - I'd say that's a nice problem to have as it's better than consciously overplaying it all and maybe getting jaded too soon.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

No such thing


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I think I'm like you; I get caught up in the thrill of discovery. But I've found there's an even greater thrill in getting familiar with those pieces that you really like. 

The Classical genre is so deep that you have an entire lifetime to live with these pieces. There are some pieces which don't ring with you now which will suddenly make sense after you've become a little older. 

I'm reminded of the time I was in Washington, DC, at the National Gallery of Art and trying to see the whole thing in one day. I was hurrying from one piece to the next thinking, "Oh, wow, Monet," then, "Oh, wow, Raphael." Then I stumbled on a docent explaining Jacques-Louis David's portrait of Napoleon. She said, "Everyone, stop and look at this for 60 seconds, then tell me what you see." When I concentrated without distraction, I noticed his 5:00 shadow, the desk with papers, the late hour on the clock, and I realized he had just come from an official function and was now burning the midnight oil on affairs of state. David was portraying him as the ultimate statesman; that's why the painting is so famous. 

So there's benefits to both approaches, speeding through the repertoire to get familiar with it in general and also picking out one piece for concentrated listening. 

So I guess my thoughts are, just relax and enjoy yourself. If it takes you 3 years or 30, it's all good.


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Quality over quantity. It's easy to buy or download a pile of music and feel worldly, it's a little harder to meditate on one piece of art and really start to love/understand it in a deeper way.


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## Iforgotmypassword (May 16, 2011)

regressivetransphobe said:


> Quality over quantity. It's easy to buy or download a pile of music and feel worldly, it's a little harder to meditate on one piece of art and really start to love/understand it in a deeper way.


Exactly. I've found myself struggling with this lately as well. I love music and have diverse tastes, but I'm catching myself listening to everything causally, flippantly perusing through hundreds of songs or albums within a week, but never taking the time to sit down, isolate my mind from distraction and really experience the music.

I'd say this is a serious problem because I'm beginning to desensitize myself to music in general as I scan through these massive libraries of sonic art as if I were flipping through a picture book and THAT is a great tragedy and disservice to the artists who poured themselves into that medium.

I'm glad this thread was created though, I feel like it's helpful to admit this to others so that I can move on haha it's like music amassers anonymous.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

I spend a lot of time isolating myself and listening to music intently. I feel like it is all I do with my free time. I don't feel like I am doing the music disservice, especially since I'll relisten to something over and over again when I get it for the most part.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

Just think of it as a library which allows you to explore whatever you want to. Let go of your need to hear it all. But, if your exploration is guided and structured you'll find it far more rewarding than just picking a CD off the shelf at random.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

It would probably take me less than a week to listen to all of my CDs. I need more music but have no job and no money.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

There are alternatives... CoaG.


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## Very Senior Member (Jul 16, 2009)

Sonata said:


> I'm a huge music fan...not just classical, but many kinds. I'll become obsessed with a genre for awhile and do a lot of collecting. I've been very heavily collecting classical for six or seven months. Including one 12 CD boxed set, one 16 CD boxed set, as well as about five of the "99 Essential" digital albums off of Amazon. Now faced with all this music, I'm a touch overwhelmed. I've realized it's going to take a good 3-4 years of listening to REALLY get to know all of the music I've acquired recently...


 That's not the best way to get into classical music. I can't think of a worse way in fact. You should have found a few composers whose music you like and then bought their best works, and progressed from there in an orderly manner. It takes years to acquire the knowledge about classical music and there are no shortcuts that work successfully. The efforts I've seen some people here trying to do a fast-track thing are quite laughable, as it becomes clear that there huge gaps in their knowledge which wouldn't have happened if they had taken a slower path. In your case if you don't know much about classical music and rely on sampling odd bits from your large collection in the hope of finding something you like, you'll find most of it meaningless to you, and you'll soon get fed up listening to any of it. What I'd do is bin the whole lot (or pretend you don't have it), and start again, doing it more carefully next time, one step at a time.


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

I sympathise with Sonata - when you suddenly get a new hobby it can be something of an obsession at the beginning and enthusiasm rules over restraint. I don't think there's too much wrong with his approach so long as he has some idea as regards what he wants to listen to then it won't hurt how many records he buys to begin with just as long as he then learns to sit back and take his time to enjoy them - the foot will come off the pedal sooner or later once more experience and knowledge is acquired. Before buying anything new he also has the option of checking out musical snippets of composers that have caught his eye and maybe a good reference book would be a help as well.


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

Sonata said:


> I'm a huge music fan...not just classical, but many kinds. I'll become obsessed with a genre for awhile and do a lot of collecting. I've been very heavily collecting classical for six or seven months. Including one 12 CD boxed set, one 16 CD boxed set, as well as about five of the "99 Essential" digital albums off of Amazon.
> 
> Now faced with all this music, I'm a touch overwhelmed. I've realized it's going to take a good 3-4 years of listening to REALLY get to know all of the music I've acquired recently...


There is such a thing as "too much music", it's simple maths:

_The rate at which you *acquire* music must be *lower or equal* to the rate of *listening*_.

Nevertheless, purchasing something like Bach's complete works, for reference and convenience, is always a sensible choice.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Cnote11 said:


> There are alternatives... CoaG.


I use YouTube a lot.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

When I first got into Classical I collected very heavily for the first couple of years and the last couple of years have started to plateau out a bit. I personally want to get to know my music well so aquiring too much to begin with was a problem as first listens of new stuff became a chore which it really shouldnt be..

My advice would be to slow down a bit on the purchases and listen to what you have thoroughly before getting anything new. Discovering Classical Music is a journey which you will enjoy a lot more if you relax and take your time. Its not easy to stop buying new stuff though I agree!.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

regressivetransphobe said:


> Quality over quantity. It's easy to buy or download a pile of music and feel worldly, it's a little harder to meditate on one piece of art and really start to love/understand it in a deeper way.


You make a good point....except the comment about "feeling worldly" I don't care about that kind of thing. I've obtained so much music simply because I am so passionate about music, not because I want to collect stuff.


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