# Collecting Habits



## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I just thought I'd ask what everyone's collecting habits are regarding a single work; _e.g._ take a composer's symphony (oh, let's say... Brahms's 3rd! ) - now, would you amass more than one recording? Perhaps a selection of your favourite performances? A selection from you favourite orchestras/conductors _etc._? Or would you only possess one recording at a time?

Personally, as a 'portable listener', I only ever have one recording of any single work (obviously, my absolute favourite recording of whatever work it is!). Of course, I frequently sample versions of the piece that I haven't heard before, and, if I like the sound of the new one, then in the bin goes my prior version, and the new one takes it place.

This is partly because I own very few CDs - my music is probably 90%+ digital, that's just the way I like it (I can't be doing with all the wasted space and organisation troubles!). It's also because I only listen to my music through laptop speakers/iPod, so I don't _need_ CDs. I don't own, and don't particularly want a good-quality stereo system (though I might change my mind when I live by myself), so I'm not bothered about extreme fidelity - simple MP3 files give me great satisfaction and, if I want something special, I'll go to a concert!

So that's me in a nutshell, I was just interested to see what's typical of other listeners.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

I have multiple versions of works I particularly like (using your example I have 3 versions of Brahms Symphony 3 ) and do all my listening through an IPod too.
I do collect CD's but am trying to keep my collection at a managable size due to available space in my home!.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

CDs only for me, and yes, they take up room!

The majority of the works I have are one version recording only - I estimate around 85% to 90%. When I do deliberately buy a second or more version is usually because it's a very special piece to me. But that's not to say all special pieces have more than one version, most do not, because I'm already very happy with the version I have.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Also being a portable listener I listen to mainly one recording of the work through my ipod obviously. 

However with some of the works ive become more involved with I like to get different interpretations, I usually start with period vs modern, or other fundamental differences in the approach before I look at the subtle nuances.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Conor71 said:


> I have multiple versions of works I particularly like (using your example I have 3 versions of Brahms Symphony 3 ) and do all my listening through an IPod too.
> I do collect CD's but am trying to keep my collection at a managable size due to available space in my home!.


Just out of further curiosity, do you have a particular favourite of those three recordings that you listen to more than the others? Or do you like to listen to the different version entirely at random each time you come to listen to the piece?


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

Polednice said:


> Just out of further curiosity, do you have a particular favourite of those three recordings that you listen to more than the others? Or do you like to listen to the different version entirely at random each time you come to listen to the piece?


The newer versions I have tend to supercede the older ones for listening and become current favourites  - For the Brahms the latest version I have is Karajan which has replaced Ansermet which replaced Davis!.
Edit: I am a reasonably new listener of CM (been listening for just over 2 years) so I have not yet had the opportunity to revisit most of my older Versions! - maybe I will do so (more) in time .


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Conor71 said:


> The newer versions I have tend to supercede the older ones for listening and become current favourites  - For the Brahms the latest version I have is Karajan which has replaced Ansermet which replaced Davis!.
> Edit: I am a reasonably new listener of CM (been listening for just over 2 years) so I have not yet had the opportunity to revisit most of my older Versions! - maybe I will do so (more) in time .


You should get the Haitink and then you'll never change Brahms symphonies again


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

Polednice said:


> You should get the Haitink and then you'll never change Brahms symphonies again


Haha, yes I like Haitink - both his Brahms cycles look appealing! .


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

I've several versions of certain works I love, but only on rare/historical/nearly unknown recordings, like Myron Poliakin's Kreutzer, Ossy Renardy's Brahms v.c. or Schnneider SQ Haydn's.


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

Well, I own many cd's, but they all get ripped into FLAC files on Winamp. I have tried to find a better media player than Winamp, but I go back to it every time. I usually download different performances of a single piece, then I will buy the CD of the performance I like best. Downloading is my free way of renting music.


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## graaf (Dec 12, 2009)

MP3 gives more than enough fidelity, but there are many misconceptoins about both its creation and use, so people sometimes have semi-good reasons for hating it (not saying that you are). Still, there is army of zealots behind my back watching what I'm typing so I can't write more on that.
I have all Beethoven's sypmphonies in 2 versions (Bernstein + Wiener Philharmoniker and Barenboim + Berliner Staatskapelle) and still I'm interested in some more. Also 5th, 7th and 9th in several more flavors. I have my favorites (for example, Carlos Kleiber + Vienna Philharmonic for 5th) but I do like to listen sometimes a different performance.
Due to ease of stacking music, I almost never delete any.
Don't you think that your taste might change and you might want to hear some of the old versions that you have deleted?


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

First thing about me is that I try to back up stuff that I download to CD. So I suppose that makes me a CD person.

And I try to only have one or at most two (two if contrasting) performances that I find to be the best. My prime example is Mahler 2. I must have bought and listened to something like 8-10 recordings (no, I haven't kept count. I'm a bad person), but ultimately I settled on two recordings I keep coming back to: Bernstein 1988 and Ozawa with Saito Kinen. And I still haven't settled on a favorite Mahler 9th, even though I've gone through several "classic" recordings by the likes of Chailly, Walter, Barbirolli, Bernstein, and probably a few others I don't bother to keep track of.

So now I'm focusing more on just composers, yet still I find myself obsessing over finding the "best" (especially lately, when I'm trying to find a recording of Berio's Sinfonia).


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

graaf said:


> Don't you think that your taste might change and you might want to hear some of the old versions that you have deleted?


I suppose that's a possibility, but I'm much too stubborn to recognise it, and I'd be a bit obsessive anyway about there having to be just one version of each piece in iTunes, which would mean a separate library for alternate versions etc.! I do have some multiple things on CD and digital (e.g. a CD of Mackerras Beethoven Symphs, and the Barenboim downloaded), but, if I want older versions, then they'd be stored on whatever service I buy my downloads from, so I could just download them again if I was interested.

Another 'problem' I have is that, with cycles (e.g. all of a composer's symphonies or piano quintets or whatever), I _have_ to have all of them by the same person/conductor/orchestra. So, even though there might be one Beethoven symphony by Barenboim that is not so strong, I'd never put anything else better in its place because the rest are Barenboim! I know, it's irrational and awkward...


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

CD's - and I tend to go for one version only, unless suplicatied because of other compositions on another CD.

A big exception to that rule is Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, which I have in 4 (totally) different versions.


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## TresPicos (Mar 21, 2009)

With very few exceptions, I only have one version of each work in my collection, and that is usually the only version I've heard. I'd rather spend time exploring other composers and other works than other versions. There's too much on my todo list. And maybe my ears aren't fine-tuned enough.


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

I have lots of CDs. For all of my favourite works I have several versions. Following a suggestion I spotted somewhere last year (could be here on T-C, not sure) I decided to put the whole lot onto my PC and to split them into two separate sets of files. One set comprises my favourite version of each work, so there is no repetition of any work. The other comprises everything else. Each set is listed by composer. As far as possible I tend to stick with the same categories of composition: symphony, concerto, other orchestral, sacred music, chamber, solo instrument, opera, other choral. Within some of these there are sub-categories, e.g. piano concerto, string concerto, wind concerto. I find this to be the best way to organise my collection as material can be found very quickly. I have it all logged on Windows Media Player (best for tagging), Creative Labs Media Source (best for playing as I like its filters). 

I didn't actually do any of this work myself but got someone (my nephew) to do it for me. Now it's done I keep fiddling around with the allocations as I change my mind on what's the best version. It's fun to test oneself in this way. As I have admitted elsewhere, I don't always trust my own judgement and sometimes rely on more professional opinion. For example, as far as possible, I usually accept the BBC's Radio 3 "Building a Library" recommendations, which are a very useful resource covering the past 10 years and which can be downloaded. 

I have been a "completist" collector with respect to several composers. It's a slightly mad thing to do but that's how one can get. This has applied to Vivaldi, J S Bach, Mozart (obviously), Beethoven (again obviously), Schubert (with a passion like no other), Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner, Tchaikovsky. For some of these composers it's difficult to achieve 100% coverage because some of their very minor material is very difficult to acquire. But for Beethoven I have all of his Opus numbered works, most of the WoO works, and some Hess. Currently I'm working on completing my collection of Purcell and Haydn.

For for all other major composers I have all their main works. For example I have lots of Bruckner, Mahler, Elgar, Delius, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams and such like but I'm fed up with all that to a large extent. It's not as good (in my humble opinion) as the work of several earlier masters. After Tchaikovsky my enthusiasm wanes asymptotically to virtually zero by about 1970. In total I have works for some 270 composers, among which there is little very modern material except for Schnittke who I like a good deal.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

I've about 60 symphonics CDs. All the rest (1600 more or less) are chamber instrumental, violin, viola, cello and solo piano, nothing else. Many historical recordings and about 200 string quartets.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I'm also a CD person. I have about 1200 discs. The vast majority of the works I own are the sole version... and I tend to carefully research which version to purchase before doing so. There are a good number of works, however, that I am especially fond of and that I own in several versions: Faure's _Requiem_, Beethoven's _Piano Sonatas_, Debussy's work for solo piano, many of Schubert's and Schumann's lieder, Faure and Debussy's _mélodies_, and a great deal of Bach.


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## qualityaudio (Dec 8, 2009)

I too listen mostly to music acquired through the net rather than on disk, though I disagree with the poster who said MP3 gives "more than enough fidelity". I have made the compromise of subscribing to a music service that allows me to listen to anything I want, any time I want, any _where_ I want, for only fifteen bucks a month, so what I lose in sonic fidelity I gain in the sheer volume of music I am able to consume. As the service I use offers on-demand streaming, I use no disk space of my own save for any music I may wish to listen to offline. I have the advantage of listening to virtually any performance of any piece of music out there. In my library, I have three performances of Saint-Saens Third Symphony, my favorite piece of music of all time, that I listen to depending on my mood. Same with music featuring the piano. I might have two or three performances of the same piece of music from my favorite pianists. If there is a particular piece that I really like, I'll use Rhapsody to find the version I like best, then buy that on CD or DVD-A to get the best sound quality.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I only own cd's. I only own 1 version of a work, unless on rare occassions I am forced to buy the same work which is coupled with another one I want. I usually do a bit of research of reviews before buying a cd (eg. on classicstoday.com), or people's opinions on here, but usually I just buy what I see on the shelves in shops. My main motivation is that I want to hear the music of a particular composer, or a particular work, not that I want to hear a certain version. I think the theory of a "best" version of something is somewhat erroneous, as it is highly based on subjective opinion. In any case, often the "best" versions are full-price cd's, which I can rarely afford. I really like digitally remastered reissues, not only because the price is mostly lower, but I love recordings of the past by the greats.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

This is a little off topic, but learning the piano is mostly just collecting the proper habits and adding interpretation. That's probably true with every other instrument also.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Andre said:


> In any case, often the "best" versions are full-price cd's, which I can rarely afford.


Buy them off the internet. I do. I have not paid full price for years now. And the Aussie dollar right now is so strong, in particular against the US dollar and Pounds Sterling.


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## graaf (Dec 12, 2009)

> My main motivation is that I want to hear the music of a particular composer, or a particular work, not that I want to hear a certain version.


This is very interesting way of thinking about music! Has a lot of sense, in fact!


> I think the theory of a "best" version of something is somewhat erroneous, as it is highly based on subjective opinion.


For me, the "best version = my favourite version", so it is all about subjectivity. Then it is not erroneous. But when a lot of people claim something to be " the best version", all those, relatively uniform, subjectivities give a illusion of objectivity.


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## dafnis (Jan 18, 2010)

First of all it's a pleasure to join this forum - never knew it existed until recently, and after a while browsing around I see there's much to read (and learn!) in here.
For selected pieces that appeal to me in a special way I have more than one version. The record holder is actually Bach's Goldberg Variations, which I have, if I recall correctly in 6 versions, both harpsichord and modern piano: Landowska, Leonhardt, Tureck, Gould (1955 and 1981) and Perahia. In any case a good part of my collection is made up of singles recordings.
I usually listen only thorugh ipod, but have built up over the years a wide CD collection - mainly since I started buying classical CDs years before the Apple guys ever dreamt of the ipod. Recently I have downloaded some works through eMusic, for example Savall's Eine kleine nachtmusik with Les Concert des Nations (this being a second version for me).


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