# Do you have 'a collection'?



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Most of us own classical music cds or records, I'm sure; and many own boxed sets.

Would you describe the cds or records that you own as 'a collection'? Or just as an assemblage of items that you happen to like? 

If it's 'a collection', does that mean it specialises in something? All the music by Maria Callas - all the vinyl records from a particular company - all the composers from a particular era - every piece of music that Bach ever wrote?

Do you hunt down the items that are missing from your collection, or upgrade items when new and better cds or records are issued?

Does 'the collection' take up a whole room in your house?

What will you do with it if you have to move into a retirement flat? Do you plan to pass it on to someone when you are 'past it', or when you leave this earth?

Or does none of this apply? You have a couple of shelves of stuff, varied in terms of era or composer or genre, and you add to it piecemeal when something catches your fancy.

It would be interesting to know. 

:tiphat: Thanks in advance for any replies.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Definitely *not *a collection. I have always liked Autolycus's self description - a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles and that certainly describes our "collection". We do have a relatively consistent "style" - baroque and earlier - although we have one or two compilation discs of the lighter classics acquired from one of the more highbrow broadsheets. The whole thing (currently) occupies a couple of shelves.

As we hear something we like - Jordi Savall or Andrew Manze - we may decide to acquire it. If somebody recommends something - a baroque box that looks good - on to the Amazon bill it goes. There are things we'd love to get - a lot of the early David Munrow for example - but they're seriously out of print.

At the minute, it's not something that needs preserved. It's small enough for a retirement flat and it'll doubtless find a good home in a charity shop when we've shuffled off this mortal coil.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

loath to use the word 'collection'-I have different devices around the house for listening to music and I have such a range of music (I imagine the word is 'genre') that reflects my varied interests over the years (from the first Clash album through to European jazz and numerous aspects of classical music etc etc) that this diversity means that there is little logic or rationale!
I also have books around the house-in every room-again reflecting my diverse interests and unlike others I know would never use the word 'library'......
as to what might happen to all this stuff ???????


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

"Would you describe the cds or records that you own as 'a collection'? Or just as an assemblage of items that you happen to like?"
*
It's an actual collection of mostly Classical Music and mostly CDs. Some LPs and DVDs.*

"If it's 'a collection', does that mean it specialises in something? All the music by Maria Callas - all the vinyl records from a particular company - all the composers from a particular era - every piece of music that Bach ever wrote?"

*A good representation of only works and recs. of that I like, from chronologically speaking, Arcangelo Corelli to Unsuk Chin.*

"Do you hunt down the items that are missing from your collection, or upgrade items when new and better cds or records are issued?"

*I used to be a hunter 'n gatherer, scrounging on foot all types of retail that sold used or new CDs. Now it's virtually all online. My upgrading is pretty well complete, being satisfied with interps, performances, sound engineering. Occasionally, new recordings are purchased. A few filling traditional composers works holes, but mostly from Modern and Contemporary composers.*

"Does 'the collection' take up a whole room in your house?"

*No, no, just two 6-foot tall shelves.*

"What will you do with it if you have to move into a retirement flat? Do you plan to pass it on to someone when you are 'past it', or when you leave this earth?"

*I plan on taking the collection with me if a memorial outer space pod is available. CDs (no downloads) constantly played in an automatic jukebox-type format.

Failing that, they'll be passed on to wife, friend(s), association(s)...in that order.*:tiphat:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Definitely a collection, as you define it. After having got rid of my LPs years ago and lived without recordings for quite a while (relying on radio), I decided to acquire a good representation of the history of Western classical music (plus any other music that interested me). Being of modest means, I descended upon every possible second hand source, and in about eleven years have acquired around 4000 CDs. There are and always will be significant gaps; the mere fact that a work is considered "important" isn't reason enough to own it if I don't care to listen to it. Moreover, I can't easily keep an ear on recent music, and I can't afford to experiment randomly. But it's a good library and I'd like to pass it along to some young person when I'm gone. My fear is that CDs will be obsolete by then and that nobody will want them!


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I have been a collector. Once I tried to collect all the Erik Satie recordings there were. I also had a Fabio Biondi Vivaldi phase. Now I'm pretty random when it comes to CD consumption.


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## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

I have no collection, only a few CDs. I digitized my non-collection and sold the CDs years ago. I buy a couple of CDs a year, of music that I find I want to listen to repeatedly.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

I've never had anything like a collection. It seems that my context of playing a lot, a very fine local classical FM radio station base in my home town (WFMT 98.7, now free via streaming anywhere), attending concerts, etc. has seen me at any point long the line with probably no more than the 100 LPs or CDs _which is the general average, classical, mixed or other,_ of 'how many recordings the average person owns' -- at least in the states.

One youngster on TC was shocked when I said I "owned no Beethoven." Well, I've had tons, listening, playing one concerto have played through them all, simile all the piano sonatas, 'cello and piano sonatas, etc. This is neither typical or atypical for a musician. Other musicians I know have vast _collections,_ others, as I do, a comparative handful of recordings. Some of this is all about 'the budget.' Sheet music is expensive, I've owned far more piano and orchestral study scores than recordings.

But thank goodness for youtube and all those other streaming / download services!


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I have "a collection," by any reasonable standard. I definitely think about getting what I'm missing. I sometimes have to remind myself that the point is to listen to music rather than to own CDs, but the fact that I have to remind myself of that reveals something that is going on inside my mind. I'd rather that weren't going on, but it's not a choice. 

It takes up much of a room of my house, but there are also books in that room. I have a "study" for this stuff. 

I hope we will always have room for this stuff, but we have a couple family friends who are going to "borrow" the music while we travel. The jazz/rock/world/etc. goes to one person, the classical to another person. 

I don't know who would get it if I die. I think I'm hoping to meet along the road of life some younger person who would appreciate it as much - or, if it were possible, more! - than I do. I haven't met that person yet. If I never do, then I suppose I don't care who gets it! Sell it! Whatever. I don't suppose I will be too picky....


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Mine is an assemblage of different composers and works, not a collection. It's 90 % classical and romantic era stuff, and there are too many gaps even in favourite composers.
I have a combined strategy for adding to this. Firstly I want to consolidate the main classical era stuff especially the works I used to have on record. Secondly, I want to explore more 20th centuary music and beyond.
Trouble is trying to stick to the plan.


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

I have a decent-sized collection and I also have storage issues now, as I live in a small flat. Here's how bad things got - I junked all of the jewel cases of my rock cds (some are digipaks so I left them alone) and put the discs, inserts and liners into thin plastic sleeves and them moved them onto a bookshelf so I could make more room for classical stuff in my bespoke storage units. No doubt I'll have to embrace download technology sooner or later, but right now I'm OK for at least another hundred or so discs!

I am pretty fastidious when it comes to keeping everything in composer alphabetical order, and then I sub-categorise according to genre. The box sets and larger opera packages I keep separately from the main collection out of a combination of convenience and necessity - the box sets are housed in a stereo cabinet under the amplifier shelf but my opera recordings, which I tend to listen to less often, snugly fit into half of a chest of drawers in the bedroom. 

I never upgrade any particular recordings if re-masters/re-issues comes along, as most of my purchases are second-hand anyway.

After I've gone, the classical collection will go to the town library (assuming they want it) - none of my relatives like classical so there's little point bequeathing it to any of them just so it can be neglected or sold piecemeal. The rock collection will probably go to my best friend, unless he happens to die first.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I have a "collection" in the loose sense of the word, perhaps better referred to as an assemblage. 

Closest I ever came to a real collection is with Johnny Winter where I purchased just about every CD available, but I finally go to the point where I just am not listening any more so it makes no sense to keep buying.

Other than that I guess my 87 CD Complete Beethoven set could be considered a collection, but is it really complete? I bet there is at least one small obscure work missing.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

I had about a thousand LPs, which I defined as a "collection: although there was no organizing principle except they were classical and they were things I either liked or thought I should have and hear. De-accessioned it a couple of years ago on eBay -- but kept about hundred that had sentimental of other value.


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## MozartsGhost (May 9, 2014)

I’m a gatherer throughout the year and then I purge. Purging time is right around the corner. In February our National Public Radio (NPR) Station has a fundraiser where they take donations of used stereo equipment, vinyl, tapes, and CD’s, box them up, put them on tables in a rented hall, and open the doors to a dedicated crowd of music lovers for a weekend. Music lovers come from all over the region to take in the event. 

The day of the event I go early to watch the scramble to the rock and jazz tables. But the funniest group to watch are the punk affectionatos. They sometimes get a little rough with each other, but that’s what they seem to mostly come for because most of the punk in the bins is junk! It’s a frenzy for about the first 3 hours or so. The sponsor has a live band playing, coffee and cookies. I love to watch music lovers roll up their sleeves and go to work!

Over the years I have acquired several peoples collections when they have been unable to move their collections with them or they pass on. I inherited one mans Opera collection earlier this year from a dear friend who passed away. We met each other at the NPR event about 5 years ago. He asked if I liked opera and I said I liked everything but opera and he said that he would have to change that. We got together religiously each month for an afternoon and we talked and listened. I grew to really love opera with this man.

Classical music comes into the event by the droves. I live in a Catholic town and the generation before me collected classical vinyl by what must have been the truckload! That’s a big reason why I got into classical. After not having a turntable since my college days, a few years back my father was wrestling with too much stuff and wanted me to have his stereo. I got a turntable in that deal and needed material. I tried to relive my rock collecting days before marriage but at my age now, it just wasn't what it use to be and to buy vinyl rock in good condition cost an arm and a leg. 

I didn't settle for classical, I just obtained some of the more popular pieces in prestine condition at the sale and started listening and studying. It really took hold. 

So, knowing I'm getting older and after having gone through my fathers recent passing and all the stuff he collected, I accumulate but don't hang on to too much. I run into young people now and again, either at the sale or in the thrifts, who have an interest, and I invite them over and let them leave with a box of records. The rest I give to the sale. 

As a side note, I would like to say that this site has done wonders for me to help me learn more about classical music. What a blessing you people are! Thanks TC!


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> Would you describe the cds or records that you own as 'a collection'?


Yes, I consider the assemblage of CDs I own to be a collection.



Ingélou said:


> If it's 'a collection', does that mean it specialises in something?


Mine has goals: to generously represent the works I like the most by the composers I like the most; and to do so in as compact a manner as possible. I am trying to consciously discern the essence of my taste without getting into the 'trap' of wanting everything. Complete sets are generally the antithesis of what I am trying to achieve. I am trying to sift through the sets to find those works that I really want and to be able to recognize which ones I care less about.



Ingélou said:


> Do you hunt down the items that are missing from your collection, or upgrade items when new and better cds or records are issued?


Yes, I do hunt them down online, but I am not yet at the level of expertise that absolutely necessitates having a certain performance, although there have already been a few cases of this. Usually, I have a number of performances in mind that I consider acceptable and I go after the one that is priced affordably, relative to how much I value the particular composer at this point in time, and the number of other interesting works that are also included on the album/in the set. I do occasionally add other recordings of a work to my collection, but, so far, I have kept the original recording as an alternate performance in most cases. Mostly, I obtain alternate performances when another work I am looking for is paired with one I already have; or, sometimes, when I spot an alternate performance at a bricks-and-mortar shop at a too-good-to-be-true price.



Ingélou said:


> Does 'the collection' take up a whole room in your house?


No. I have purchased a modular Ikea system and my intent is to keep the collection within these physical dimensions. The idea is essence and compactness and the shelves show me a visible limit. I am not going to hold myself to this, if it should happen that I suddenly develop a passion for having much more, but I can't envision that as very likely, as I am also very cognizant of the fact that a recording represents time and, as such, time, even more than a shelf, represents a practical limit to the collection's dimension. I have been a ruthless and senseless purger, so my collection was constantly in flux, but I have managed to control this destructive impulse.



Ingélou said:


> What will you do with it if you have to move into a retirement flat?


I hope to be able to take it with me. Unless I should end up a bedridden invalid, it is more likely that I would have, at that very late stage in life, being the healthy bloke I am, a room in a seniors' facility. I am of the impression that seniors typically have their clothing, television sets, surely hifi systems and music collections, books, etc. with them. The collection would easily fit into a bedroom.



Ingélou said:


> Do you plan to pass it on to someone when you are 'past it', or when you leave this earth?


My will indicates how my assets will be distributed, and the collection would be considered part of my estate, but I recognize that there would likely not be much interest in it. I could leave it to the retirement home for their social room, or to a public library, etc. I don't think it will matter much to me after I'm gone


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Yes, I have a collection... but it is a collection that has been amassed over the years. Some of the works were collected obsessively... with the desire to own everything by a given composer, performer, or conductor or multiple recordings of a favorite work of music. Other times it has been the result of my spur of the moment purchases of something that has momentarily captured my attention... damn you Amazon "One Click" purchase option!! I have never really culled my collection outside of giving away the damnable work of Karl Jenkins.  I have "upgraded" my collection from time to time... purchasing recordings that were remastered better or packaged better... but most of my subsequent purchases are but alternatives to recordings I already have. My collection takes up about 4 1/2 sizable shelves and combined with my books, forms a sizable library that fills an entire room.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I collect iTunes digital files and I plan to clone my hard drive someday for my daughter Izzy. She will get my music all of it.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

It seems to me like I'm one of few, if not alone, in not really having _any_ CD's at all. Actually, I have a couple... all gotten as presents, and mostly just "Classics"-type CD's. I never listen to them anyways. Pretty much all of my listening is done online, with around 1% from radio or attending concerts. It's way more convenient, in my opinion, and also, it's free. I understand getting a CD if there's no recording or no good recording of it on Youtube, but otherwise, I don't really see the point. There's a wealth of good music available online anyways.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

musicrom said:


> It seems to me like I'm one of few, if not alone, in not really having _any_ CD's at all. Actually, I have a couple... all gotten as presents, and mostly just "Classics"-type CD's. I never listen to them anyways. Pretty much all of my listening is done online, with around 1% from radio or attending concerts. It's way more convenient, in my opinion, and also, it's free. I understand getting a CD if there's no recording or no good recording of it on Youtube, but otherwise, I don't really see the point. There's a wealth of good music available online anyways.


You are not alone. I do have quite a few CDs but since I got Spotify premium some months ago, I haven't listened to them or bought anything new, which is a relief because I plan to go to many concerts this year and that takes a lot of $$$.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Those of you that "prune" your collections... you should let us know....


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

I own a great deal of the music I like on CDs. I have an awful lot more (and duplicates of the CDs) as mp3s. I also have a great number of orchestral, piano and choral scores that I've collected over the years. This is my collection, humble though it may be.

I have directed that all the music scores, CDs and music textbooks be given to the local university music library when I pass on. Someone else may get some benefit from them.

I do worry what will happen to my own manuscripts, which are put away in a trunk, and also kept as computer files on a flash drive. No one will have any use for them, won't know what to do with them, won't know how to handle copyrights, etc. I'll be just as anonymous a composer as a dead person as I was in life! Oh well... I guess there's always the next time on Earth....


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

No collection, I currently have 6 CDs that have some of my all-time favorite interpretations of various works like the Szell/Casadesus recording of Mozart's piano concertos 21 and 24, Yo-Yo Ma's Dvorak Album, and Schumann's four symphonies. The rest of my music is all on my Itunes account, on youtube, and the rest I've heard enough times to replay the whole thing in my head.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

I have probably "only" around 150 CD's + maybe 30 CD's worth of music on iTunes. I like box sets because I find them to be actually very good, and pretty well reasonably priced!

I am not really drawn to buying multiple recordings of the same work anyway -- the only work that I have two copies of is _Das Lied von der Erde_, and only because they are different versions (baritone vs. alto).

But youtube is really excellent, with a wealth of stuff on there (and of course free) -- and it's only going to get added to.

Also TV and radio -- the BBC will show maybe 25 of the Proms concerts every summer, Sky Arts relays a fair amount of concerts, Radio 3, etc.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

I have a collection of about 2500 elpees. Most are classical music, but also jazz, pop, rock and electronica.
A sub-collection is my crate of TurnaboutVox albums and a nice little bunch of things by Brian Eno. Also some sixty 10" albums and a few very old Heifetz recordings.
I'm not a completionist (that would be very difficult in the case of TurnaboutVox), so I don't actively search for stuff, but buy things when they cross my path. 
Gave up on cd's altogether, but I do stream. Used to download too but don't do that anymore. No need since "the cloud" has enough music on demand, at least for me.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, I own a quite large number of recordings, in different formats, coming from my own purchases, but also from my parents' and from my grandmother's. I'm emotionally attached to part of the stuff.

However, it's not a collection in the sense that everything is "just as an assemblage of items that I happen to fancy, or I have inherited". 

I have had no problem of storage so far. It's unlikely I ever will, as of lately I buy less and less physical recordings, and go digital for the vast majority (though not all) of my new acquisitions. 

I'm not usually 'upgrading' anything. 

After my death, all this will pass to my children, along with anything else I own, and it will be their decision what to do with this particular heritage from their father, their grandparents and their great-grandmother. Whatever they'll do, that's fine for me.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

What a great thread. It examines the nature of our hobby. For years I have spent a great deal of effort, thought, and love acquiring recordings of Classical Music . The nature of the question here makes me wonder I am more of a random gatherer or whether there is some sort of method to this, and perhaps it is a comment on my shallowness that I have never comtemplated this before.
I think there is some of both in what I do. Certainly when I read about a recording that sounds interesting I am tempted to buy it and frequently act on the temptation. Yet I also try to get "complete everythings" which would imply that there is some type of method behind the acquisitiveness. 
I also fancy myself as an audiophile, and I have 3 systems, including two multichannel in my home. I justify many purchases now with the logic that "I don't have a High Resolution Multichannel version of that piece" combined with "Multichannel and High Resolution recordings may dissapear from the marketplace for lack of interest by the general public, so I should snap them up now."
Since joining TC I have been impressed by the number of Female Contributors that have large
numbers of acquired recordings. In my experience, collecting was a Male Thing. I always thought that women appreciate and enjoy music but don't feel the need to "own it". I was perhaps generalizing from my circle of acquaintances, and I am delighted to discover that it isn't an exclusively male madness.
So, the next generations: will they be owning large numbers of recordings, or will no one own anything and just rely on streaming services? If so, does that change the nature of the relationship between us and our music?


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Yes, I have a collection... but it is a collection that has been amassed over the years. Some of the works were collected obsessively... with the desire to own everything by a given composer, performer, or conductor or multiple recordings of a favorite work of music. Other times it has been the result of my spur of the moment purchases of something that has momentarily captured my attention... damn you Amazon "One Click" purchase option!! I have never really culled my collection outside of giving away the damnable work of Karl Jenkins.  I have "upgraded" my collection from time to time... purchasing recordings that were remastered better or packaged better... but most of my subsequent purchases are but alternatives to recordings I already have. My collection takes up about 4 1/2 sizable shelves and combined with my books, forms a sizable library that fills an entire room.


 I was really impressed by your collection of Schubert's Die Winterriese in another thread. I love that work, but listening to it is such a wallow in despair, and for me the emotions have become so intertwined with my original exposure to the work (DFD), that everytime I hear another Singer it distiurbs me so much that I haven't added another version.


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## Chris (Jun 1, 2010)

My CDs are in a well ordered collection. They are catalogued on an Excel spreadsheet for which I have written macros to assign their location and produce a summary list of composers. The latter is to help me listen to them systematically.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Definitely a collection, and I treat it as such, with a collector's drive to completion. Any gaps need to be filled. I like the first ten Bach cantatas that I heard - I want to have them all. And so on. It bugged me no end that I had all of Villa Lobos' symphonies except the 5th. It was only later that I found out that the score is lost.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I don't consider myself to have a collection; I think of it as a music library.


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## papsrus (Oct 7, 2014)

Collection. Ordered by composer and segregated between jazz and classical. Many more jazz CDs than classical, although the classical are catching up fast.

I probably own around 300-400 jazz CDs, generally focused on early stuff -- Pops, King Oliver, Jelly Roll, lots of American Music label that focused on New Orleans and Oracle label stuff. Also a good chunk of stuff from the 50s and 60s: Miles, Bird, Bud Powell and Monk, as well as 50-60 discs of so-called avant guard stuff. I used to have a lot more of the latter, but decided to "focus" that part of the collection and so purged all but those discs which I knew I would return to regularly. Roscoe Mitchell, Ornette, Braxton and stuff from the contemporary Chicago and New York scenes.

On to classical -- I have perhaps close to 200 LPs, many from my dad's collection (which probably numbered close to 1,000 at one point -- too bad I didn't develop an interest in classical music earlier in life). A good selection of opera / vocal recordings on the vinyl, too. 

I've around 50 - 60 individual classical music CDs, plus a number of so-called "complete" box sets: Reiner with the CSO, Beethoven Masterpieces, the recent Decca Vienna Philharmonic box set are the three biggies, as well as smaller sets focused on artists like Du Pre, or Karajan's Bruckner cycle with the Berliners. 

I tend to listen in broad swaths, sometimes devoting the better part of an entire day to listening. But I do need to dial back the purchases a bit (most of my classical collection has been acquired in the past year or so, as this is a period I've started really immersing myself in the music).

I balance this recorded music with as many concerts as I can afford to attend -- probably have 20 or so lined up this year so far. 

As to what will become of it all when I'm gone, hopefully that won't be for another 25 - 30 years or more, so I'll have time to think about that. I don't think my local library would really want the stuff, honestly. Libraries tend to gather this stuff up and hold periodic sales to cull their collections, which is fine. I'd prefer it go to schools or some place where it could be used to expose people to the music who otherwise would not be.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I have a collection, but I am not a collector for the most part. I consider a 'collector' as someone that collects just for the sake of collecting. Almost every thing in my collection is there because I listen to them repeatedly. 

Much of my classical collection is made up of vinyl recordings that have never made it to CD or released in any hi-rez file format. As soon as they are, I will part with the record. I also have a fair number of CDs which might also be sold when my new hi-rez file player arrives and I can burn to hard drive.

The same goes with quite a bit if my jazz collection. I have a large number of ECM recordings that have not been release on CD or lossless formats. 

The only things I actually collect for the sake of collecting are some very rare Italian prog-rock records. Not only are they musically amazing, but they are worth quite a bit of money.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Compared with some of you, I have a few CDs. I own about 300 classical music CDs, and about another total 100 CDs made up of jazz, rock and roll, folk, musicals etc. I'm not sure I have a collection as I don't consider myself a collector. I don't really have more room in my shelving unit for more CDs.


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## GhenghisKhan (Dec 25, 2014)

No, with the advent of the likes of itunes and youtube, I think they are completely superfluous today. 

I own 5 CDs, which I've lost , but it's rap/hip hop and 1 alternative CD. 

I sometimes wonder how come the CD stores like HMV have not declared bankruptcy yet.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I understand your point of view and I have often thought I could save a lot of money and still enjoy the music by adopting your position... and I have, to an extent, in that I don't and simply cannot buy everything. I am forced to be very, very certain that my choices be longterm ones.

I have a couple of views: HiFi quality, ownership (no need to stream or pay, etc.), pleasure.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Nope, I have a library! Collections are for amateurs! 

/ptr


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Der Leiermann said:


> You are not alone. I do have quite a few CDs but since I got Spotify premium some months ago, I haven't listened to them or bought anything new, which is a relief because I plan to go to many concerts this year and that takes a lot of $$$.


This got me thinking about how I 'collect music' Spotify has allowed me to explore most anything I wish to listen to and I have no objection paying for the premium service. However once I find something I really like, there is still the collector in me that wants to have a copy of my own. 
I then look for the cheapest source I can find, which is often that giant secondhand shop better known as Amazon Marketplace. 
If a download is cheaper then I go for that, because then there is no waiting for it.
Funny thing is, even though I have this vast source at the tip of my finger in the comfort of my own home, I miss going to the shop and browsing.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I call it a "collection" because I deliberate try to get certain recordings; for example, I tried to get a recording of almost everything Tchaikovsky wrote, so that's a collection. I try to obtain any DG vinyl that I can find, no matter what it's a recording of. A collection implies some sort of recklessness for me 

Otherwise, much of what I own are random finds at used CDs stores. But I'm still "collecting". It takes up a whole zone in my spacious closet back home. Here in the dorm, all I have are my ripped files from CDs on a hard drive and I don't have any vinyls. Some day when I get my own place, I'd love a dedicated "music room" like my dad has back home. He has shelves covered in CDs in vinyls of various genres, along with an elaborate stereo system.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I'm not sure if I should ask how reckless you get in that closet :lol:


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

I would consider what I have right now to be a 'collection' - I generally buy only those CDs which I am sure I'll return to in the future. In most cases, I stick with baroque -> romantic era composers. I don't have too many multiple versions of the same work - I'll go for an alternate version if I find it better than the one I currently own - for that, I listen around on Youtube or on amazon.de/com samples. I try to have different genres in the collection, but generally stick to instrumental music. If vocal, most of the CDs I own are either masses or oratorios. If I want to buy a CD of a piece I'm not too familiar with as of yet, I generally find the ones which are well priced and offer an interpretation I immediately like. In that sense, I don't generally restrict myself to 'big names' in terms of interpreters - I like to try out different performers to have as much variety in that sense as possible.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I'm currently looking after a collection that belonged to somebody else. I'm not so sure what's going to happen to it next. There's a lot of Claudio Arrau, but also a lot of Brahms which I certainly enjoy. The only problem I have with this collection is the several CDs of John Rutter and one CD of the infamous Andrea Bocelli.

I'm no "collector;" my whole intention of owning music is to learn rather than build up a private library which isn't very mobile.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Tristan said:


> I call it a "collection" because I deliberate try to get certain recordings; for example, I tried to get a recording of almost everything Tchaikovsky wrote, so that's a collection. I try to obtain any DG vinyl that I can find, no matter what it's a recording of. A collection implies some sort of recklessness for me
> 
> Otherwise, much of what I own are random finds at used CDs stores. But I'm still "collecting". It takes up a whole zone in my spacious closet back home. Here in the dorm, all I have are my ripped files from CDs on a hard drive and I don't have any vinyls. Some day when I get my own place, I'd love a dedicated "music room" like my dad has back home. He has shelves covered in CDs in vinyls of various genres, along with an elaborate stereo system.


If I were you, I might just move back in with him....


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I do maintain a rather large personal music library on LP, CD, and tape. It numbers in the several thousands of pieces. And though it proves rather eclectic in including most every genre of music from punk rock, ambient, experimental, free and traditional and crossover/fusion jazz, pop/rock, and classical from Gregorian Chant to the 21st century symphony ... and though it includes several dozens of those large box sets from Brilliant Classics, Decca, EMI, Mercury, DGG and others including dozens of those "complete symphonies" and "complete string quartets" box sets, and no fewer than four complete Bach Cantata sets, the Sony Masterworks Yo-Yo Ma CD Collection, both of the Leonard Bernstein boxes (the Symphonies, the Orchestral Music), three complete Haydn Symphony sets, the Wilhelm Furtwängler: The Legacy box set, THE GENIUS OF MILES DAVIS Limited-Edition Trumpet Case Box Set, all of the so-far-released The Complete Remastered Recordings box sets of Black Saint and Soul Note jazz releases, several Beatles box sets including the recently released Mono LPs, and the legendary Chrome Box (an industrial/punk rock classic) ... as far as a formal "collection" goes, I have managed to scoop up the entire catalog of discs from Nancy van de Vate's Vienna Modern Masters releases ( http://gdv.home.xs4all.nl/vmm/ ), all of the Hyperion "Romantic Piano Concerto", "Romantic Violin Concerto", and "Romantic Cello Concerto" releases ( http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/s.asp?s=S_1 , http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/s.asp?s=S_3 , and http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/s.asp?s=S_4 ), the complete releases in the KAREL ANČERL GOLD EDITION on Supraphon ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Ančerl_Gold_Edition ), and the complete Milken Archive of American Jewish Music on NAXOS ( http://www.naxos.com/series/milken_archive_of_american_jewish_music.htm ). Too, I'm always open to adding another recording of Schubert's _Winterreise_ or a Complete set of the Beethoven Symphonies to my disc library . Does this mean I'm a collector? Possibly. Does it mean I'm completely nuts? Certainly.
But what fun is not being nuts?!!!
As I see it, my purchasing of music discs doesn't harm anyone. It helps support many folks in the music business, a field of art for which I have a passion. And it gives me a lot of fine quality sound to reproduce on my rather esoteric tubed playback equipment. In the end, I enjoy listening to this stuff. And because of my particular means and no-means, I have plenty of time to enjoy listening to music.
My library also helps inform me in matters which come in handy when I visit this particular Forum, to both better understand other posters' commentaries, and to contribute a thought or two of my own on occasion.
Did I mention I work in Theatre and often do sound design? It helps to not only have a large musical vocabulary to rely upon, but to have access to recordings to bring ideas to fruition.
So ... I have a collection. I guess.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> I would consider what I have right now to be a 'collection' - I generally buy only those CDs which I am sure I'll return to in the future. In most cases, I stick with baroque -> romantic era composers. I don't have too many multiple versions of the same work - I'll go for an alternate version if I find it better than the one I currently own - for that, I listen around on Youtube or on amazon.de/com samples. I try to have different genres in the collection, but generally stick to instrumental music. If vocal, most of the CDs I own are either masses or oratorios. If I want to buy a CD of a piece I'm not too familiar with as of yet, I generally find the ones which are well priced and offer an interpretation I immediately like. In that sense, I don't generally restrict myself to 'big names' in terms of interpreters - I like to try out different performers to have as much variety in that sense as possible.


I agree with all you say, and I will also spend quite some time listening and checking before buying, even though I might only be spending a small amount on a secondhand disc.
I don't think I had more than 2 or 3 works where I had more than 1 version using this system, then I discovered HIP. Now all the music of Haydn, Mozart etc is a whole new place and I have tasted this 'forbidden fruit' and find it fascinating. I don't always prefer HIP but I have to say often I do, and I can feel the urge to acquire coming on.
Damn you all at TC for introducing me to this temptress.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Concerning musical works, "library" and "almost-completist" here, though with a collector´s preferences/priorities as regards chosing some performances and disregarding others. Lots of multiple recordings, however.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Haydn man said:


> I agree with all you say, and I will also spend quite some time listening and checking before buying, even though I might only be spending a small amount on a secondhand disc.
> I don't think I had more than 2 or 3 works where I had more than 1 version using this system, then I discovered HIP. Now all the music of Haydn, Mozart etc is a whole new place and I have tasted this 'forbidden fruit' and find it fascinating. I don't always prefer HIP but I have to say often I do, and I can feel the urge to acquire coming on.
> Damn you all at TC for introducing me to this temptress.


Haydn man, I have a question about your avatar - are you a Super Mario fan?


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## papsrus (Oct 7, 2014)

SONNET CLV said:


> I do maintain a rather large personal music library on LP, CD, and tape. It numbers in the several thousands of pieces. ....


You, my friend, appear to have it all (perhaps, quite literally).


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Haydn man, I have a question about your avatar - are you a Super Mario fan?


No,I most certainly am not, it was the first image I happened across on the Mac at home, courtesy of my youngest son.
Might get round to changing it


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Haydn man said:


> ...it was the first image I happened across...


That's how mine happen, mostly. I'll type a couple of search terms into Google and there're always a few images that make me wonder, "how can that relate to my search?", but they come out right.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

I have lots of records and cd's.Classic Jazz and Rock and a few other small sub collections such as Italian Pop/Rock and ahem! Bert Kaempfert lps BUT! I veer away from the words @Collection' and 'Collector', as I have known a few "Record Collectors" in my time and all my music recordings are for listening to not for squirrelling away and ticking off a checklist (Loosers!)....having said that, I do have nearly every Top of the Pops lps issued More than 100, and want them all! but I _do_ listen to them.

I have other collections too Including my Collection of Edwardian Actress Postcards. Collection with a small c perhaps. Im far too poverty stricken to be a completist in any field though.


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## mushrider (Jan 14, 2015)

I don't have anything other than an old RATM cd somewhere in the house.


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## SilverSurfer (Sep 13, 2014)

I confess: I collect any possible recording, even old Lps and cassettes, by a few contemporary composers (that limitates the items possible to collect, obviously).
My friends know that, reached the day, my wife will organize a special dinner and they will inheritate any record... if they find it in the several places where I stock them.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

I have over 2500 CDs but I do not want to call them a *collection* - there is no systematic puropse, no aim for completeness, no plan, no coeecting-for-the purpose-of-collecting (which there tends to be for a collection)

And besides, my insurance company want me to pay much more if it is a *collection*


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

I have several thousand 78s, mostly pop, mostly not coming with me when I move! There are vocal records too, mostly acoustic John McCormack, bought in junk shops in the early 90s when if you wanted to hear most of his records you had to own the originals. The pop and jazz LPs were purged years ago- I wish I'd kept them into the era of eBay when they would have fetched more, but it was 'easy come, easy go'. I have maybe a few hundred CDs, mostly historical vocal, in two categories: those I wanted passionately and saved for, and those I took a punt on because they were marked down. The latter category is a mixed bag and probably in need of thinning. I have found YouTube an amazing resource for researching singers, and bad CD buys are nearly a thing of the past: remarkable when you consider that less than a decade ago the site contained practically nothing of interest. My main current area of collecting interest is 78s by underrated pre WW1singers, generally French, who haven't, or have barely, made it on to modern format. It's a focus on quality (according to my own highly subjective view) rather than quantity. I need to organise the good stuff better and be more disciplined about clearing out the records which have been issued on CD, as well as the rubbish: I was at my parents' house recently (they are incorrigible throwers-away of anything belonging to me, good or bad) and I found a record of Gracie Fields singing 'Land of Hope and Glory'- how ironic that the worst record of all time should be among the few survivors of my house moves and their indiscriminate throw outs! I forgot to bin it, so it's probably still there, an obnoxious little time capsule of screechy jingoism. :devil:

My next big purchase will be a Pathé machine. And more singer photographs, when they come up for sale: I am very discriminating. I'm trying not to go too crazy before we move: if we end up living in France (fingers crossed!) we could end up in a 'coals to Newcastle' situation. Maybe I'd better wait till afterwards, then hit the brocante shops with a vengeance, if there's any money left after fixing up the hobo shack.


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## Oscarf (Dec 13, 2014)

I own over 2500 CDs and LPs but I have never considered mine as a collection, probably because it is not the result of conscious planning. Now I can see some patterns, classical is heavily oriented towards symphonic, choral and 20th century music, jazz is mostly bebop and hard-bop,... but it was never planned like that. Funny that though I was a very early adopter of e-books and most of my buying and reading is now digital, I have never been able to make the same jump for music. I can explore new stuff in Spotify but then I eventually need to get a hard copy at some point in time.


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