completing a collection

There is no such thing as a complete music collection IMHO. New issues, new re-issues, expanded music horizon and it just keeps on going ...

For me the music I have on records is like a lake, with new flowing in and old flowing out - always changing a little, always fresh, always a pleasure.

I am sure when I stop parting with recordings and getting new then the whole process will have died.

ATB from George

And three are completely worn out!

Best from George

PS: No TT though ... Haha!

PPS: The two of the three worn out ones were given me 37 years ago last month, and are two of the first four records I got for my tenth birthday.

Schubert Great C Major Synphony, Balle Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
Beethoven Pastoral Symphony, Philharmonia, Otto Klemperer.
... and the missing two are the
Schubert Unfinished Symphony, RLPO, Charles Groves, plus
Elgar's First Symphony, Philharmonia, Barbirolli

quote:

There is no such thing as a complete music collection IMHO. New issues, new re-issues, expanded music horizon and it just keeps on going ...

New artists as well...

when i was 30, if i went shopping for records i came home with half or less of what i found and wanted in one trip.

now at 59, i can make a 2 hour "trip" on the internet and come up empty handed.

so i've been trying new music, with a hit rate of about 1 in 10 being a good purchase.

in fact, over the past month the only unqualified success i've had in a new recording is the monteux/paris orchestra berlioz symphonie fantastique that george turned me on to.

true, the month before i found 4 or 5 gems.

it just seems to get harder the bigger your library gets.

Dear Mike,

In the old days when I lived in Hereford, I managed to get as high as about nine hundred LPs, before the switch to CDs. At that time I used to buy one or two LPs each week, and almost all were orders from the published catalogues rather than off the shelf in the record shop.

The compliment was that the shop would order two of anything I bought, and put the spare as stock. I don't think my ordering and its effect on the shop's stock ever added anything to the end of year sales of unsold and unmovable stock! I used to think I could have run a record shop!

But what you say about simply browsing and finding something you really want is true. It gets harder the nearer you are to distilling you optimal library.

What I think can be fascinating as well, is that over time personal taste in music and performance style tends to evolve, so the ideal library today is certainly different to what it was ten or twenty years ago, and so I expect it to continue.

On the other hand I have found some absolute musical reference points in performance, such as Helmut Walcha in Bach's keyboard works, Adolf Busch in Beethoven and Bach, and the strongest reference of all being Otto Klemperer in anything he saw fit to take to the recording studio. Then there are other individual recordings which equally are so special that they never seem to become worn out for me! Like Monteaux and the Paris Symphony Orchestra in the 1930 recording for HMV of the Berlioz Fantastic Symphony.

But many are the recordings from great or less known musical names which over time seem to fade in my affections and necessarily leave me, to be replaced by something I like better!

It is like a deep lake, so that the water in the deepest parts is more or less permanent, and some of the water changes surprisingly fast. At least that is my experience!

Best wishes from George

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:
Dear Mike,

over time personal taste in music and performance style tends to evolve, so the ideal library today is certainly different to what it was ten or twenty years ago, and so I expect it to continue.

Best wishes from George

farming my lps, which date back from 1963-1985 for the most part, i frequently mutter "what the hell was i thinking?" back in those days if i read about a piece of music i obtained it.
particularly for 20th century music, i bought things that are frankly unpleasant to listen to.

take for example "wozzeck". reading the libretto without listening, you come away thinking "what a nasty story". going back and listening after that read, you come away thinking "the music really intensifies the nasty bits of plot line, and it never lets you take an unfettered breath".

so i got the dvd to see if "wozzeck" as it was intended (both seen and heard) was a different experience. it was - unrelenting misery and unease.

so here's a piece of music whose intention is to hold the audience within a miasma of misery and uncertainty for some few hours.

at 30 i could observe that from afar. these days it leaves a stain on my soul for days.

Dear Mike,

For any music to hold me for more than half an hour, it needs to be a true masterpiece, and also one that however rigourous it is intellectually, is actually consoling in its essence.

So even a masterpiece such as Wozzeck [is aclaimed to be] would be unlistenable for me if the result is misery. Speaking of this very music, I once listened carefully to the last hour of it in a historic recording of the UK premiere conducted by Sir Adrian Boult with the very young BBC SO [recorded c- 1930/2?]. This performance followed three months of rehearsals, and was broadcast all over Europe. The composer immediately sent a telegram to Boult congratulating him and his musicians on achieving the music the way it was supposed to go.

So even when done as the composer hoped, it left me sure that I would never find any personal enjoyment in it.

Of course it is arguable that the Saint Matthew Passion is a story of tragic and epic proportions, but there is a human warmth to it. A hope that some people have the best of intentions in their actions even if they fall from perfection, which is deeply consoling. It is the longest piece I listen to, and not all that often. I keep it for special occasions ...

ATB from George

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:
Of course it is arguable that the Saint Matthew Passion is a story of tragic and epic proportions, but there is a human warmth to it. A hope that some people have the best of intentions in their actions even if they fall from perfection, which is deeply consoling. It is the longest piece I listen to, and not all that often. I keep it for special occasions ...

ATB from George

the st. matthews' passion is one of my loves, it has gotten 5 listens over a period of 30+ years. it never leaves me inconsolable as "wozzeck" does. the music is so beautiful, it can't wound me.

but i do have to "get ready" for it, as it is a long and musically demanding indulgence.

today i am going to give mozart's "magic flute" a viewing (levine/met on dvd). i know that will leave me optimistic and happy. that's what i want today.

I remember seeing John Peel asked what his favourite record was, and he said it was always something that he was hearing for the first time.

That said, if pushed John Peel would answer 'Teenage Kicks' bu The Undertones.

Although I have a core of artists I return to, I am always seeking new music, so my collection will never be complete. There are so many different artists, composers, and styles of music to explore that even if I ever feel I have all that will interest me in one style, a new style will offer new challenges, and joys.

quote:

Originally posted by JamieL:
Although I have a core of artists I return to, I am always seeking new music, so my collection will never be complete. There are so many different artists, composers, and styles of music to explore that even if I ever feel I have all that will interest me in one style, a new style will offer new challenges, and joys.

good luck with that over 5 decades :-) i still look for new thrills as well, i just pull up an empty dipper more often than was true three decades ago.

quote:

at some point, new experience is boring or otherwise unsatisfactory more often than not.

one way to overcome this difficulty is to turn inward, to re-examine what you already have. in that process, you can learn a lot about yourself.

I can understand this in a way. I go through phases where I have to leave a composer for a little while but I always come back. It may be months or it may be years. But this is precisely why I have a music collection. So to answer the question I would say that my collection will never be complete. It will probably not grow at the speed it once did and it probably will become more focused on the things I enjoy most but I can't see it ever reaching an end point.

Mike, you mention turning inward to try and salvage some sort of spark....For myself, I cannot imagine having a relationship with music without having some sort of emotional or spiritual connection with it. This was true for me at every point in my life including when I was an adolescent. The relationship has to be two way and I've found that the more I put into the relationship the more I get out. Also, I consider myself fortunate in that the music I enjoy and love is truly inexhaustible; it is unlikely that I'd ever get to the bottom of it. I also listen to music mostly to become a more skilled or knowledgeable player so there is a motivation for me to collect.

Curiosity is another reason I collect. Even if at any point in time I have a pretty good idea who are my favorite interpreters I wouldn't for a second shut the door and disregard all other prospects. Sometimes one can be pleasantly surprised by something that on first glance you don't think much of. For this I take my own advice from when I tell my son that he has to taste something before he can say whether he likes something or not (he apparently believes he can tell whether his dinner will be worth eating or not solely based on sight). One has to approach music in such a way - with an open, willing mind as well.

Regards,
Doug

quote:

Originally posted by Florestan:
Mike, you mention turning inward to try and salvage some sort of spark....

it's not to salvage a spark. it is to renew the experience by looking back at where you have been.
i find it illuminating.

and fewer discoveries are coming my way.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:

quote:

Originally posted by JamieL:
Although I have a core of artists I return to, I am always seeking new music, so my collection will never be complete. There are so many different artists, composers, and styles of music to explore that even if I ever feel I have all that will interest me in one style, a new style will offer new challenges, and joys.

good luck with that over 5 decades :-) i still look for new thrills as well, i just pull up an empty dipper more often than was true three decades ago.

Perhaps my liking of live performance, and also live improvisation means that some musicians can continue to offer new and interesting material. It also means that archive live material, and bootlegs are always turning up that are of interest.

I do also challenge myself to find new music, but agree that I am often disappointed.

I also find that I am often surprised by music from those I work with. Charles Trennet, French singer from the 30's was a pleasant and unexpected addition to my music collection this last year through working with someone who has a very eclectic taste.

In my fourth decade of actively buying music, I have found a dozen new artists to interest me. I have also found that with artists I have liked for years, that there are periods I previously did not appreciate, that have opened up to me with persevering. I do find an acquired taste is often a more rewarding one than immediate gratification.

Mike I'm like you and only a few years behind you at 55 now. I had no long term classical knowledge as I started out in rock. I stated listening seriously to classical at 35 when I was bored with rock. Strangely, or not, I was drawn to adventuresome music, start with Rite of Spring. Tried minimalism in the 80s, Boulez, and I have been going to the Ojai Music Festival for 18 years, 5 concerts in a weekend that centers on mainly 20th C. I also bought things I heard on the radio however much of it is in disuse now. I"ve been trading those out and finding prettier melodic music as I grow older. I look forward to another year at Ojai with Eighth Black Bird as the focus. I attribute my liking some minimalism to having done periods of meditation and that studio disco in the late 70s when I was late 20s. Most classical people HATE minimalism with a vengeance.

I totally discount Mozart as too common, the local classical station plays his works about 30% of the week, why go buy more?

I just read "The Rest is Noise" and bought a Feldman CD with Rothko Chapel on it, wonderful music tho strange, but not harsh. I want to try a few more like Partch and the west coast guys.

The same goes for rock now, I tend toward Paul Simon, Joni, Cat Stevens rather than the later U2, Springsteen and high power rock. I did that in the hay day with Hendrix and Led Zep I don't need it now. Tho I do have Are You Experienced and Electric Ladyland.