Which composers?

[d***@aol.com]

Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings? In mine they're Bach, Mozart, and Verdi. Haydn
and Beethoven also weigh in at high levels. I probably have more
recordings of Don Giovanni, the Eroica, and the Symphonie fantastique
than of any other pieces. The Renaissance piece represented by the
most recordings in my collection is Dufay's Missa "Se le face ay
pale." I have six recordings of Spontini's La vestale, too many
recordings of Strauss's Arabella, almost every recording of Erwartung
I've been able to lay my hands on, and five recordings of Boulez's Pli
selon pli. The operas of Donizetti are disproportionately well
represented in my collection, Brahms just barely.

I have plenty of recordings of Mahler, Debussy, Schoenberg, Berg,
Carter, Boulez, and Berio, to name major enthusiasms closer to home,
but none of these composers is or was remotely as prolific as the
least or greatest masters in the 18th century.

One of my goals is to own a recording of every Bach cantata the
performers of which are neither Harnoncourt and Leonhardt nor Rilling:
I have the H/L set and most of Rilling's recordings. (Anything along
the lines of either Wilhelm Ehmann's grim and intensely earnest
recordings or the light, refreshing, and effervescent Harmonia mundi
recording of the Christmas Oratorio with the Tölzer Knabenchor, the
Collegium aureum, and Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden would be most welcome: I
wish there were complete cycles by both. I've already got all three
Erato boxes of Bach recordings with Fritz Werner and all of the Berlin
Classics discs with Hans-Joachim Rotzsch.)

-david gable

[j***@aol.com]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings? In mine they're Bach, Mozart, and Verdi. Haydn
and Beethoven also weigh in at high levels. I probably have more
recordings of Don Giovanni, the Eroica, and the Symphonie fantastique
than of any other pieces. The Renaissance piece represented by the
most recordings in my collection is Dufay's Missa "Se le face ay
pale." I have six recordings of Spontini's La vestale, too many
recordings of Strauss's Arabella, almost every recording of Erwartung
I've been able to lay my hands on, and five recordings of Boulez's Pli
selon pli. The operas of Donizetti are disproportionately well
represented in my collection, Brahms just barely.

As operas go, I guess Donizetti is relatively well represented in my
home as well. I'm not an inveterate opera collector, and I'm not
really sure where I stand in terms of airchecks, but I probably have
more operas by Donizetti (more than 20 but probably less than 30) than
by anybody else, but by far more *hours* of Wagner than of Donizetti.

In case it hasn't been obvious from my posting patterns on rmcr,
Mahler the center of my interests: I think he comprises roughly 5 or 6
percent of the total pile of musical choices.

Does 5 or 6 percent sound like a high percentage? It seems obscene to
me given how many composers I like who are not Mahler. But I have
trouble escaping my love of Mahler.

I certainly don't have "every recording" of any well-known piece I
could "lay my hands on"--not even Le Tombeau de Couperin or the Gran
Partita or Brahms Violin Concerto or Bizet Symphony in C, to mention
some of the greatest hits for oboe that often drive my purchasing
patterns.

I almost certainly have more recordings of Mahler 1 or Mahler 4 than
any other piece (I'm not sure which , but those just happen to be the
most frequently recorded Mahler pieces, and the cheapest (ie, always
on one disc). Fortunately, I don't have too many recordings of
anything yet--I think that feeling comes at a later stage in life.

Post by d***@aol.com
I have plenty of recordings of Mahler, Debussy, Schoenberg, Berg,
Carter, Boulez, and Berio, to name major enthusiasms closer to home,
but none of these composers is or was remotely as prolific as the
least or greatest masters in the 18th century.
One of my goals is to own a recording of every Bach cantata the
I have the H/L set and most of Rilling's recordings.

As a listener I don't really have "goals", per se. My single goal is
to pack in as many enjoyable hours of listening as I can.

Post by d***@aol.com
(Anything along
the lines of either Wilhelm Ehmann's grim and intensely earnest
recordings or the light, refreshing, and effervescent Harmonia mundi
recording of the Christmas Oratorio with the Tölzer Knabenchor, the
Collegium aureum, and Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden would be most welcome: I
wish there were complete cycles by both. I've already got all three
Erato boxes of Bach recordings with Fritz Werner and all of the Berlin
Classics discs with Hans-Joachim Rotzsch.)

I bought a couple of Werner's discs and was very happy to make his
acquiantance. But I haven't even heard all the Bach cantatas yet, so I
have a ways to go, no matter who's conducting.

--Jeff

[TareeDawg]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

In mine they would be Bach closely followed by Haydn, or even the other
way around. Like yourself I would like to acquire all of the Bach
cantatas, but as yet, have no clear indication as to which is/or is
going to represent the best for me in this repertoire, but as I also do
hip, half-hip, nearly hip, or non-hip, it shouldn't be too difficult.

Mahler figures reasonably high in duplications, but then so does Shosty
also, as well as Nielsen, Sibelius and RVW. And I have a penchant for
the Liszt tone poems also, and if I thought someone other than Halasz or
Joo, had done a better set, I'd be on to it like a flash. Lots of 20th
century orchestral fare as well, and lately acquainted myself with all
the Simpson symphonies. Harnoncourt's LvB box presently on the wing.

Dislike opera with a veangance, and consider only Britten and Puccini as
being worth the time. Like yourself, find it difficult to dislike any
early music.

Ray (Dawg) Hall

[HvT]

<***@aol.com> schreef in bericht news:1fa4d2bc-ec03-4019-8351-***@u36g2000pro.googlegroups.com...

!Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
!number of recordings?

It must be Beethoven because of the never ending production of sets with
the complete piano sonatas. BTW, I have stopped ordering because I
seldom revisit any of these sets. Debussy's piano music comes second.

Henk

[Kirk McElhearn]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

Bach, Schubert (lieder), followed by Beethoven (lots of piano sonatas
and string quartets). But for sheer diversity - number of different
works, rather than multiple recordings of the same works, it's Bach.

Post by d***@aol.com
One of my goals is to own a recording of every Bach cantata the
I have the H/L set and most of Rilling's recordings. (Anything along
the lines of either Wilhelm Ehmann's grim and intensely earnest
recordings or the light, refreshing, and effervescent Harmonia mundi
recording of the Christmas Oratorio with the Tölzer Knabenchor, the
Collegium aureum, and Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden would be most welcome: I
wish there were complete cycles by both. I've already got all three
Erato boxes of Bach recordings with Fritz Werner and all of the Berlin
Classics discs with Hans-Joachim Rotzsch.)

Wow, you've got a long way to go. There are more and more recordings
issued every month, it seems like there are a half-dozen new complete
series in the works. I'm getting the Gardiner series by subscription,
but have a bunch of Suzukis which are very nice. I also like
Herreweghe's recordings, but he's not doing a complete.

Kirk

[d***@aol.com]

Post by Kirk McElhearn
Wow, you've got a long way to go. There are more and more recordings
[of Bach cantatas] issued every month, it seems like there are a half-dozen new complete
series in the works. I'm getting the Gardiner series by subscription,
but have a bunch of Suzukis which are very nice. I also like
Herreweghe's recordings, but he's not doing a complete.

Actually, I'm not terribly interested in the complete sets from the
last two or three decades. What's hard is tracking down individual
recordings of every cantata that I'm actually enthusiastic about. I
wish that, instead of serving as Harnoncourt's assistant for the
complete series on Telefunken, Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden had recorded the
complete cantatas with the Tölzer Knabenchor and the Collegium aureum.

-david gable

[A. Brain]

Post by Kirk McElhearn

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

Bach, Schubert (lieder), followed by Beethoven (lots of piano sonatas
and string quartets). But for sheer diversity - number of different
works, rather than multiple recordings of the same works, it's Bach.

Post by d***@aol.com
One of my goals is to own a recording of every Bach cantata the
performers of which are neither Harnoncourt and Leonhardt nor
I have the H/L set and most of Rilling's recordings. (Anything along
the lines of either Wilhelm Ehmann's grim and intensely earnest
recordings or the light, refreshing, and effervescent Harmonia mundi
recording of the Christmas Oratorio with the Tölzer Knabenchor, the
Collegium aureum, and Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden would be most welcome: I
wish there were complete cycles by both. I've already got all three
Erato boxes of Bach recordings with Fritz Werner and all of the Berlin
Classics discs with Hans-Joachim Rotzsch.)

Wow, you've got a long way to go. There are more and more recordings
issued every month, it seems like there are a half-dozen new complete
series in the works. I'm getting the Gardiner series by subscription,
but have a bunch of Suzukis which are very nice. I also like
Herreweghe's recordings, but he's not doing a complete.

Bach, Handel. Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms, with
Schubert, Schumann and Brahms mostly because of their Lieder.

Mozart primarily because of his operas. When listening to Bach,
I think nothing surpasses his music, especially the sacred music.

But Mozart's sacred music is also right up there and probably
three out of my top five operas are by WAM.

Some "sleepers" among the masterpieces, i.e., works not perhaps
as well-known as they should be:

Bach's "Lutheran Masses"--neglected by Harnoncourt, Gardiner,
and Hogwood. Poorly served by HIP Herreweghe.

Handel's operas--there are lots of them; I'm looking forward to
"Radamisto" next month in Santa Fe.

Schubert: I would argue that about 40% of his music is neglected.
There are lots of piano sonatas other than the last three, plenty of
Lieder other than the top dozen songs, and some good sacred
music as well.

Schumann: Like Bach and Mozart, sometimes my favorite composer.
His symphonies are underrated, his Lieder overlooked, his chamber
works among the best.

Brahms: Get that DFD box from Brilliant and discover his Lieder.

[u***@yahoo.com]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?  In mine they're Bach, Mozart, and Verdi.  Haydn
and Beethoven also weigh in at high levels.  I probably have more
recordings of Don Giovanni, the Eroica, and the Symphonie fantastique
than of any other pieces.  The Renaissance piece represented by the
most recordings in my collection is Dufay's Missa "Se le face ay
pale."  I have six recordings of Spontini's La vestale, too many
recordings of Strauss's Arabella, almost every recording of Erwartung
I've been able to lay my hands on, and five recordings of Boulez's Pli
selon pli.  The operas of Donizetti are disproportionately well
represented in my collection, Brahms just barely.
I have plenty of recordings of Mahler, Debussy, Schoenberg, Berg,
Carter, Boulez, and Berio, to name major enthusiasms closer to home,
but none of these composers is or was remotely as prolific as the
least or greatest masters in the 18th century.
One of my goals is to own a recording of every Bach cantata the
I have the H/L set and most of Rilling's recordings.  (Anything along
the lines of either Wilhelm Ehmann's grim and intensely earnest
recordings or the light, refreshing, and effervescent Harmonia mundi
recording of the Christmas Oratorio with the Tölzer Knabenchor, the
Collegium aureum, and Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden would be most welcome:  I
wish there were complete cycles by both.  I've already got all three
Erato boxes of Bach recordings with Fritz Werner and all of the Berlin
Classics discs with Hans-Joachim Rotzsch.)
-david gable

For me, Tchaikovsky and Mozart would be highest followed by Beethoven,
Dvorak, Schubert, and Puccini. If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well). With Schubert, I collect his songs, so that will drive
the number up quite high. I have many of the Hyperion series.

It's funny though - the more music I buy the less I realize I know and
the more I appreciate what I like. Godowsky has been a revelation for
me. And Arensky was a stunner (I just couldn't believe I had never
heard his music after I heard it). I've also been enjoying Coates
recently (who I know only a little of). Hyperion, CPO and Naxos are
particularly good at offering series of interesting, new composers.
Just not enough time to listen to them all...

[d***@aol.com]

Post by u***@yahoo.com
If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well)

There is something to reckoning by "% of output" rather than sheer
number of discs. If you had one complete recording of the Ring and
two complete recordings of the music of Webern, you'd have more Wagner
records than Webern, which wouldn't necessarily be proof that you
preferred Wagner to Webern. One of my favorite composer's output is
quantitatively tiny, Boulez, and some of his music I could easily live
without, yet I care as much about his other music as any music I know,
and there are few composers I've spent as much time obsessing over as
Boulez.

-david gable

[Kevin N]

Post by d***@aol.com

 If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well)

There is something to reckoning by "% of output" rather than sheer
number of discs.  If you had one complete recording of the Ring and
two complete recordings of the music of Webern, you'd have more Wagner
records than Webern, which wouldn't necessarily be proof that you
preferred Wagner to Webern.  One of my favorite composer's output is
quantitatively tiny, Boulez, and some of his music I could easily live
without, yet I care as much about his other music as any music I know,
and there are few composers I've spent as much time obsessing over as
Boulez.
-david gable

If you had to ditch you entire Boulez collection, except for the discs
you *cannot* live without, what would you keep?

[number_six]

Post by Kevin N

Post by d***@aol.com

 If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well)

There is something to reckoning by "% of output" rather than sheer
number of discs.  If you had one complete recording of the Ring and
two complete recordings of the music of Webern, you'd have more Wagner
records than Webern, which wouldn't necessarily be proof that you
preferred Wagner to Webern.  One of my favorite composer's output is
quantitatively tiny, Boulez, and some of his music I could easily live
without, yet I care as much about his other music as any music I know,
and there are few composers I've spent as much time obsessing over as
Boulez.
-david gable

If you had to ditch you entire Boulez collection, except for the discs
you *cannot* live without, what would you keep?- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Not as a composer, but as a conductor, they'd have to work pretty hard
to pry Boulez' Daphnis and Chloe out of my paws.

[number_six]

Post by number_six

Post by Kevin N

Post by d***@aol.com

 If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well)

There is something to reckoning by "% of output" rather than sheer
number of discs.  If you had one complete recording of the Ring and
two complete recordings of the music of Webern, you'd have more Wagner
records than Webern, which wouldn't necessarily be proof that you
preferred Wagner to Webern.  One of my favorite composer's output is
quantitatively tiny, Boulez, and some of his music I could easily live
without, yet I care as much about his other music as any music I know,
and there are few composers I've spent as much time obsessing over as
Boulez.
-david gable

If you had to ditch you entire Boulez collection, except for the discs
you *cannot* live without, what would you keep?- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Not as a composer, but as a conductor, they'd have to work pretty hard
to pry Boulez' Daphnis and Chloe out of my paws.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Ack, and his Varese also!

As for Boulez as a composer, I have not delved enough to count
anything as indispensable, but I will take a look at Mr. Gable's list
earlier in this thread, and perhaps try a sample one of these days.

[d***@aol.com]

If you had to ditch your entire Boulez collection, except for the discs
you *cannot* live without, what would you keep?

Of all the questions you could have asked, that’s the question that
this collector-type personality is the most willing and eager to
answer. The real short list includes the recordings marked with
asterisks.

Le soleil des eaux (1st version [discounting earlier incidental music
to radio play], 1950)
Irène Joachim et al, Orchestre national de France, Roger Désormière
[aka Le Soleil Déso]
World première, 18 July 1950
INA Mémoire Vive IMV041

Le soleil des eaux (2nd version, 1958)
Joséphine Nendick et al, BBC SO, Boulez
EMI recording, (P) 1965

[The Erato recording of Soleil, 3rd version, with Boulez is a
hopelessly dull and lifeless misrepresentation of this piece, which
should be as refreshing as a spring thunderstorm]

*Le visage nuptial (first version for full orchestra, 1951-52)
World première, Cologne, 4 December 1957
Ilona Steingruber, Soprano; Eva Bornemann, Alto; WDR Rundfunkchor
Köln
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Pierre Boulez

Le visage nuptial (1989 revision)
Françoise Pollet, soprano
Katherine Kammerloher, contralto
BBC Women’s Voices
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Strasbourg, Festival Musica, 21 September 2001
[The poorly recorded Erato recording is far less animated than this
live performance. The version I prefer is a nonexistent version
somewhere between 51-52 and 89. I prefer the fierce original of this
blazing ecstatic/explosive piece.]

3rd Sonata: Trope & Constellation/Miroir
Charles Rosen
CBS/Columbia Records
[Sorry, but I can live without the first two sonatas]

2nd Book of Structures
[I once heard a live broadcast with the Kontarsky’s, whom I’ve also
heard play this piece in person, that was rather more exciting than
the perfectly decent Wergo studio recording. Not sure whether I
prefer the Kontarsky’s on Wergo, Chen & Wambach on CBS, or Aimard &
Boffard on DG.]

*Figures, doubles, prismes (1963)
Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunk, Pierre Boulez
World première, Basel, 10 January 1964
[This is the white hot conductor of the 1960’s.]

*Figures, doubles, prismes (1968 expansion)
BBC SO, Boulez
Erato (recorded March, 1985)

*Pli selon pli (1962)
Lukomska, BBC SO, Boulez
1969 CBS recording, reissued on Sony
[I far prefer this to the later recordings on Erato, and I prefer the
1962 version to the final revision completed in 1989, although I
prefer the strengthened opening of the third Mallarmé Improvisation in
the revision.]

Éclat (1965)
members of Orchestra of Our Time, Joel Thome
Vox (1978)

Éclat/Multiples
London Sinfonietta, George Benjamin
Queen Elizabeth Hall, 18 May, 2005
[The CBS recording with Boulez and the EIC now on Sony is very good
but a little tame.]

cummings ist der dichter (first version, 1970)
Orchestra and Chorus of the ORF, Vienna, Bruno Maderna
Live performance, July 29, 1973
Released on Telefunken in memoriam Bruno Maderna

cummings ist der dichter (revision, 1986)
SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart; SWR Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart
Rupert Huber
November 1998

cummings ist der dichter (revision, 1986)
Ensemble InterContemporain, Pierre Boulez
Cité de la musique, Paris, 15 February 2005
[The placid Erato recording with its excessively pretty projection of
the final section does not begin to do justice with this piece, which
finally comes to life in three live performances I’ve heard]

Répons (first [roughly 20-minute] version, 1981)
Ensemble InterContemporain, Pierre Boulez
Première, Donaueschingen, October 18, 1981

Notations I & III (1980)
[I can easily live without Notations II & IV. I have live recordings
of I-IV with Abbado, Boulez, Mehta, and Chung that I prefer to
Barenboim/Erato and Abbado/DG. Will have to listen to Robertson
again.]

Notation VII (1999)
Myung Whun Chung, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
29 September 2000
From a live broadcast of Notations I-IV & VII.
[I have high hopes for Notations V, VI, & VIII, two of which are
finished: these are all supposed to be at least as long and
substantial as VII.]

…explosante/fixe… (early 1990’s version)
Sophie Cherrier, Ensemble InterContemporain, Boulez
DG (recorded October, 1994)
[Transitoires V & VII, featured in this recording, were composed in
the early 1990’s. The original e/f went through several versions in
the 1970’s without reaching a condition satisfactory to its composer.]

Dérive II
Any of the live recordings of the later versions, mainly for the
exhilarating first 12 minutes or so. Not that I don’t like the DG
recording. There is a much longer version that postdates the DG
recording, but it’s the first 12 minutes I’m taking to the desert
island.

-david gable

[Kevin N]

Post by d***@aol.com

If you had to ditch your entire Boulez collection, except for the discs
you *cannot* live without, what would you keep?

Of all the questions you could have asked, that’s the question that
this collector-type personality is the most willing and eager to
answer.  The real short list includes the recordings marked with
asterisks.

[snip list]

Thanks heartily for the list, though I should have known better that
any such list will contain many recordings which are for all practical
purposes unobtainable!

[d***@aol.com]

Post by Kevin N
Thanks heartily for the list, though I should have known better that
any such list will contain many recordings which are for all practical
purposes unobtainable!

Kevin,

Are you enormously interested in Boulez's music?

-david gable

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by d***@aol.com

 If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well)

There is something to reckoning by "% of output" rather than sheer
number of discs.  [...]

Right. That's a neat measure. In my collection, that would be Chopin,
Holmboe (most of what was recorded), Simpson (the Hyperion series) and
Webern, inevitably. I do well in Karlowicz and Magnard (who both did
not run up a high opus count), tolerably in Bacewicz, Beethoven and
Scarlatti.

--
Stan Szpakowicz, PhD, Professor
SITE, Computer Science, University of Ottawa

[j***@aol.com]

Post by d***@aol.com

Post by u***@yahoo.com
If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well)

There is something to reckoning by "% of output" rather than sheer
number of discs. If you had one complete recording of the Ring and
two complete recordings of the music of Webern, you'd have more Wagner
records than Webern, which wouldn't necessarily be proof that you
preferred Wagner to Webern. One of my favorite composer's output is
quantitatively tiny, Boulez, and some of his music I could easily live
without, yet I care as much about his other music as any music I know,
and there are few composers I've spent as much time obsessing over as
Boulez.
-david gable

It also depends on size of overall collection, size of composer's
recorded output, propensity for getting multiple recordings of the
same work, etc....

If you have all of Bruckner's works and just two other discs in your
whole collection, that says something. If you have all of Corelli's
works because it just so happens to all fit in a cheap box set, that
also says something less important. Or if you have all of Ernst
Mielck's recorded output, that may not mean much at all.

But if you have all of Bach's works *and* you pieced them together
painstakingly over many years one or two discs at a time instead of
splurging on a huge box set, then that really says a lot more than
anything, even if you *do* have 20,000 discs of other composers,
including the complete Morton Feldman and Henry Brant!

--Jeff

[u***@yahoo.com]

Post by j***@aol.com

Post by d***@aol.com

 If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well)

There is something to reckoning by "% of output" rather than sheer
number of discs.  If you had one complete recording of the Ring and
two complete recordings of the music of Webern, you'd have more Wagner
records than Webern, which wouldn't necessarily be proof that you
preferred Wagner to Webern.  One of my favorite composer's output is
quantitatively tiny, Boulez, and some of his music I could easily live
without, yet I care as much about his other music as any music I know,
and there are few composers I've spent as much time obsessing over as
Boulez.
-david gable

It also depends on size of overall collection, size of composer's
recorded output, propensity for getting multiple recordings of the
same work, etc....
If you have all of Bruckner's works and just two other discs in your
whole collection, that says something. If you have all of Corelli's
works because it just so happens to all fit in a cheap box set, that
also says something less important. Or if you have all of Ernst
Mielck's recorded output, that may not mean much at all.
But if you have all of Bach's works *and* you pieced them together
painstakingly over many years one or two discs at a time instead of
splurging on a huge box set, then that really says a lot more than
anything, even if you *do* have 20,000 discs of other composers,
including the complete Morton Feldman and Henry Brant!
--Jeff- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

This is what I was trying to capture. When I look at the collection,
my Dvorak stands out because it was all from different sources:
Symphonies conducted by Mackerras, Kubelik, Dohnanyi, and Jansons
(still not bought the earlier ones); Syphonic works by Kubelik,
Marriner, Mackerras, etc.; operas/choral works of all sorts; etc. And
most of it was bought one at a time to a point today where I have a
large portion of his outout (some operas still missing). For that same
reason, it's why my Lyapunov and Arensky collction generate the same
excitement.

But Offenbach, I can see already, will be among the most challenging.
I have already gotten several operas, with a few more available. After
that, much of his output hasn't even been recorded. I have several
collections that have songs from many of these neglected operas and I
cannot understand why they are neglected when the tunes are so good.
I find his work puts a smile on my face. I can think of no other
composer who so consistantly puts me in a happy mood. Pure joy.

[n***@comcast.net]

Post by d***@aol.com

Post by u***@yahoo.com
If we were to consider % of output, it
would probably be something like Grainger, and Chopin (with perhaps
Bizet as well)

There is something to reckoning by "% of output" rather than sheer
number of discs. If you had one complete recording of the Ring and
two complete recordings of the music of Webern, you'd have more Wagner
records than Webern, which wouldn't necessarily be proof that you
preferred Wagner to Webern. One of my favorite composer's output is
quantitatively tiny, Boulez, and some of his music I could easily live
without, yet I care as much about his other music as any music I know,
and there are few composers I've spent as much time obsessing over as
Boulez.

I have at least one recording of everything Chopin ever published--except
the Canon in f, and the Sostenuto in Eb. If anybody can help me out here
I'll be very grateful.

I also love Barber; If it has an Opus number, I have it.

Norm Strong

[Simon Smith]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings? In mine they're Bach, Mozart, and Verdi. Haydn
and Beethoven also weigh in at high levels. I probably have more
recordings of Don Giovanni, the Eroica, and the Symphonie fantastique
than of any other pieces. The Renaissance piece represented by the
most recordings in my collection is Dufay's Missa "Se le face ay
pale." I have six recordings of Spontini's La vestale, too many
recordings of Strauss's Arabella, almost every recording of Erwartung
I've been able to lay my hands on, and five recordings of Boulez's Pli
selon pli. The operas of Donizetti are disproportionately well
represented in my collection, Brahms just barely.
I have plenty of recordings of Mahler, Debussy, Schoenberg, Berg,
Carter, Boulez, and Berio, to name major enthusiasms closer to home,
but none of these composers is or was remotely as prolific as the
least or greatest masters in the 18th century.

I think the two pieces which are best-represented (in terms of numbers
of different recordings) are Mahler's 6th and Parsifal. There was a time
when Rachmaninov made up half of my whole collection (he was my first
love, and is still my not-so-guilty pleasure...) and everyone else made
up the other half, but that's less the case now. There are still
probably more Rach discs than any other, though. In terms of shelf space
I think Strauss takes up more than anyone else, thanks to his operas,
all of which I have multiple recordings of (except for Guntram and
Feuersnot; and, oddly perhaps, Ariadne).

There are some composers I'm quite completist about (anyone 20th-century
and Polish (Penderecki especially), Szymanowski, Birtwistle, Ligeti),
but in terms of sheer number of recordings they can't really compete.
(Tadeusz Baird certainly can't, at least not considering what's
available on CD.) Schnittke, perhaps, comes closest.

Simon

[d***@aol.com]

On Jul 24, 6:42 am, Simon Smith <***@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

.

Post by Simon Smith
(Tadeusz Baird certainly can't, at least not considering what's
available on CD.)

Now there's a name I haven't heard in aeons. What recordings of
Baird's music are available on CD?

-david gable

[Simon Smith]

Post by d***@aol.com

Post by Simon Smith
(Tadeusz Baird certainly can't, at least not considering what's
available on CD.)

Now there's a name I haven't heard in aeons. What recordings of
Baird's music are available on CD?

I count six discs on my shelf. There's a very good recent (therefore
hopefully still in print) disc on Signum which includes the Four
Novellas, Five Songs, Epiphany Music, Four Love Sonnets and Canzona.
Then there is a double CD from Polskie Nagrania, which I *think* is
still available, containing various things, but importantly Psychodrama,
Symphony No 3, Elegeia, the Concerto lugubre (viola concerto) and Voices
from Afar.

There are then some Olympia discs which one might stumble across
second-hand, if one is lucky. One features his opera Tomorrow;
Psychodrama (the same recording as from the Polskie Nagrania set) is the
filler; another includes Goethe-Briefe, Scene for Cello and Harp with
Orchestra, and Canzona, along with the same Voices from Afar as the PN
set. There's also another Olympia disc of various bits of film music
(some in truly horrendous recordings - presumably from the original
soundtracks).

Finally there's a Koch Schwann disc comprising Psychodrama, Oboe
Concerto, Scene for Cello + Harp..., Canzona and the Concert lugubre
again (all different recordings); I think Berkshire supplied this one
for me, as it's OOP, of course.

Personally I find Baird's music fascinating and think he deserves at
least the recognition of the 'big Three' (Pendy, Luto and Gorecki), but
the lack of easily-available recordings certainly precludes that. I
wonder if Naxos might get round to doing a Baird-blitz as they have
done, and are doing, with so many other composers.

Simon

[JohnGavin]

Post by Simon Smith

Post by Simon Smith
(Tadeusz Baird certainly can't, at least not considering what's
available on CD.)

Now there's a name I haven't heard in aeons.  What recordings of
Baird's music are available on CD?

I count six discs on my shelf. There's a very good recent (therefore
hopefully still in print) disc on Signum which includes the Four
Novellas, Five Songs, Epiphany Music, Four Love Sonnets and Canzona.
Then there is a double CD from Polskie Nagrania, which I *think* is
still available, containing various things, but importantly Psychodrama,
Symphony No 3, Elegeia, the Concerto lugubre (viola concerto) and Voices
from Afar.
There are then some Olympia discs which one might stumble across
second-hand, if one is lucky. One features his opera Tomorrow;
Psychodrama (the same recording as from the Polskie Nagrania set) is the
filler; another includes Goethe-Briefe, Scene for Cello and Harp with
Orchestra, and Canzona, along with the same Voices from Afar as the PN
set. There's also another Olympia disc of various bits of film music
(some in truly horrendous recordings - presumably from the original
soundtracks).
Finally there's a Koch Schwann disc comprising Psychodrama, Oboe
Concerto, Scene for Cello + Harp..., Canzona and the Concert lugubre
again (all different recordings); I think Berkshire supplied this one
for me, as it's OOP, of course.
Personally I find Baird's music fascinating and think he deserves at
least the recognition of the 'big Three' (Pendy, Luto and Gorecki), but
the lack of easily-available recordings certainly precludes that. I
wonder if Naxos might get round to doing a Baird-blitz as they have
done, and are doing, with so many other composers.
Simon

Large portions center around composers - Bach, Scarlatti, Chopin,
Ravel, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Medtner, Ives. Other large amounts
center on performers - Michelangeli, Gilels, DeLarrocha, Hamelin,
Heifetz, De Los Angeles, Ameling, N.Y. Pro Musica - large collection
of modern harpsichord recordings etc.

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by Simon Smith

Now there's a name I haven't heard in aeons.  What recordings of
Baird's music are available on CD?

I count six discs on my shelf. There's a very good recent (therefore
hopefully still in print) disc on Signum which includes the Four
Novellas, Five Songs, Epiphany Music, Four Love Sonnets and Canzona.
Then there is a double CD from Polskie Nagrania, which I *think* is
still available,

Uhm. In Poland (B-<).

Post by Simon Smith
containing various things, but importantly Psychodrama,
Symphony No 3, Elegeia, the Concerto lugubre (viola concerto) and Voices
from Afar.
There are then some Olympia discs which one might stumble across
second-hand, if one is lucky. [...]

There is a lot of repetition (the same recordings) between the PN
twofer and two Olympia discs.

Your enthusiasm is infectious. I dug up an old PN vinyl, XL 0072
(mono), with a recording of Four Essays, which may or may not be what
you call Four Novellas. If you are interested, get it at

http://www.mediafire.com/?b4jybjtmfi3

Four movements in one file, MP3 encoded at bitrate 320 after
aggressive denoising (Amadeus did that for me): Molto adagio,
Allegretto grazioso, Allegro, Molto adagio. National Philharmonic
Warsaw under Witold Rowicki.

Enjoy!

--
Stan Szpakowicz, PhD, Professor
SITE, Computer Science, University of Ottawa

[Simon Smith]

Post by s***@gmail.com

Post by Simon Smith

Post by d***@aol.com
Now there's a name I haven't heard in aeons. What recordings of
Baird's music are available on CD?

I count six discs on my shelf. There's a very good recent (therefore
hopefully still in print) disc on Signum which includes the Four
Novellas, Five Songs, Epiphany Music, Four Love Sonnets and Canzona.
Then there is a double CD from Polskie Nagrania, which I *think* is
still available,

Uhm. In Poland (B-<).

I'm sure I've seen other sources offering it, but might be wrong; I
think I actually got my copy from eBay.

Post by s***@gmail.com
Your enthusiasm is infectious. I dug up an old PN vinyl, XL 0072
(mono), with a recording of Four Essays, which may or may not be what
you call Four Novellas. If you are interested, get it at
http://www.mediafire.com/?b4jybjtmfi3
Four movements in one file, MP3 encoded at bitrate 320 after
aggressive denoising (Amadeus did that for me): Molto adagio,
Allegretto grazioso, Allegro, Molto adagio. National Philharmonic
Warsaw under Witold Rowicki.

Actually this is a different piece - thanks a lot for this! The only
recording I had of these was one recorded from Polish radio.

Simon

[Matthew B. Tepper]

Post by Simon Smith
There are some composers I'm quite completist about (anyone 20th-century
and Polish (Penderecki especially),

I was a huge Penderecki nut in the '70s, far less so after he went full-bore
Romantic. But my interest is on the upswing again. Could you give a
comparison of the two recordings of his Piano Concerto?

[Simon Smith]

Post by Matthew B. Tepper

Post by Simon Smith
There are some composers I'm quite completist about (anyone 20th-century
and Polish (Penderecki especially),

I was a huge Penderecki nut in the '70s, far less so after he went full-bore
Romantic. But my interest is on the upswing again. Could you give a
comparison of the two recordings of his Piano Concerto?

The piece is so hard to take seriously, that I can't say I made any
serious comparison between the two, but I have them both, and the
performances are fine - I'd say the DUX CD is possibly the better buy,
as you get the Capriccio for violin and orchestra as a filler (nice to
have it in 'modern sound' - although Kegel's recording, on Berlin
Classics, is only from 1977), as well as De natura sonoris II.
Admittedly neither quite achieve the unbridled frenzy of Krzys' original
EMI recordings. Also the Capriccio here includes a few revisions
(extensions) to the little solo cadenzas which crop up during the piece.
As far as the Piano Concerto goes, Penderecki has also revised this
since both recordings were made, as far as I can tell only by extending
the closing section to include more recapitulated material. You might
consider the Concerto grosso, which is the coupling on the other
(Polskie Radio) recording, more enticing, if you don't have it already.
There's not much between them in terms of solo playing either; both
Douglas and Bilinska manage impressively with what is admittedly a
horribly unidiomatic piano part.

I did enjoy this review a lot, particularly for the phrase, "something
akin to Saint-Saens and Busoni fighting under a duvet" :) -
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Jan08/Penderecki_dux0582.htm

There is, as you may be aware, a recording of the Piano Concerto on the
way from Naxos, in their Penderecki series; not sure what the release
date might be.

And if you haven't tried it, his 8th Symphony is well worth hearing,
being IMHO the best of his recent pieces by a long way. Annoyingly,
again, since the Naxos recording he's added at least five more movements
(and apparently is still considering some more).

Simon

[Matthew B. Tepper]

Post by Simon Smith

Post by Matthew B. Tepper

Post by Simon Smith
There are some composers I'm quite completist about (anyone
20th-century and Polish (Penderecki especially),

I was a huge Penderecki nut in the '70s, far less so after he went
full-bore Romantic. But my interest is on the upswing again. Could
you give a comparison of the two recordings of his Piano Concerto?

The piece is so hard to take seriously, that I can't say I made any
serious comparison between the two, but I have them both, and the
performances are fine - I'd say the DUX CD is possibly the better buy,
as you get the Capriccio for violin and orchestra as a filler (nice to
have it in 'modern sound' - although Kegel's recording, on Berlin
Classics, is only from 1977), as well as De natura sonoris II.
Admittedly neither quite achieve the unbridled frenzy of Krzys' original
EMI recordings. Also the Capriccio here includes a few revisions
(extensions) to the little solo cadenzas which crop up during the piece.
As far as the Piano Concerto goes, Penderecki has also revised this
since both recordings were made, as far as I can tell only by extending
the closing section to include more recapitulated material. You might
consider the Concerto grosso, which is the coupling on the other
(Polskie Radio) recording, more enticing, if you don't have it already.
There's not much between them in terms of solo playing either; both
Douglas and Bilinska manage impressively with what is admittedly a
horribly unidiomatic piano part.
I did enjoy this review a lot, particularly for the phrase, "something
akin to Saint-Saens and Busoni fighting under a duvet" :) -
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Jan08/Penderecki_dux0
582.htm
There is, as you may be aware, a recording of the Piano Concerto on the
way from Naxos, in their Penderecki series; not sure what the release
date might be.
And if you haven't tried it, his 8th Symphony is well worth hearing,
being IMHO the best of his recent pieces by a long way. Annoyingly,
again, since the Naxos recording he's added at least five more movements
(and apparently is still considering some more).

Thanks for the detailed remarks. I've been picking up all the Naxos
issues, of course, the two EMI twofers, and as many of the Muzas as
possible. "Ubu Roi" I bought only when Tower went out of business and the
Sunset Boulevard store had everything marked way down.

So he's adding movements to symphonies, eh? I guess that's not an activity
restricted to Anton Rubinsteim and Luciano Berio. ;--) I'm just wondering
if he's ever going to finish his 6th so he can get on to his 9th.

[Al Eisner]

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008, Matthew B. Tepper wrote:

[re Penderecki]

Post by Matthew B. Tepper
So he's adding movements to symphonies, eh? I guess that's not an activity
restricted to Anton Rubinsteim and Luciano Berio. ;--) I'm just wondering
if he's ever going to finish his 6th so he can get on to his 9th.

But Rubinsterin and Berio aren't doing it as much as they used to ....

Is Boulez?

[William Sommerwerck]

In my case it's most likely Mozart & Bach, simply because of the purchase of
the Brilliant sets, and the H/L complete cantata set.

But, ignoring those, I would be hard-pressed even to guess who would "win"
in sheer quantity. Other than Brahms and Schumann, I have no "fixation" on
any particular composer. And I don't have huge numbers of Brahms and
Schumann recordings

At the moment, I've stopped listening altogether. The death of a friend I
dearly love seems to have wiped out any interest in or pleasure from music.
It seems so unimportant.

[Matthew B. Tepper]

Post by William Sommerwerck
At the moment, I've stopped listening altogether. The death of a friend
I dearly love seems to have wiped out any interest in or pleasure from
music. It seems so unimportant.

I'm very sorry.

[number_six]

snip < At the moment, I've stopped listening altogether. The death of a friend I
dearly love seems to have wiped out any interest in or pleasure from music.
It seems so unimportant.

My sincere condolences.

I am fearful that before much longer -- perhaps a few years, perhaps
less -- I too may have to endure such a loss. I do not know whether
the music I associate with her will be a comfort to me, or if I will
be unable to listen any more to certain things. The river of events
rushes forward, beyond our ability to control or contain.

[Terry]

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:43:27 +1000, ***@aol.com wrote
(in article

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings? In mine they're Bach, Mozart, and Verdi. Haydn
and Beethoven also weigh in at high levels. I probably have more
recordings of Don Giovanni, the Eroica, and the Symphonie fantastique
than of any other pieces. The Renaissance piece represented by the
most recordings in my collection is Dufay's Missa "Se le face ay
pale." I have six recordings of Spontini's La vestale, too many
recordings of Strauss's Arabella, almost every recording of Erwartung
I've been able to lay my hands on, and five recordings of Boulez's Pli
selon pli. The operas of Donizetti are disproportionately well
represented in my collection, Brahms just barely.
I have plenty of recordings of Mahler, Debussy, Schoenberg, Berg,
Carter, Boulez, and Berio, to name major enthusiasms closer to home,
but none of these composers is or was remotely as prolific as the
least or greatest masters in the 18th century.
One of my goals is to own a recording of every Bach cantata the
I have the H/L set and most of Rilling's recordings. (Anything along
the lines of either Wilhelm Ehmann's grim and intensely earnest
recordings or the light, refreshing, and effervescent Harmonia mundi
recording of the Christmas Oratorio with the Tölzer Knabenchor, the
Collegium aureum, and Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden would be most welcome: I
wish there were complete cycles by both. I've already got all three
Erato boxes of Bach recordings with Fritz Werner and all of the Berlin
Classics discs with Hans-Joachim Rotzsch.)
-david gable

The usual suspects: Bach, Beethoven, Sibelius and Schubert. I was surprised
to see Sibelius in there, in view of his relatively small output, but there's
a *lot* of duplication.

For Bach cantatas, I'm enjoying a steady acquisition of the John Eliot
Gardiner series. They're glorious perfomances, and beautifully packaged.

[Kevin N]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

If you went to ArkivMusic's main composers page and calculated the
number of available recordings as a percent, you would get numbers
very similar to those for my own collection--for at least the "major"
composers. The exceptions are that I have more Bach than Mozart, no
Vivaldi, and a much smaller portion of operatic composers.

[Matthew B. Tepper]

"***@aol.com" <***@aol.com> appears to have caused the
following letters to be typed in news:1fa4d2bc-ec03-4019-8351-

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

OTTOMH I'd say (alphabetically) Beethoven, Berlioz, Mozart, Shostakovich, and
Wagner. Maybe Brahms.

[Old Listener]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. Symphonies and Concerti. Some piano
sonatas. I'm just beginning to explore multiple recordings of Haydn
quartets and trios.

I like some works so well that i keep searching for more insight.
Other works leave me feeling that I having found anything that
captures the essence of the work. Brahms symphonies were like that
for me. I went from 1 recording for each symphony to 10-13 for each
work. For other works like the Brahms Violin Concerto, I will probably
never find a recording that makes me really appreciate the work. For
a few works like the Brahms PC 1, I happen on a recordings so good
that I don't search very seriously for alternatives after that
discovery.

Bill

[Ed Presson]

<***@aol.com> wrote in message news:1fa4d2bc-ec03-4019-8351-***@u36g2000pro.googlegroups.com...

Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings? In mine they're Bach, Mozart, and Verdi. Haydn
and Beethoven also weigh in at high levels.

snip<

-david gable

Not in precise order: Shostakovich, Haydn, Ravel, Mahler, Martinu, Bartok,
Vaughan Williams....I must be forgetting a few.

Ed Presson

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?  

Top 20: Bach (mostly instrumental music), Beethoven, Mozart (almost no
opera), Haydn, Schubert (again, mostly instrumental music), Brahms,
Mahler, Chopin, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Shostakovich, Wagner (two Ring
cycles do it), Schumann, Dvorak, Holmboe, Martinu, Bruckner,
Mendelssohn, Simpson, Bartok.

--
Stan Szpakowicz, PhD, Professor
SITE, Computer Science, University of Ottawa

[pgaron]

Interesting to see Martinu's name pop up in a couple of these lists.
Though I don't own many recordings of his works, and am not familiar
with a lot of his compositions, I have come to think that he is a
seriously under-rated composer.

pgaron

[Dawg]

Post by s***@gmail.com

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

Top 20: Bach (mostly instrumental music), Beethoven, Mozart (almost no
opera), Haydn, Schubert (again, mostly instrumental music), Brahms,
Mahler, Chopin, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Shostakovich, Wagner (two Ring
cycles do it), Schumann, Dvorak, Holmboe, Martinu, Bruckner,
Mendelssohn, Simpson, Bartok.

A list that is quite close to my heart, and with mentions to Holmboe,
Simpson and Martinu, (hardly on everyone's list), all the more
creditable to this listener.

I could never agree with the Wagner, and never will, but also admit that
I really should listen to more Chopin as my collection is almost
threadbare of this composer. Odd really. I loved the etudes, and the
preludes, especially on LP, and maybe I should investigate the 'best'
recordings, in good sound, of these works on CD.

Also surprised a bit by the omission of Nielsen and Sibelius, and
Debussy ... but recognise these lists cannot be exhaustive, else we'd
all run out of cyber-space paper.

Ray (Dawg) Hall, Taree

[Bill McCutcheon]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings? ... [snip]

For me, it's Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and Haydn, in that order. If you
count number of individual discs, Haydn probably moves up to third place;
two symphony cycles are a lot of CDs!

Elsewhere in the thread someone raised the question about whose output is
best represented by percentage of works. That's easy for me: Corelli. I
have 100% of his compositions ... or is it 117% because I have two
recordings of his op.6? :-)

-- Bill McC.

[Kip Williams]

Post by Bill McCutcheon
Elsewhere in the thread someone raised the question about whose output is
best represented by percentage of works. That's easy for me: Corelli. I
have 100% of his compositions ... or is it 117% because I have two
recordings of his op.6? :-)

No, that's a slippery slope. What happens if someone has, say,
five-sixths of a composer's output, but owns three different versions of
each one that he has?

(smiley back atcha)

Kip W

[d***@aol.com]

Post by Kip Williams
No, that's a slippery slope. What happens if someone has, say,
five-sixths of a composer's output, but owns three different versions of
each one that he has?

The point is that, for any given listener, there may not be a purely
statistical method correlating some quantity with degrees of being
one's greatest enthusiasm. Now, if you're an out and out Mahler nut
and half of your records are Mahler and the other half is pretty
miscellaneous . . .

-david gable

[Kip Williams]

Post by d***@aol.com

Post by Kip Williams
No, that's a slippery slope. What happens if someone has, say,
five-sixths of a composer's output, but owns three different versions of
each one that he has?

The point is that, for any given listener, there may not be a purely
statistical method correlating some quantity with degrees of being
one's greatest enthusiasm. Now, if you're an out and out Mahler nut
and half of your records are Mahler and the other half is pretty
miscellaneous . . .

Eh? I just mean that calling something "117% of a composer's output"
because you have more than one of something is opening a can of worms,
mathematically. I think tabulating how much of a composer's output you
have is just fine.

Kip W

[d***@aol.com]

Post by Kip Williams
Eh? I just mean that calling something "117% of a composer's output"
because you have more than one of something is opening a can of worms,
mathematically.

Yes, I understood that.

Post by Kip Williams
I think tabulating how much of a composer's output you
have is just fine.

Actually, I don't think either statistical method, literal quantity or
per centage of output, is guaranteed to reflect how much you like one
composer relative to another accurately.

-david gable

[William Sommerwerck]

It might also be worth noting that the number of recordings is not
necessarily an accurate representation of how much we like a given
composer's music.

I also find I have "too many" recordings of music I can't find satisfying
performances of (eg, the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances).

[Bill McCutcheon]

Post by d***@aol.com

Post by Kip Williams
Eh? I just mean that calling something "117% of a composer's output"
because you have more than one of something is opening a can of worms,
mathematically.

Yes, I understood that.

Post by Kip Williams
I think tabulating how much of a composer's output you
have is just fine.

Actually, I don't think either statistical method, literal quantity or
per centage of output, is guaranteed to reflect how much you like one
composer relative to another accurately.
-david gable

Indeed! The fact that I have 100% of Corelli's output (the 117% was
entirely tongue-in-cheek) does not indicate he's my favorite composer. I
enjoy his music, of course, but he wouldn't make my top ten, maybe not even
my top twenty. But, with only six opi, which fit on eight CDs, it's easy to
acquire all of his music.

-- Bill McC.

[Gerard]

Post by Bill McCutcheon
Indeed! The fact that I have 100% of Corelli's output (the 117% was
entirely tongue-in-cheek) does not indicate he's my favorite
composer. I enjoy his music, of course, but he wouldn't make my top
ten, maybe not even my top twenty. But, with only six opi, which fit
on eight CDs, it's easy to acquire all of his music.

Brilliant Classics needs 10 CD's, but makes it even easier to acquire, for next
to nothing.

http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=9735

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/May05/Corelli_complete_92403.htm

[Bill McCutcheon]

Post by Gerard

Post by Bill McCutcheon
Indeed! The fact that I have 100% of Corelli's output (the 117% was
entirely tongue-in-cheek) does not indicate he's my favorite
composer. I enjoy his music, of course, but he wouldn't make my top
ten, maybe not even my top twenty. But, with only six opi, which fit
on eight CDs, it's easy to acquire all of his music.

Brilliant Classics needs 10 CD's, but makes it even easier to acquire, for next
to nothing.
http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=9735
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/May05/Corelli_complete_92403.htm

Interesting! Thanks for the links. I guess I don't have all his works
after all. :-(

My recordings by the Purcell Quartet (opp.1-4), Trio Sonnerie (op.5),
English Concert (op.6), and Europa Galante (op.6 again) don't include any
WoO works, which I didn't even know existed, but are included in the set in
your second link.

Thanks again for the info.

-- Bill McC.

[Kip Williams]

Post by Bill McCutcheon
Indeed! The fact that I have 100% of Corelli's output (the 117% was
entirely tongue-in-cheek) does not indicate he's my favorite composer. I
enjoy his music, of course, but he wouldn't make my top ten, maybe not even
my top twenty. But, with only six opi, which fit on eight CDs, it's easy to
acquire all of his music.

I think I've got 100% of the output of Tecla Badarzewska.

Kip W

[Lookingglass]

<***@aol.com> wrote

Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?
************************

I have many recordings of Stravinsky's music. I also have a very large
collection of the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos. I find his music endlessly
fascinating, perhaps because his musical voice is so different from the
better known composers. Medieval and Renaissance music is a whole shelf by
itself.

Most of the *popular* composers are amply represented as well.


www.Shemakhan.com

[Richard S. Sandmeyer]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?
************************
I have many recordings of Stravinsky's music. I also have a very large
collection of the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos. I find his music endlessly
fascinating, perhaps because his musical voice is so different from the
better known composers. Medieval and Renaissance music is a whole shelf by
itself.
Most of the *popular* composers are amply represented as well.
www.Shemakhan.com

Composers with most CDs in my collection:

Beethoven
W. A. Mozart
Mahler (thanks to mulitple recordings of each work)
J. S. Bach
J. Haydn
Shostakovich
Tchaikovsky
Brahms
R. Strauss
Bruckner
Prokofiev
Wagner
Schubert
Sibelius
Dvorak
Ravel
Stravinsky
Debussy
Liszt
Nielsen
Berlioz
Handel Rachmaninoff Schumann (3-way tie)
Chopin
Elgar Mussorgsky (tie)


This ranking isn't perfect because some CDs aren't filed under composer
but rather by collection (such as the Great Pianists of 20th Century,
Great Conductors series, Original Masters box sets, various orchestra
boxes, etc.) and thus don't get counted in the tally by composer. Still
this ought to give a pretty good picture of who is well represented.

As far as % of works goes, I also have the complete Corelli box. In
addition, I have very high percentages of the recorded works of
Pettersson, Puccini, and Rameau. My Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach
collections are all close to complete if I compare what I have to the
contents of some of the so-called complete works boxes.

[A. Brain]

<***@aol.com> wrote in message news:1fa4d2bc-ec03-4019-8351-***@u36g2000pro.googlegroups.com...

Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings? In mine they're Bach, Mozart, and Verdi. Haydn
and Beethoven also weigh in at high levels. I probably have more
recordings of Don Giovanni, the Eroica, and the Symphonie fantastique
than of any other pieces. The Renaissance piece represented by the
most recordings in my collection is Dufay's Missa "Se le face ay
pale." I have six recordings of Spontini's La vestale, too many
recordings of Strauss's Arabella, almost every recording of Erwartung
I've been able to lay my hands on, and five recordings of Boulez's Pli
selon pli. The operas of Donizetti are disproportionately well
represented in my collection, Brahms just barely.

I have plenty of recordings of Mahler, Debussy, Schoenberg, Berg,
Carter, Boulez, and Berio, to name major enthusiasms closer to home,
but none of these composers is or was remotely as prolific as the
least or greatest masters in the 18th century.

One of my goals is to own a recording of every Bach cantata the
performers of which are neither Harnoncourt and Leonhardt nor Rilling:
I have the H/L set and most of Rilling's recordings. (Anything along
the lines of either Wilhelm Ehmann's grim and intensely earnest
recordings or the light, refreshing, and effervescent Harmonia mundi
recording of the Christmas Oratorio with the Tölzer Knabenchor, the
Collegium aureum, and Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden would be most welcome: I
wish there were complete cycles by both. I've already got all three
Erato boxes of Bach recordings with Fritz Werner and all of the Berlin
Classics discs with Hans-Joachim Rotzsch.)

----------------------------------------------------------

The Collegium Aureum and Schmidt-Gaden also made some
good Mozart recordings including the Vespers and the Requiem.
I finally tracked down some of them at CD Japan, but a favorite
recording of some Mozart once on Phillips "Sequenza" cassette
is nowhere to be found.

The Bach Magnificat was originally on a BASF LP coupled
with Cantata 110, but the cantata never made it to CD.

Toelzer is a Munich-based choir. Up in Nuernberg, the
Windsbacher Choir recorded some Bach on LP but there's
not much of that around that I can find. This choir appears
on the Beringer recording of Bach's Mass in B Minor and
they are really good---Haenssler, which on my copy is
described as "distributed by Collegium.

[Dawg]

Post by A. Brain
Toelzer is a Munich-based choir. Up in Nuernberg, the
Windsbacher Choir recorded some Bach on LP but there's
not much of that around that I can find. This choir appears
on the Beringer recording of Bach's Mass in B Minor and
they are really good---Haenssler, which on my copy is
described as "distributed by Collegium.

Bruno Weil/Tafelmusik, on many of their Haydn choral CDs, use the
Toelzer Knabenchor.

Such as the Heiligmesse CD, the "Kleine Ordelmesse, etc. CD, the CDs
containing the Theresienmesse/Nelsonmesse, the Paukenmesse, the Die
Schoepfung, and goodness knows what else. All are on Sony.

Ray (Dawg) Hall, Taree

[Allen]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

In my case, Bach is at the top, by a large margin. Second place is held
by Shostakovich, partly because I really like his music but also because
he was so prolific. Following, in no particular order are Beethoven,
Mozart, Ives, Messiaen, Schnittke, Sibelius, Dvorak, almost anything by
any of the 20th/21 century Baltic area (including Poland). Some would be
higher up in the list if they had a larger body of work, such as
Revueltas. I also am likely to pick up anything by American composers;
The Naxos American and American Jewish composers have been a godsend to
me. For way too many of my 79 years I ignored Berlioz, which was a huge
mistake that I am trying to rectify (MTB, I want to tell you that your
posts over the years have whetted my appetite for him). Conspicuously at
the bottom, with anywhere from none to three disks, are Wagner,
Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Strauss, Chopin, and Verdi.
Allen

[Matthew B. Tepper]

For way too many of my 79 years I ignored Berlioz, which was a huge mistake
that I am trying to rectify (MTB, I want to tell you that your posts over
the years have whetted my appetite for him).

I hope you enjoy the thrill of discovery!

[n***@comcast.net]

<***@aol.com> wrote in message news:1fa4d2bc-ec03-4019-8351-***@u36g2000pro.googlegroups.com...

Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

Mozart. I have 182 CDs of Mozart.

However, the single piece that I have the most recordings of is the Franck a
minor chorale. 17 different recordings.

Norm Strong

[u***@domain.invalid]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

In mine, in number of CDs and LPs, Beethoven.

However, the single work with the most performances is the
Mahler 8. I'm still looking for a good performance in
great sound, no volume compression and also no really
great over spotlighting of the soloists. I really grates
on me that so many performances have a soloist singing ff be
only a few dB softer than the whole gigantic chorus singing fff,
and sounding it, with the soloist overly boosted by spotlighting.

I'm going to try the recent Gergiev when it comes out on CD.

Doug McDonald

[Allen]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?
Mozart. I have 182 CDs of Mozart.
However, the single piece that I have the most recordings of is the Franck a
minor chorale. 17 different recordings.
Norm Strong

Roussel's 3rd Symphony is represented many times in my collection. I
like it very much, but one or two would be sufficient. However. it is
coupled with other things on perhaps six or seven CDs. most of which I
have filed in other locations. Anyone else who has too many performances
of works that are on the "B" side (going back to pop 78 and 45 lingo)?
Please no Taco Bell Canons.
Allen

[Matthew B. Tepper]

Roussel's 3rd Symphony is represented many times in my collection. I like
it very much, but one or two would be sufficient. However. it is coupled
with other things on perhaps six or seven CDs. most of which I have filed
in other locations. Anyone else who has too many performances of works that
are on the "B" side (going back to pop 78 and 45 lingo)?
Please no Taco Bell Canons.

I can't resist -- I have ONE recording of that last work, on an obscure BMG
CD of the Fiedler Sinfonietta (including Hindemith as soloist in his own "Der
Schwanendreher"!) ... and it's too many for me.

[Allen]

Post by Matthew B. Tepper

Roussel's 3rd Symphony is represented many times in my collection. I like
it very much, but one or two would be sufficient. However. it is coupled
with other things on perhaps six or seven CDs. most of which I have filed
in other locations. Anyone else who has too many performances of works that
are on the "B" side (going back to pop 78 and 45 lingo)?
Please no Taco Bell Canons.

I can't resist -- I have ONE recording of that last work, on an obscure BMG
CD of the Fiedler Sinfonietta (including Hindemith as soloist in his own "Der
Schwanendreher"!) ... and it's too many for me.

A retired viola prof is in a water exercise program with me. A few days
ago I mentioned an LP on Vanguard from the 1960s with Watanabe
conducting, and told him I couldn't dredge up the name of the
violist--Raphael Hillyer, of course. He liked that performance but then
asked me if I had heard Hindemith playing it and said that if I hadn't,-
I should listen. After we recover from an interesting summer--vacuum
cleaner and and we replaced with a Dyson; a week later the dishwasher
died and the day it was to be installed the air conditioner expired
(after 25 years); then our computer went to the great bit bucket in the
sky. So, until the credit card gets paid off I'm not buying many CDs.
Incidentally, in Austin we have an average of 11 days of 100 plus
temperature, but this year we've had 34--and counting; the AC was a must
replacement.
Allen

[number_six]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

In my collection, JS Bach is well in the numerical lead with about 140
disks, *not including* collections, crossover (Jacques Loussier,
Swingle Singers, Wendy Carlos what have you), or Bach on vinyl. Also
excluding other Bachs such as KPE and WFE, not to mention PDQ,
Laibach...

I keep my list in Excel (it used to be in a dbase III clone, but I
imported it after a y2k problem). However, I never filled in the
field for number of disks, so the Bach count is a manual count.

I believe I have around 80% of Simeon ten Holt's recorded output.

[Steve Emerson]

In article

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings? In mine they're Bach, Mozart, and Verdi. Haydn
and Beethoven also weigh in at high levels.

1. Beethoven
2. Chopin
3. Brahms and Haydn about equal
Then Bach, and so on -- Mozart, Schumann, Debussy, Thelonious Monk.

I'm very light on orchestral music.

SE.

[Neil]

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Mozart, Rachmaninoff,
Schubert, Tchaikovsky

Sinatra (performer), The Beatles, Dylan

Neil Miller, author of The Piano Lessons Book
Enter in Amazon.com search: Neil Miller Piano Lessons Book

[Kip Williams]

Post by Neil

Post by d***@aol.com
Which composers are best represented in your collection in sheer
number of recordings?

...

Post by Neil
Sinatra (performer), The Beatles, Dylan

Do you have the one where Frankie conducts? I've always been curious
about it, but it's only been available as part of a big multi-disk set
(or on expensive used vinyl, as far as I can tell).

Kip W

[Matthew B. Tepper]

Post by Kip Williams
Do you have the one where Frankie conducts? I've always been curious
about it, but it's only been available as part of a big multi-disk set
(or on expensive used vinyl, as far as I can tell).

Do you mean "Frank Sinatra Conducts the Music of Alec Wilder? It used to be
available on CD as Sony Music Special Products A 4271. One of the soloists
is his future nemesis, oboist Mitch(ell) Miller.

But I suspect you're referring to that big box of his Reprise recordings, in
which case you must mean "Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color," or
possibly "Frank Sinatra Conducts Music from Pictures and Plays."

[Kip Williams]

Post by Matthew B. Tepper

Post by Kip Williams
Do you have the one where Frankie conducts? I've always been curious
about it, but it's only been available as part of a big multi-disk set
(or on expensive used vinyl, as far as I can tell).

Do you mean "Frank Sinatra Conducts the Music of Alec Wilder? It used to be
available on CD as Sony Music Special Products A 4271. One of the soloists
is his future nemesis, oboist Mitch(ell) Miller.
But I suspect you're referring to that big box of his Reprise recordings, in
which case you must mean "Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color," or
possibly "Frank Sinatra Conducts Music from Pictures and Plays."

I see. Also one where he conducts an ensemble behind Dean Martin (what a
collaboration on Brahms's Lullaby!) and one for Peggy Lee. The "Pictures
and Plays" one has a number of tunes I recognize. Next time I go to one
of the big vinyl shops around here, I might take a look for that one or
the Alec Wilder set. Thanks for the lead.

Kip W

[Steve de Mena]

Post by Matthew B. Tepper

Post by Kip Williams
Do you have the one where Frankie conducts? I've always been curious
about it, but it's only been available as part of a big multi-disk set
(or on expensive used vinyl, as far as I can tell).

Do you mean "Frank Sinatra Conducts the Music of Alec Wilder? It used to be
available on CD as Sony Music Special Products A 4271. One of the soloists
is his future nemesis, oboist Mitch(ell) Miller.
But I suspect you're referring to that big box of his Reprise recordings, in
which case you must mean "Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color," or
possibly "Frank Sinatra Conducts Music from Pictures and Plays."

The Wilder and Tone Poems of Color are both available on Amazon, about
$14 for the first (from an Amazon Marketplace seller) and the latter
for $10 new.

Steve

[Wayne Reimer]

Without actually counting, it looks like Alkan, Liszt, Medtner,
Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Syzamanowski have the largest
representation, in terms of sheer numbers of CDs. But in terms of
percent of output or most listened too, or whatever way you'd want to
factor in composers who matter to me and who also appear in significant
numbers in my collection (not the same thing), there'd need to be room
made for Adams, Bartok, Busoni, Bruckner, Chavez, Chopin, Francaix,
Ginastera, Harrison, Hummel, Killmayer, Koechlin, Ligeti, Messiaen,
Part, Persichetti, Poulenc, Reich, Schnittke, Scriabin, Shapero,
Sibelius, Simpson, Stravinsky, Tishchenko, Tviett, and Villa-Lobos.
And that list doesn't include a bunch of interesting outliers that I
have more than one CD of, like Boris Tchaikovsky, Enescu, Sculthorpe,
Karg-Elert, or Reger.

It may seem weird that most of the canonicals aren't in there, but I
rarely have felt the need to pick up recordings of music that I'm
already over-exposed to via broadcasts and concerts, unless it's
something specific that I'm sort of obsessing about (e.g., Gaspard, or
the Prokofiev piano concertos).