When is enough, enough?

[verismissimo]

It occurs to me that I have several more Ring cycles than Beethoven symphony cycles.

My favourites are Keilberth from Bayreuth in 1955 and the earliest - the HMV cycle from 1927-1932 with Frida Leider, Friedrich Schorr, Walter Widdop, Florence Austral, Lauritz Melchior etc.

[MrGongGong]

So I would conclude that
music is "for" many things ?
and collecting stuff is part of Musicking

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

So I would conclude that
music is "for" many things ?
and collecting stuff is part of Musicking

[french frank]

So I would conclude that
music is "for" many things ?
and collecting stuff is part of Musicking

Part of musicking, perhaps (depending on how you define that), but part of music/essential to it? What would collecting valuable Old Master paintings be, in relation to art? [I know - investment!]

[richardfinegold]

But if you have, say, 50 different versions, what wil you do? Play one every week throughout the year and wallow in the contemplation of the differences between them? That is a perfectly worthwhile thing to do if it brings 'pleasure' (tbd). But it would be a level of refined listening which is unknown to me.

I have one cycle of the late quartets of LvB and several other versions of some of them. I probably listen to the different versions randomly every couple of months or so - and it may be that that randomness means that for some subconscious reason I pick up the same version each time (I don't keep notes on which ones I've listened to). As a very musically inferior kind of listener (I say this humbly, not sarcastically) I am only conscious of listening to the 'work' (and I admit to often following the score while doing so). Is this unusual?

To rephrase your question, ff, is why would someone acquire multiple copies of a work, since we don't really spend a significant amount of time
listening to these redundant recordings?
I can only answer for myself. Many of my purchases are impulse based. It may be that a critic whom I respect has raved about a certain recording, or perhaps a BBC Radio 3 Forum member. Perhaps I have heard a concert featuring a performer that I really enjoyed and hope to capture that moment forever
(an utterly futile effort in most cases) with a recording featuring those performers. Recently I downloaded Jochum Brahms because I had admired his Bruckner and was curious as to how he may perform a composer that had a different style.
Spotify has saved me from many impulse purchases of this nature. I can usually satisfy my curiosity with a one time listen and then resist the purchase.
No wonder why the recording industry dreads such services.

[MrGongGong]

Part of musicking, perhaps (depending on how you define that), but part of music/essential to it? What would collecting valuable Old Master paintings be, in relation to art? [I know - investment!]

I would go with Small on this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Musicking-Meanings-Performing-Listening-Culture/dp/0819522570

[teamsaint]

Spotify has saved me from many impulse purchases of this nature. I can usually satisfy my curiosity with a one time listen and then resist the purchase.
No wonder why the recording industry dreads such services.

Well I don't know much about what the music industry want, but musicians are no doubt very adept at looking after their own interests, and need to be.
Seems to me that for those musicians who have recorded music that over time streaming services are likely to provide a better source of income than physical product which goes in and out of availability.
Certainly in book publishing, if authors (who of course do have rights issues etc ) I would suggest that the digital age offers real potential, for those outside of the best seller category. Books are now much easier to keep available, either in short run digital print editions, or as E only editions. And its certainly possible to keep prices at a commercially worthwhile level.

Be interesting to see what the professionals on the board think.
Couple of interesting links.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/9442034/Musicians-getting-more-than-half-of-royalty-income-from-online-streaming.html

http://torrentfreak.com/music-sales-are-just-6-of-average-musicians-income-130114/

[Nick Armstrong]

I can only answer for myself. Many of my purchases are impulse based. It may be that a critic whom I respect has raved about a certain recording, or perhaps a BBC Radio 3 Forum member. Perhaps I have heard a concert featuring a performer that I really enjoyed and hope to capture that moment forever (an utterly futile effort in most cases) with a recording featuring those performers. Recently I downloaded Jochum Brahms because I had admired his Bruckner and was curious as to how he may perform a composer that had a different style.
Spotify has saved me from many impulse purchases of this nature. I can usually satisfy my curiosity with a one time listen and then resist the purchase.
No wonder why the recording industry dreads such services.

Richard I'm with you. Now that I have a reasonably substantial collection covering most of the bases (at least one carefully-chosen version of most of the core 'classics' - sometimes up to 6 or 7 versions of a really loved piece - and a considerable number of 'off-piste' selections accumulated over the years), like you I am largely swung by those impulses - but less and less. Weekend mornings listening to CD Review is responsible for a lot of them.

I don't 'do' Spotify - what saves me is Amazon's (and previously HMV's) returns policy. Remarkable how often something that sounded amazing in a 5 minute clip on the bedside DAB during a nice weekend lie-in is disappointing listened to in its entirety in the cool light of day on the big stereo (those Paavo Jarvi/Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Beethoven symphonies that AMcG raved about being a case in point - the one movement played on CD Review kncocked my socks off when half asleep listening, I instantly paid full whack for the CDs but thought they sounded too dapper and almost silly on listening properly! Back they went! Thanks, amazon! )

[richardfinegold]

Richard I'm with you. Now that I have a reasonably substantial collection covering most of the bases (at least one carefully-chosen version of most of the core 'classics' - sometimes up to 6 or 7 versions of a really loved piece - and a considerable number of 'off-piste' selections accumulated over the years), like you I am largely swung by those impulses - but less and less. Weekend mornings listening to CD Review is responsible for a lot of them.

I don't 'do' Spotify - what saves me is Amazon's (and previously HMV's) returns policy. Remarkable how often something that sounded amazing in a 5 minute clip on the bedside DAB during a nice weekend lie-in is disappointing listened to in its entirety in the cool light of day on the big stereo (those Paavo Jarvi/Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Beethoven symphonies that AMcG raved about being a case in point - the one movement played on CD Review kncocked my socks off when half asleep listening, I instantly paid full whack for the CDs but thought they sounded too dapper and almost silly on listening properly! Back they went! Thanks, amazon! )

I thought Amazon only accepted unopened returns.
I've also had the experience where an impulse purchase will greatly dissapoint, and then sit on the shelves for years unplayed, and then replayed and newly appreciated. I am listening to a lot of Bruckner at this time, and Schuricht's recording of 8&9 are getting a lot of spins in the CD player after previously being a magnet for dust balls.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I've also had the experience where an impulse purchase will greatly dissapoint, and then sit on the shelves for years unplayed, and then replayed and newly appreciated. I am listening to a lot of Bruckner at this time, and Schuricht's recording of 8&9 are getting a lot of spins in the CD player after previously being a magnet for dust balls.

Yes; I've been there, too!