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Thread: Essential Books

  1. #11
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: South Wales

    Posts: 7,487
    I'm the'greatunwashed'.

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    Indeed you have, it's on the way
    "People will hear what you tell them to hear" - Thomas Edison

  2. #12
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Essex

    Posts: 31,850
    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    I too use the Penguin Guide - but only as a guide. I am as likely to be guided by the classical music reviews in say HFN (I greatly respect Christopher Breunig's reviews), The Gramophone, or the BBC Music Magazine.

    But there again, much of my classical music purchases are from charity shops, where I rely on a 'sixth sense' and a certain amount of 'serendipity'.
    Barry

  3. #13
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: gone

    Posts: 11,519
    I'm gone.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MartinT View Post
    It will have you shouting with agreement or disagreement at times.
    Well, they all do, really, don't they!

    I guess the Penguin series is my main guide - I keep up to date, but time-slipped by a couple of years. I wait for them to come up cheap on Amazon Market Place!

    I re-started a subscription to Gramophone magazine about 6 months ago - but I recently cancelled it as it was irritating me.

    I have a long-standing sub for the American "Fanfare" magazine ... the magazine for serious collectors. Or so it says on the front cover! That's much more to my taste.
    Bi-monthly - and nice & hefty - way more reviews than Gramophone does in the same period. It typically has getting on for 600 pages in a A5 size format, the majority of which are half-page-ish reviews.

    Gramophone tends to focus on the latest (and 295th) recording of Beethoven's 9th - OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration , but not much, imho. While Fanfare has the space to dig deeper and broader, as well as covering the latest pre-pubescent whizzkid that the wallowing Big Name Companies are trying to foist on us ... which suits my preference for exploring new music. Also the Fanfare reviews are often of recordings that have been around for a while ... and can be had for a nice price on the used market.
    I restrict my music buyings to a monthly nett budget (after ebay sales of unwanted CDs) of £75 ... otherwise I'd be penniless and deeply in debt!! - so the more I can get for my money the better!
    Last edited by jandl100; 08-07-2011 at 07:20.
    .

  4. #14
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Detroit and Glasgow

    Posts: 168
    I'm Jack.

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    Good thread that should be at the top of the page.

    I learn toward the Gramophone guide more than Penguin, but to my surprise the last one I bought was 2004! So clearly time for a Christmas present for myself.

    For pure beginners I'd recommend the NPR (US National Public Radio) guide.
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  5. #15
    MartinT Guest

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    Thanks, Jack. I've made it a sticky. I too like the NPR guide.

  6. #16
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Detroit and Glasgow

    Posts: 168
    I'm Jack.

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    Well, I bought the 2012 Gramophone guide.

    Have to say that I'm a bit underwhelmed. I've done some spot-checking and they've removed many/most of the reissue recommendations they used to put for well-known works (e.g., Beethoven 5). Instead of the special highlight area where they used to list many recordings, most works now only have one or two "also recommendeds" at the most.

    I use my guide when I'm record-hunting in stores, so I really need lots of reviews of the reissues, however perfunctory. My advice would be to purchase a 2011 guide if you use your guide in the same way.

    The 2012 guide is still a great resource, but it's now necessary for me to carry two books to the record store.

    Also, the Guide continues its strong preference for composers with British roots. Handel gets 42 pages of reviews (!) while Brahms gets 25.

    Worse yet, they often fail to list the recording year; surely it wouldn't be too much bother to have this valuable information in the summary. They seem to include it less than half the time, and far less frequently than in the past, IIRC.

    Having said all that, it's still an important book to purchase from time to time.

    To newcomers, please note that the book doesn't vary that much year-to-year, so it's fine to skip 2-4 years between purchases to avoid duplication.
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  7. #17
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: Northampton, England

    Posts: 189
    I'm David.

    Default World of Music - A Listeners Companion

    Hi Martin

    This is a book I came across in a car boot sale this year. It is an absolute stunner. It is the World of Music - Listeners Companion. It was published by Waverley in 1954 and consists of 3000 pages of pure delight. It is quarter leather bound with a hardwood cover. Probably the most beautiful book I have ever owned and probably the heaviest. It cost me £1.50 but I would happily pay £50-£100 for it. Just beautiful

    It is literally a miscellany. Think of a musical term and look it up alphabetically. i.e what is a cantata. It covers both classical and popular music and treats them equally which is great so you can find Billy Cotton on one page and Cosi fan Tutte on the next. It also gives expalnantions of musical terms, compoers dates and their contempories - a never ending source of interesting facts











    Tell me what you think

    David
    Last edited by tannoyman; 15-11-2012 at 16:26. Reason: spelling mistake
    "Madness is continuing to do things the way you have always done them and expecting a different outcome"

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  8. #18
    MartinT Guest

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    Wow, David, that looks like quite a find. Since there is little after 1954 that I would miss (Shostakovich, Ligeti, Glass come to mind), it's probably still relevant today.

    Nice one

  9. #19
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: Northampton, England

    Posts: 189
    I'm David.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MartinT View Post
    Wow, David, that looks like quite a find. Since there is little after 1954 that I would miss (Shostakovich, Ligeti, Glass come to mind), it's probably still relevant today.

    Nice one
    Hi Martin

    You are right of course about recent stuff. But it needs to be valued for what is has rather than what it does not have. As far as I am aware there is nothing else like it out there. If there is I have never seen it - a genuine labour of love. It even discusses in some depth music theory down to key signatures

    David
    "Madness is continuing to do things the way you have always done them and expecting a different outcome"

    SYSTEM SME 20/3A Record Deck, Series V arm and Denon DL304 MC cartridge, Whest PS30R Phono Stage
    Meridian GO8.2 CD Player, Meridian GO2 Dual Mono Control Unit, Meridian G57 Power Amplifier
    Tannoy Westminster Royal HE loudspeakers
    Cabling - Isotek Supreme Mains, DNM Interconnect & speaker cable. Stands - Hi Fi Rack Podium

  10. #20
    Join Date: Jan 2011

    Location: Kent

    Posts: 1,357
    I'm Clark.

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    Not a book but I find this site a good reference for some of the more historic recordings

    http://www.classicalnotes.net/contents.html

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