Re: How does one acquire a GG collection w/o going broke?

[Arin Murphy <la_murph@alcor.concordia.ca>]

Dear Colleen:

The answer is, quite simply, no, there is no way to acquire a GG CD 
collection without going broke, unless you have rich aunt who has the 
same musical tastes you do and who is about to kick off.

No, no, that's not exactly right. I'm suffering the same way you are (the
financial situation of a graduate student is not a happy one). My
solution is to haunt secondhand music stores. I just picked up the first
volume of the old CBS Odyssey edition of GG's Beethoven piano sonatas -
three CDs, sonatas 1-14 (11 is missing for some odd reason), great sound
quality etc - for a mere $12.95 Canadian. Compare that to the two volume
Sony edition set at $40 Canadian each - well, same stuff, different
package, much happier pocketbook, if you see what I mean. I had to
regretfully leave behind another Sony CD, two of Beethoven's concertos I
think (Hmm, maybe I'll check on that when I'm downtown today) as well as
one of the CBC reissues of some Beethoven - a blue cover, I think. Anyway,
that's my solution.  That and budgeting (and a lot of rationalisation!
Let's see, I haven't bought any CDs yet this year, I just finished a
killer paper... I think I'll treat myself to the Art of the Fugue (which,
by the way, I love to bits - that sudden ending of the Contrapuntus 14 is
heartbreaking)). Be religious in your haunting; stuff comes in and goes 
out all the time. If you miss a week you might miss a Gould. You also 
might try asking the proprietor to put aside any Goulds that come in, and 
you can sort through them when you drop by week by week.

Alternatively you can just tell all your friends to buy you gift 
certificates for your local music store when they say they don't know 
what to get you for your birthday, major holiday celebrations etc.!

Although I hate to say it, because like some others at F-Minor I think
Sony's manipulating us (preying upon poor obssessive Gould fans, how dare
they), their prices aren't really that bad. (They could be a lot worse 
and we'd still pay it - I know we would.)  Yes, I balk at paying 
$40 for a volume of the Beethoven sonatas, but there are three CDs in that
package, which works out to a mere $13-something per disc. And the single
discs are usually moderately to inexpensive - I got both my Goldbergs for
$10 each, and the Art of the Fugue for $12. Compared to the $16 average
price for a middling to decent CD, that's pretty darn good, and positively
wonderful when I compare it to the $22 CDs I invest in when I'm feeling
particular, or even - gasp - the $35 I-must-own-this-recording CDs. Bear
in mind these are all Canadian prices, but I can't think the price
proportions can be that different elsewhere.  So the cash output could be 
a lot worse. And besides, they look so good on a shelf.... 

So there you have it. Yes, it's difficult to build a GG collection without
going broke; it's just on this side of impossible. A good way to look at
it is to think about how finite your supply is. Savour each new
acquisition, and get to know them slowly before you pick up your next one.
That way it lasts longer. 

Now that I've depressed myself, I'm going to go put on the 1955 Goldbergs.

Cheers to you all!

Arin Murphy
Student, Savoyard,
Bookseller, Cellist-By-Night

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"It really isn't difficult if you give your whole mind to it."
				-Lady Angela, Act 1
				   Gilbert & Sullivan's `Patience'