COLLEGE and RESEARCH LIBRARIES a SUGGESTED BASIC RECORD COLLECTION BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
A Basic Collection of Records for a College Library BY DAVID O. LANE HE COLLEGE library is no longer just a Trepository and dispenser of books. Mr. Lane has been Head of the Docu- The book is still supreme in all libraries, ments Department, Northern Illinois Uni- and rightly so; but in our time educa- versity Library in DeKalb. On July 1, he tional, cultural, and recreational matter became Head of Reader Services, Brooklyn is available in other formats also—repro- Polytechnic Institute Library, Brooklyn, New ductions of paintings, films, filmstrips, York. other audio-visual materials, and, per- haps most important of all, phonograph The college library's record collection records. has two main functions—as a teaching The art of recording is still relatively aid and for recreational purposes. With new. The first commercial records date respect to its teaching uses, the collection only from the decade before 1900. The should represent as wide a scope as pos- flat disc as we know it today appeared sible; chronologically, all periods of com- about the turn of the century. Electrical position and musical development should recording began in 1926, and contempo- be represented. Within a given period, rary LP records date from 1949. the major comjDosers in all important Some libraries started collecting rec- forms should be present. Stylistically, the ords in the 1920's and 1930's, but the major musical forms (symphonies, con- limitations of the 78 rpm disc were many. certi, operas, oratorios, art songs, solo, They are heavy, bulky, expensive, and instrumental and chamber music, etc.) easily breakable. Most college libraries must be available. As a source of recrea- began collecting records only after the tion and individual interest, the basic perfection of the nonbreakable, long- concert repertory should be present (all playing record hardly a decade ago. the symphonies of Beethoven and Our records today have several great Brahms, the last three of Tchaikovsky, advantages (as well as one disadvantage) the more popular operas of Verdi, Puc- over their predecessors. The LP record cini, etc.). In addition, certain so-called is comparatively cheap, hard to destroy "light" works (by Offenbach, Tchaikov- (though all too easy to damage by scratch- sky, Ravel, etc.) should be available. An ing), light in weight, and compact. effort to satisfy these basic aspects of the Perhaps most important of all in the en- record collection, sometimes supplemen- couragement of wider collecting of rec- tary, sometimes competitive, has resulted ords is that the range of musical litera- in this suggested basic collection. ture available today is phenomenal. As The number of records in this hypo- late as the 1930's Vivaldi and other thetical collection, three hundred, is arbi- masters of the Baroque and pre-Baroque trary. The total might be two hundred were all but unknown and recordings of and fifty, or four hundred, or five hun- contemporary, especially avant-garde, mu- dred. Three hundred was chosen as allow- sic were rare. Great progress has been ing the inclusion of most of the impor- made toward making the whole range of tant titles and at the same time providing music available to current listeners. a collection that could be purchased for JULY 1962 295 less than $1,000. The music represented versions. Telefunken (also owned by Lon- on these discs is limited to so-called "clas- don) is a major label in Germany, but in sical" or "concert" music. There is a this country and Great Britain its discs place in the college library for recordings have been issued at a cheaper price as the of operettas, Broadway musicals, folk mu- artists, mostly German, are not well sic, and the spoken word, but that is known off the continent. As these cheaper consideration for another time. records sell for about $2.00 as opposed There are many compositions that to $5.00 for most full-price discs the sav- might have been included in this list, but ing is considerable and the quality is six hundred 12-inch LP sides can be every bit as good as that of the more ex- stretched to include only so much. A pensive labels. Fifty-five of the three hun- final factor influencing the makeup of dred discs listed are $1.98 records. this collection is coupling—the way works All the records listed were available as are paired on the records. In a few cases of April 1962. Minor labels that might composers are represented that certainly be hard to obtain, or might soon go out are not basic (i.e., Vieuxtemps). They are of print have been avoided. For example, listed because they happen to be repre- Westminster Records, one of the larger sented on the flip side of something more independent companies, has recently gone important (in the example cited above, through another reorganization. As a re- Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole"). So in a sult their catalog is in a state of flux, and sense, they are bonuses. only two of their discs are listed. No compositions are presented in du- The total list price of this collection plicate performances. Because of the way is $1,352.16. It would be available at dis- works are coupled on records, this has counts of about 30 per cent, or for been a factor in the selection of perform- $950.00. ances. In the effort to avoid duplication The list is arranged as simply as possi- and present the best possible range of ble—alphabetically by composer and repertory, it has sometimes been neces- then by title, with notation of the record sary to select an interpretation that is not make and number. If more than one necessarily the best available; selection is composer is represented on the record an a subjective matter at best. An example entry is made under each, and the other is the Prokofiev "Concerto Number Three composers are given in parentheses after for Piano;" the London recording cited the title. This rule holds true even for is a good performance and is coupled short compositions used to fill up a side. with Bartok's important "Concerto Num- The only exception is in the case of re- ber Three for Piano," while the Capitol cordings of songs (by Schubert, Sibelius, release, which may be reasonably pre- Wolf, etc.); for these, rather than listing ferred, is backed by another Ravel con- each title, the composer's name is fol- certo. lowed by "Lieder," "Chansons," or A college record collection is meant to "Songs." To do otherwise would compli- be used until worn out; it is not an cate and lengthen an involved list. For archive. Therefore, wherever possible, those who wish to know which songs are performances have been indicated on the included on these discs, the full citation so-called "cheap" labels. There is a great can be found in the Schwann Long-Play- variation in the quality of these less-than- ing Record Catalog for the month in full-price records. Richmonds are made which the record in question was first is- by London Records and are for the most sued. This date is given after the brief part reissues of their famous FFRR re- entry in each subsequent catalog. All the cordings of the '50's, now superseded by performances indicated are, at the least, newer but not necessarily better stereo very good. 296 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES A SUGGESTED BASIC RECORD COLLECTION BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B Flat. FOR COLLEGES London CM 9056 BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E; Piano An asterisk indicates that record is also Sonata No. 31 in A Flat; Piano Sonata No. available in stereo. 32 in C Minor. Columbia ML 5130 BEETHOVEN: Piano Trio No. 7 in B Flat. ALBENIZ: Iberia—Suite, arr. orch. Arbos (Tu- * Angel 35704 rina: Danzas Fantasticas). #London CM BEETHOVEN: String Quartets: No. 7 in F; No. 9263 8 in E Minor; No. 9 in C; No. 10 in E Flat; No. 11 in F Minor. #Deutsche Gram. BACH: (6) Brandenburg Concerti. Richmond 18534/6 42002 BEETHOVEN: String Quartets: No. 16 in F; BACH: Cantatas Nos. 56 and 82. *RCA Vic- Grosse Fugue. Decca DL 9893 tor LM 2312 BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1 in C; Sym- BACH: Clavier Concerti: No. 1 in D Minor; phony No. 2 in D. #Columbia ML 5398 No. 4 in A; No. 5 in F Minor. *Bach Guild BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 in E Flat. BG 588 #Parliament 129 BACH: Little Organ Book. Deutsche Gram. BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4 in B Flat. Rich- ARC 3025/6 mond 19033 BACH: Mass in B Minor. *Epic SL 6027 BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. BACH: Organ Music: Fantasia & Fugue in G #London CM 9011 Minor; Fantasia in C Minor; Prelude & BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 in F. Rich- Fugue in C Minor; Toccata & Fugue in D mond 19037 Minor. Angel 35368 BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 in A. *Tele- BACH: Violin Concerti: No. 1 in A Minor; funken 18040 No. 2 in E; Concerto in D Minor for two BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 8 in F; Sym- violins. #Epic LC 3553 phony No. 9 in D Minor. *Columbia M2L BACH: Well-tempered Clavier (complete). 264 RCA Victor LM 6801 BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D. Rich- BARTOK: Concerto for Orchestra. *Columbia mond 19034 ML 5471 BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No. 6 in A; Violin BARTOK: Miraculous Mandarin (Kodaly: Pea- Sonata No. 9 in A. Epic LC 3458 cock Variations). Mercury MG 50038 BELLINI: Norma. * Angel 3615 BARTOK: Piano Concerto No. 3 (Prokofiev: BERG: Violin Concerto (Schonberg: Violin Piano Concerto No. 3 in C). London LM Concerto).