I have a unique situation...

I work at a music store at which I receive a very good discount on sheet music. I am quitting this post, and as of Saturday, my discount will expire along with my job. That being said, I wanted to see what the community considered some collections they absolutely loved and consider a cornerstone in their library.

I look forward to the responses,

You should have good editions of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Haydn, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Ravel, Schubert, Schumann, and anyone else who strikes your fancy.

If I had your gig, I would be buying music of Debussy, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Prokofiev, & Scriabin, but that's because I don't have much by any of them currently.

My Beethoven Sonata's are of course well loves, as are my Chopin Etudes, Nocturnes, Waltzes, and Preludes. My Bach WTC is still being broken in...

Well, what do you want that you don't have?

If it were me, I'd go for whatever I'd been thinking of getting lately, without regard to what seemed to be "cornerstones" -- including because all the cornerstones would be a huge amount of stuff, and if I could buy that much stuff, even with a discount, I probably wouldn't need to be worrying about discounts!

What I'd get now: Maybe some Clementi sonatas, maybe some Henselt stuff if the store had it.

Right now I really love the Cooper edition of Beethoven's Sonatas, but I do like all my kids in the cabinet.

don't forget to own a Scarlatti book.. his music is so pleasant.

My Henle scherzi is my prized possession.

Barenreiter's editions of Bach's Partitas, WTC, etc are top notch. you can't ask for a better Bach for ease of reading, fingering, and quality of material (debatable, perhaps).

Thank you all for your fine answers!

Apple*: after posting, I actually am going to purchase a collection of Scarlatti sonatas because I don't own one. And I've been lusting (too strong a word?) after them for a few months now. Anyways, thank you all for your suggestions! I will continue to mull over the information.

Thanks again,

I was somewhat surprised and not a little disappointed that some recently ordered Bärenreiter "Authoritative Performing Editions" of Debussy are stapled rather than sewn. These are editions with 60 to 70 pages. I would expect that of an edition of just 8 or 12 pages, but not volumes as large as these.

Regards,

Hmm, that is somewhat surprising. Is that because they're "performing editions"? And Stapled is easier to keep open than sewn?

that said, i agree that i can't think of any respectable edition that is more than a dozen pages and stapled.

Just the opposite, actually. In my experience, at least, a well-bound sewn edition (Henle, for example) lies much flatter on the music stand than these new Bärenreiter stapled editions (52 pages and 70 pages). Because each page is part of a double-page sheet folded in the centre, the natural tendency of the book is to close. The only way to get the book to stay open is to open it at the centre pages, fold it back, then turn to the pages you wish to read, and fold the volume back again before putting it on the music stand. This will, in very short order, weaken the centre pages and/or the cover at the staples, and soon centre pages will be falling out.

That said, the scholarship is quite remarkable; half of each of these volumes is dedicated (in German, English and French) to :
in the case of "Pour le Piano"
- genesis and publication history
- discussion of the work
- aesthetics and performance practie
- notes on the edition
- the sources
- translation of performance instruction

and, in the case of "Children's Corner"
- introduction
- genesis
- title and musical allusions
- aesthetics and performance practices
- editorial principles
- the sources

all very informative and worthwhile additions to the music.



My Peters edition of the Schubert Impromptus (76 pages) is stapled and, over the years of use - although it's been relegated to the shelf after I purchased the Henle for the above-mentioned reasons - the centre pages are still intact but the cover has separated from the staples.

Regards,

One of my most used collections, is his dover Chopin book, with solo works, sort of a "greatest hits" of Chopin that covers major works from the many styles he composed it. I have used it more then any other book surprisingly, that and my Henle editions of Bach and Beethoven.

If you want, you can find out what sort of binding they use on any given product at their website, before you order it.

So I see; it was not something I thought of checking when I ordered. It seems that many of their publications are now stapled. Makes me hesitate to purchase Barenreiter in the future.

Regards,

Stapled is definitely cheaper, especially if you go for low numbers in printing... I should know that.

But up to 60 pages (or so) it's very reasonable to have staples and do not create a problem really, as far as I'm aware.

Because I'm planning on the release of a couple of bigger books (80 and more than 100 pages) so I'm definitely looking into my options for sewed back and hard cover, but it's not easy to do in small numbers and it's rather expensive (I tend to repeat myself, right?)

I have the Henle clothbound Beethoven Sonatas, the full set of Chopin's works from PWM by Ekier, and Clara Schumann's edition of Robert's solo piano works. Beyond that, it's a hodgepodge of whatever editions I found that I liked enough to buy when I wanted them. I think every piece by Debussy is a different edition, and same for Bach.