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Hey.

I know that there are photos of the practice space, but being a composer I have an almost unhealthy relationship with notation! And as such I have been collecting scores for a rather long time. Not tons of stuff, I have to admit, but certainly a lot in greek terms! I would also cover them with plastic cover to protect them as best as possible.

I think I have more than 200 books in piano music and another 100+ orchestral scores. I also don't have a pic, right now, but promise to offer one, when I get into my studio today afternoon, or tomorrow.

In the meantime, how's your collection of scores? Big, small? Untidy perhaps... Books are torn, etc?

Mine runs the gamut - new editions, used editions, well-preserved editions, crumbling editions.
The worst part is when I have an old score (near 100 years old) and I like to play from it. I have a Beethoven Violin Sonatas edition that I've been using, very old, it's finally separated from the binding. NOOOOOOOOO

My collection is still really small, since I haven't been playing for that long yet. But boy, what a mess it is already! I'm just not a very tidy person, I guess!

I have enough scores to fill 2 music cabinets of moderate height (about 3 ft high). A lot of my "core" scores are at least 40 years old, and they were new when I bought them. (Man, I am getting OLD.) I'm kinda sloppy about storing my music, though. I pull things out to play, and then I leave them stacked on the floor so I can get at them easily. But then I add more things to the pile until eventually I have to re-file. My wife would be happy if I'd put them back in the cabinets more frequently.

But I NEVER leave music on the piano, 'cause I close it up each time after I play.

I'm the exact opposite!

But now my scores are in my studio (recording studio) and my piano is in my home, so most of my scores are just sitting there!

Just need to note that I have plenty of theoritical books as well, on composition, orchestration, as well...

(and, hope to get some pics up tomorrow. Could get there today).

My collection is HUGE for the short time I have been playing the piano. If it keeps growing at this pace, there will be no room left for me in this apartment...

I agree with Mattardo about the old scores... Even rearranging the scores on the shelves causes problems and scatters "paper crumbs" on the floor everywhere... How can you turn the page of an old score quickly?

I might get flamed for this but: Photocopy it? I'm not even sure if it's on the edge of legality or illegality if it's for studying purposes and for personal use only... (???)

I purchase all my scores but I will occasionally photocopy portions of them so I can practice without turning pages. It's solely for my own use so I don't think it breaks any copywrite laws. I don't see a problem with doing the same thing with aging scores if you own them.

I think if it is for personal use only it can be done... Even at the Con, I have noticed that most students use photocopies....
But, you know, these old scores have a sort of charm that a photocopy doesn't have...

I need to go down to the cathedral and go into the organs blower room. Its a stone room, with beautiful stained glass book cases filled with hundreds and hundreds of organ and chorale books. Some of them are original manuscripts too.

I have to apologize to my violinist whenever my Beethoven book leaves crumbs on her music rack...
The binding is gone now, and the pages are starting to break when I turn them sometimes.

I'm not sure if I'm going to have it rebound and restored yet..
The Henle edition does NOT stay open, even if I kick it, bend it, etc - which is why I like my older edition - it's hardcover, and stays flat, the pages are heavier... and not many differences in the two scores.

Has anyone ever taken a stubborn book and had it totally redone by a bookbinder?

I have a special section to lay flat my older scores - it helps a lot!

Two bookcases:




Includes every book in the Jan Ekier National Edition of Chopin, an old cloth-bound Henle Beethoven Sonatas in two volumes (one is in my bag), the complete works of Brahms and Schumann, and a huge variety of concerti besides much else.

M,
(Speaking now as a former librarian)--The problem with re-binding is that the book binder has to shave off some of the old spine/gutter to get a clean edge to sew or glue. So, you lose some margin, plus you end up with a tighter book that won't stay open. Also, if the pages are truly crumbling, the book binder should say, "This book can't be bound. Use an acid-free envelope or an acid-free box to store it in."

Nikolas, ChopinAddict--photocopying from a score that you own for your own personal use is completely legal.

My copy of WTC Bk.1 is ancient and crumbling. I took it to a local copy shop, where a kind and sensitive clerk was working, to get two of the preludes and one of the fugues copied. She took it in hand gingerly, laid it on the copy glass, and gave me an excellent copy of each on oversized card stock, which I then trimmed to size. It stands up very nicely on its own on the piano's music rack. In the meantime, I store the original in an acid-free file folder.

--Andy

Copyright is actually much more strict than this and your statement is incorrect. I used to work for a major copy shop and it was my job to teach the rest of the store about it.

Unless the score (and particular publication of that score) was clearly in the public domain, it was illegal to copy it without permission. Some copyrighted works like software and many CDs are allowed to be copied once or twice so that you can back up your data/files however this is generally not the case with paper products.

If that book you were copying is really 100 or so years old than it was probably in the public domain and is fine to copy.

The problem is that usually people think it's fine for personal use because you are not trying to sell it or whatever. And it's true, companies don't typically try to sue unless there is money involved. But people forget that the copy shop makes money off of making the copies and can get sued for a ton of money for allowing copying of sheet music.

I know that where I worked we were very careful and forced every customer to get actual written permission for anything that looked remotely professional. If it was really old, it had to be proven somehow with a date or something that it was in the public domain. (made A LOT of customers really angry, which is why most copy shop clerks will just copy things anyways; it makes their lives MUCH easier assuming they never get caught up in a copyright sting (yes copyright stings actually happen))

I had a few customers that actually paid the sheet music companies for the rights. What typically happens is you buy stickers from the publishers that you attach to the back of the copies. That makes the copies of the music legal.

Although, the only people who did this were people reproducing music for symphonies and public performances, probably because they are the only ones at a real risk for getting sued (other than the copy shop).

Finally, at fear of this becoming too long winded I will mention because a lot of people don't realize that pretty much everything is copyrighted whether it says copyright on it or not.

Even every picture you have ever taken in your life is automatically copyrighted by you and you own the copyright. Theoretically, you could sue someone for illegally copying your photos of your sister's birthday party (you might actually get some money if they used it in an advertisement). And it will be copyrighted by you for around 75 years after you die. (The actual time limits are kind of complicated because the law has changed so much over the years thanks to the mouse with big black ears)

Don't want to completely derail the thread so,

My sheet music collection is pretty big for an early player. I mostly sight read so I go through it like candy. I have some really old stuff that my father and mother have collected over their lifetimes as hand-me-downs and from similar situations. I have a bunch of really old regular sheets of a bunch of really terrible music that my dad picked up the farmer's market. Not only is it bad and crumbling to pieces, but it's also mostly too hard for me to play!

It must be added that the laws vary by country.

And then there is the whole issue of editions where the copyright was held by the former communist countries and not by any individual. That gets very complicated. For example, most of the Dover reprints of Medtner's music came from a Soviet edition of the complete works. I think that at the time they came out, they were probably legal. However, I think that doing those reprints today might not be legal (I am not sure of this, so don't quote me). Given all that, if I want to make a copy of something from those Dover editions, is it legal or not?

I wish I had a picture of Cyprien Katsaris's score collection--it's literally an entire room in his apartment, crammed floor to ceiling with music! Marc-andre also has an enormous collection, but his is portable (apparently all the pdf's fit on one flash drive).

I would enjoy seeing those cases and some of the original manuscripts. Do you have access freely?

LL

At last, I managed to grab a pic of my bookshelves...



About copyrights: The usual 'window' is the fair use policy. If you have a crumbling book, I'm guessing that you can actually photocopy it for studying purposes, especially if you do own the original copy (edition). I have photocopied a few pages (not the whole score though) of a Messiaens work for teaching purposes, from the University of London library and I had no problem doing so, after checking with multiple clerks, the uk law, etc...

If I need to get some sheet music I can borrow it if I ask. I can arrange to go up to the organ blower room. I'm well aquatinted with the organists of the cathedral.

I know that this is obviously not what you meant, but would you (or anyone) be interested in scanned (or photoed) pages of my own manuscripts? just for the kicks I guess...? (without me claiming that my works are important or anything like that, but they do remain 'manuscripts' with the default sense, albeit not really old! :D)